The Naked and the Dead

Wow, has it really been more than a month since The Rap Sheet’s last book giveaway contest? Apparently so. Which means that this blog is long overdue to satisfy its followers’ need for free reads. But fear not, folks, we have two hardcover copies of Sara Paretsky’s not-yet-released, 14th V.I. Warshawski detective novel, Body Work (Putnam), to send to a lucky pair of her fans.

Her publisher describes the book’s plot thusly:

The enigmatic performer known as the Body Artist takes the stage at Chicago’s Club Gouge and allows her audience to use her naked body as a canvas for their impromptu illustrations. V.I. Warshawski watches as people step forward, some meek, some bold, to make their mark.

The evening takes a strange turn when one woman’s sketch triggers a violent outburst from a man at a nearby table. Quickly subdued, the man--an Iraqi war vet--leaves the club. Days later, the woman is shot outside the club. She dies in V.I.’s arms, and the police move quickly to arrest the angry vet.

A shooting in Chicago is nothing new, certainly not to V.I., who is hired by the vet’s family to clear his name. As V.I. seeks answers, her investigation will take her from the North Side of Chicago to the far reaches of the Gulf War.

Readers who, like me, have relished Warshawski’s adventures ever since she debuted in 1982’s Indemnity Only, will find in Body Work most of this series’ familiar strengths: V.I.’s take-no-prisoners support of her family and friends, and her bulldog-ish investigative style; Paretsky’s willingness to incorporate real-life news events and technological developments into her plots; and robust character development that, along with other twists, make the Warshawski yarns so consuming.

If you would like to enter the running for one of these two copies of Body Work, all you have to do is e-mail your name and snail-mail address (no P.O. boxes) to jpwrites@wordcuts.org. And be sure to write “Paretsky Contest” in the subject line. Entries will be accepted between now and midnight next Monday, August 16. Winners will be chosen at random, and their names will be listed on this page the following day.

Sorry, but by request of the publisher, this contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

Be one of the first to have Body Work on your reading stack. The novel isn’t even due for bookstore release until the end of August.