Review: Windy City Blues by Marc Krulewitch

Windy City Blues

by Marc Krulewitch

Publisher: Alibi

Pages: 254

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Jules Landau feels right at home in the ethnic stew of the Windy City, where he’s indebted to the hopes and schemes of his criminal ancestors. Street-smart and college-educated, Jules wants nothing more than to go straight and atone for his family’s past. But when he investigates a horrific killing, Jules uncovers a hidden world of lucrative corruption.
 
Jack Gelashvili had his head bashed in and no one knows why. The most obvious answer is that he was a parking cop, a universally loathed job—especially in Chicago. Turns out there’s a lot of money to be made on expired meters, and when Jules starts making noise, he starts making enemies—from the head of a media empire to the mastermind of a prostitution ring. When rumors of bloodthirsty Mob connections arise, Jack’s gorgeous cousin Tamar objects, and Jules is increasingly swayed by the logic and charms of the sexy baker. Following this beautiful woman into the cloistered world of Georgian immigrants, Jules brings his hunches, his family connections, and his gun. But he’s just one man against a pack of criminals with a million reasons to shoot first.


Kritters Thoughts:  Jules Landau is back and is called into another murder investigation against the advisement of his father.  This investigation gives him a new view of Chicago and maybe not the prettiest side of the city!  With parking officers, billionaires, money and prostitution the amount of work that went into this investigation was quite large.

I have only visited Chicago a few times, but both times that I finished Marc Krulewitch's books I have wanted to make a return trip to see the things he describes in his books.  I could feel the grittiness of the city and the neighborhoods that Jules Landau ends up in.  I loved also seeing the business buildings and the relationship between the working class and the banking folk.  

The amount of characters and their interconnectedness in this book was insanely confusing and at times I had a hard time keeping up with Jules.  Thankfully he repeated his findings to other characters and that helped me get the story.  

The second in a series, but this is one of those series that you don't have to read them in a row as each book is mostly self contained and each book is a new investigation that will be solved within. 


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2014 Challenge: 73 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.