"Murray Ryerson - 'the man who turns Chicago inside out' - has a great track record for digging beneath the surface of Chicago's news to get at the real truth. He and Detective V.I. Warshawski go back a long way - often allies, occasionally competitors, one-time lovers. But their friendship is sorely tested when Murray, adapting to 'market forces', sells his jornalistic skills to a mega entertainment conglomerate. If that means writing candyfloss stories about film star Lacy Dowell (queen to her adoring teen audience), or selling his old friend V.I. down the river in a gossip column, well, V.I. is too wrapped up in her own troubles to care.

Her problems begin when she swerves to avoid hitting a woman on a dark street. The woman, Nicola Aguinaldo, was on the run from prison in Coolis, where she was serving time after stealing jewellery from the family where she worked as a nanny. To her surprise V.I. finds herself in the middle of a disturbingly aggressive police investigation into Nicola's death. Her own inquiries put her on a collision course with the head of a large private security firm, and she finds herself more and more cut off from the firends and allies who've helped in the past.

Hard Time is V.I.'s greatest challenge yet. For she must stand alone against some fearsome opponents - the police, the prison system, a global entertainment conglomerate and even an old friend.

Pacy, challenging, intelligent and involving, Hard Time is classic Warshawski, and a classic from Sara Peretsky."

Sara Paretsky doesn't fail to entertain in this fast paced, gritty thriller starring Chicago's finest female PI - VI Warshawksi.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to Rillaith as a RABCK. Hope you enjoy it!

Oooooh thank you very much for the Friday Random Act of Kindness - I do like VI Warshawski books, and I haven't read this one yet. Fab! Very sweet of you indeed :)