Hardball by Sara Paretsky

V.I. Warshawski is a female detective in Chicago. Somehow in the course of her investigations, she seems to get herself almost killed in a bunch of different ways. Yet in spite of the obstacles she faces, she is able to figure out the 'whodunit' and triumph over those who would see her fail. Hardball finds her performing a missing persons search for someone who disappeared roughly 40 years ago. In the process of trying to find this person, an old murder trial comes to her attention where she begins to suspect the wrong person was convicted for the murder.

I have enjoyed every V.I. Warshawski book I have read. The writing draws me into the story, her character is flawed and real, and the suspense keeps the pages turning. I actually picked up one of the books in the middle of the series first - Hard Time - before realizing it was part of a series. I then went back and read the series from the beginning (skipping Hard Time when I got to it since I'd already read it). I'm actually thinking I might want to go back and re-read this series again as they are quite enjoyable mysteries. It's also interesting to watch V.I. Warshawski's character develop over the years. While you don't have to read the books in order (each book can stand alone), it's more fun to read the series in order so you get the character progression as well as the advance of technology as time goes on.

The series in order (per Stop You're Killing Me site):
Indemnity Only
Deadlock
Killing Orders
Bitter Medicine
Blood Shot
Burn Marks
Guardian Angel
Tunnel Vision
Windy City Blues (short story collection)
Hard Time
Total Recall
Blacklist
Fire Sale
Hardball
Body Work - I haven't read this one yet