Sara Paretsky boldly strays from her widely popular V.I. Warshawski mystery series--note to fans: caveat emptor--and trades the gritty Chicago detective in for a pair of debutante sisters, Mara and Harriet Stonds. The poor little rich girls (grand pa-pa Stonds was a famous neurosurgeon) are blessed with every material comfort, but are sadly lacking in a sound karma-credit plan. Treated like a second-class citizen by her grandfather, Mara forever plays the underdog to "golden" Harriet, an irritatingly perfect girl, reminiscent of "Nellie" from Little House on the Prairie. In a bizarre chain of events, the sisters see the errors of their ways when they become entangled in a complex caper involving a washed-up, drunken opera singer, a posse of homeless women, a soothsayer, a kindly psychotherapist and a selection of twisted clergymen. Abstract and slightly surreal at times, Ghost Country might seem arduous to the tried and true Paretsky fan: it's a far cry from her no-nonsense, cut-and-dried thrillers. However, this atypical character study might prove to be a refreshing pit stop for those with a lot of mystery mileage under their belts; it's a colorful detour from the predictable puzzlers. --Rebekah Warren


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From Library Journal
The focus of this novel is the plight of homeless women on the streets of Chicago. Madeline, a woman living in a box, sees the Virgin Mary's blood in a crack in a wall where others see a rusty leaking pipe. Louisa, a once celebrated opera singer, is headed for the streets because of a drinking problem. Mara, a young woman from a financially secure situation, feels forced to leave home because of difficult family relationships. The social issue here dominates the story line. Paretsky (Windy City Blues, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/96) forces us to take a look at the homeless and their vulnerability to cruel treatment from some quarters. She also reveals the indifference to their circumstances on the part of ordinary citizens who do not want to get involved. Reader Melissa Manchester creates well-defined characterizations. She vividly expresses the emotion and anger of the participants in this drama. Recommended for fiction collections.?Catherine Swenson, Norwich Univ., Northfield, VTCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, David Galef
[T]he crimes are resolved not by private investigation but by miracles and manipulation--and the reader feels the twitch of puppet strings, with characters who have little depth beyond the author's cardboard psychologizing.


The Washington Post Book World, Grace Lichtenstein
...an ambitious novel about homeless women, religion and miracles. Even if it is not entirely successful, it represents a fascinating stretch.... This is not flawless fiction, although one can almost imagine it as the storyline for an extravagant opera.... Nevertheless, Ghost Country will haunt you....


From Booklist
The gritty adventures of V. I. Warshawski have made the Chicago PI a marquee name among today's sleuths and turned her creator, Sara Paretsky, into one of the mystery world's most popular authors. So it's rather surprising that Paretsky risks her commercial success with a new book that veers sharply from the sure-bet Warshawski series. But Paretsky's latest may be her best book yet; it shows amazing depth and emotion, offers richly complex characters and a stunningly original plot, and provides subtle but caustic commentary on today's social problems. Harriet and Mara Stonds have been raised in luxury by their grandfather, famous neurosurgeon Abraham Stonds. Harriet is the apple of her grandfather's eye--tall, blond, successful at everything she does, always the good girl. Mara plays the role of ugly stepsister, at least to her grandfather, who has told her for years that she's lazy, stupid, and ungrateful. But things are about to change for the Stonds family. A drunken opera singer, a softhearted psychotherapist, a group of homeless women, and a mysterious visitor who performs miracles will each play a key role in opening the eyes of Harriet and Mara to a world they've never imagined. This book is rich, astonishing, and affecting, and Paretsky deserves rave reviews for taking a huge risk and doing so with amazing success. An outstanding novel and a great read. Emily Melton


From Kirkus Reviews
The Holy Spirit, or someone very like her, appears on the mean Chicago streets usually watched over by Paretsky's detective V.I. Warshawski (Windy City Blues, 1995, etc.)--and, brother, is she in a state. If ever a world needed a lift, it's the environs of Midwest Hospital, where bean-counters have reduced dedicated psychiatric residents like Dr. Hector Tammuz to drug-dispensing slot machines and the neighborhood streets surrounding the Orleans Street Church and Hagar's House, its shelter for homeless women, teem with the poor, the hopeless, and the dispensers of those other drugs. The ranks of the downtrodden have been swelled by the addition of Luisa Montcrief (ne Janice Minsky), an alcoholic diva who's fallen a long way from Verdi, and Mara Stonds, the ugly-duckling granddaughter of legendary neurosurgeon Dr. Abraham Stonds. Both women, stung by the retributive preaching of Promise Keeper look-alike Rafe Lowrie at Orleans Street, are drawn instead to Madeleine Carter, who swears that she saw the Blessed Virgin on the concrete wall of the Hotel Pleiades on Underground Wacker, and that the rust stains on the wall are the Virgin's blood. Throughout her impassioned opening scenes, Paretsky limns a world hurting for redemption despite the best efforts of its (overwhelmingly male) leaders to buy it off. But although she skillfully prepares for the advent of her savior, the aphasic street-person Starr, Paretsky isn't quite up to the task of breathing life into this psychotic saint, ``the most urgently alive person Mara had ever met,'' as she goes about curing the sick, turning grape juice into wine, and raising the dead before meeting her own violent death and mysterious resurrection. It's disappointing to find that Starr, so shadowy and indistinct herself, lives in her far more vivid followers mainly as a rallying point for feminist social reform--which comes down here to settling scores with men. Still, Paretsky's ambitious, ambiguously religious novel earns an honorable place in the gallery of straight fiction by mystery writers from P.D. James's Innocent Blood to Walter Mosley's RL's Dream. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

They come from different worlds and meet at a time of crisis for all of them. Luisa, a drunken diva fallen on hard times, discovers on Chicago's streets a drama greater than any she has experienced onstage. Madeleine, a homeless woman, sees the Virgin Mary's blood seeping through a concrete wall beneath a luxury hotel. Mara, a rebellious adolescent cast out by her wealthy grandfather, becomes the catalyst for a war between the haves and have-nots as she searches among society's castoffs for the mother she never knew. As the three women fight for their right to live and worship beneath the hotel, they find an ally in Hector Tammuz, an idealistic young psychiatrist risking his career to treat the homeless regardless of the cost.

FROM THE CRITICS

Chicago Tribune

Richimaginativeintensely moving...scene after scene of power and poignancy.

San Francisco Examiner

Gritty...extraordinary..haunting....A truly remarkable story by a wonderful storyteller.

Florida Sun-Sentinel

A thought-provoking, sensitive look at class struggles...Ghost Country constantly blends droplets of mysticism while retaining a firm hold on realism.

Library Journal

The focus of this novel is the plight of homeless women on the streets of Chicago. Madeline, a woman living in a box, sees the Virgin Mary's blood in a crack in a wall where others see a rusty leaking pipe. Louisa, a once celebrated opera singer, is headed for the streets because of a drinking problem. Mara, a young woman from a financially secure situation, feels forced to leave home because of difficult family relationships. The social issue here dominates the story line. Paretsky (Windy City Blues, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/96) forces us to take a look at the homeless and their vulnerability to cruel treatment from some quarters. She also reveals the indifference to their circumstances on the part of ordinary citizens who do not want to get involved. Reader Melissa Manchester creates well-defined characterizations. She vividly expresses the emotion and anger of the participants in this drama. Recommended for fiction collections.--Catherine Swenson, Norwich Univ., Northfield, VT

Kirkus Reviews

The Holy Spirit, or someone very like her, appears on the mean Chicago streets usually watched over by Paretsky's detective V.I. Warshawski (Windy City Blues, 1995, etc.)—and, brother, is she in a state. If ever a world needed a lift, it's the environs of Midwest Hospital, where bean-counters have reduced dedicated psychiatric residents like Dr. Hector Tammuz to drug-dispensing slot machines and the neighborhood streets surrounding the Orleans Street Church and Hagar's House, its shelter for homeless women, teem with the poor, the hopeless, and the dispensers of those other drugs. The ranks of the downtrodden have been swelled by the addition of Luisa Montcrief (n￯﾿ﾽe Janice Minsky), an alcoholic diva who's fallen a long way from Verdi, and Mara Stonds, the ugly-duckling granddaughter of legendary neurosurgeon Dr. Abraham Stonds. Both women, stung by the retributive preaching of Promise Keeper look-alike Rafe Lowrie at Orleans Street, are drawn instead to Madeleine Carter, who swears that she saw the Blessed Virgin on the concrete wall of the Hotel Pleiades on Underground Wacker, and that the rust stains on the wall are the Virgin's blood. Throughout her impassioned opening scenes, Paretsky limns a world hurting for redemption despite the best efforts of its (overwhelmingly male) leaders to buy it off. But although she skillfully prepares for the advent of her savior, the aphasic street-person Starr, Paretsky isn't quite up to the task of breathing life into this psychotic saint, "the most urgently alive person Mara had ever met," as she goes about curing the sick, turning grape juice into wine, and raising the dead before meeting her own violent death and mysterious resurrection.It's disappointing to find that Starr, so shadowy and indistinct herself, lives in her far more vivid followers mainly as a rallying point for feminist social reform—which comes down here to settling scores with men. Still, Paretsky's ambitious, ambiguously religious novel earns an honorable place in the gallery of straight fiction by mystery writers from P.D. James's Innocent Blood to Walter Mosley's RL's Dream.