Sara Paretsky

Author Information
Sara Paretsky's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    48 Books (1 Series)
  • First Book:
    January 1982
  • Latest Book:
    April 2024
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About the Author

Sara Paretsky was born and brought up in Kansas. She has a degree in finance and a PhD in history, and has worked as a conference manager, a freelance business writer, and a sales promotion manager for a large insurance company. She now writes full time and is the author of six V.I. Warshawski novels set in Chicago, where she lives with her husband. Toxic Shock, her previous novel, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award for 1988.
Sara Paretsky's private eye has been called "the most engaging woman in detective fiction since Dorothy Sayers' Harriet Vane" (Newsweek).

Full Series List in Order

A V.I. Warshawski Mystery

0.5 - Wildcat (Mar-2017)
1 - Indemnity Only (Jan-1982)
2 - Deadlock (Feb-1984)
3 - Killing Orders (Apr-1985)
3.5 - Skin Deep (Jul-1994)
4 - Bitter Medicine (Apr-1987)
4.5 - The Case of the Pietro Andromache (Oct-1992)
5 - Blood Shot (Aug-1988)
6 - Burn Marks (Feb-1990)
7 - Guardian Angel (Jan-1992)
8 - Tunnel Vision (May-1994)
9 - Windy City Blues (Sep-1995)
10 - Hard Time (Sep-1999)
11 - Total Recall (Sep-2001)
12 - Blacklist (Sep-2003)
13 - Fire Sale (Jun-2005)
14 - Hardball (Oct-2009)
15 - Body Work (Sep-2010)
16 - Breakdown (Jan-2012)
17 - Critical Mass (Oct-2013)
18 - Brush Back (Aug-2015)
19 - Fallout (Apr-2017)
19.5 - Death on the Edge (Sep-2018)
20 - Shell Game (Oct-2018)
21 - Dead Land (Apr-2020)
22 - Overboard (May-2022)
23 - Pay Dirt (Apr-2024)

Book List in Order: 48 titles

  • Indemnity Only

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 1

    EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MURDER Start with a missing co-ed sought by a mysterious client who won't reveal his true identity. Mix in a dead boyfriend whose body you're unlucky enough to find. Then for good measure throw in the local cops who simply want y...

  • Deadlock

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 2

    When Chicago Black Hawks hockey legend Boom Boom Warshawski slips off a wharf and drowns in Lake Michigan, his private-eye cousin questions the accidental death report and rumors of suicide. Armed with a bottle of Black Label and a Smith & Wesson, V....

  • Killing Orders

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 3

    It begins as a three-million-dollar heist from a Dominican priory. It spirals into a case of lethal complexity that may unite big corporate conspirators, Chicago's underworld bosses, and the Church itself in a very unholy communion. V .I. Warshaws...

  • Bitter Medicine

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 4

    Private eye V.I. Warshawski has reluctantly agreed to drive her young friend Consuelo Alvarado, sixteen and pregnant, and Consuelo's punk husband, Fabiano, to a job interview. Without the escort, Fabiano probably wouldn't go. Then Consuelo goes in...

  • Blood Shot

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 5

    V. I. Warshawski isn't crazy about going back to her old south Chicago neighborhood, but a promise is something she always keeps. Caroline, a childhood friend, has a dying mother and a problem--after twenty-five years she wants V.I. to find the fathe...

  • Burn Marks

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 6

    Someone knocking on the door at 3 A.M. is never good news. For V.I. Warshawski, the bad news arrives in the form of her wacky, unwelcome aunt Elena. The fire that has just burned down a sleazy SRO hotel has brought Elena to V.I.'s doorstep. Uncoverin...

  • A Woman's Eye

    Crime is common ground for the twenty-one women writers in this extraordinary collection of contemporary mystery fiction, introduced and edited by Sara ParetskyThe voices here include  professional crime solvers who take you from the mean&#...

  • Guardian Angel

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 7

    Underneath V.I. Warshawski's wisecracking P.I. exterior lies a real pushover. When elderly neighbor Mr. Contreras asks her to look into a fellow union retiree's sudden disappearance, appearance, she says "yes" from her heart, not her head. And when a...

  • The Case of the Pietro Andromache

    in Women on the Edge
    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 4.5

    "

    “An absolutely first-rate anthology. . . a thoughtful and intelligent paean to crime fiction.” — New York Sun

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George serves up a century''s worth of superb crim...



  • Tunnel Vision

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 8

    Stubbornness has landed private eye V. I. Warshawski in big trouble at her Chicago office. With her grand old Loop building set to be razed, she's become a hold-out tenant amid frayed wiring and scary, empty corridors. Then she finds a homeless woman...

  • Skin Deep

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 3.5

  • A Taste of Life

    A classic short story of love, revenge, and appetite from New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky.Daphne Raydor has an insatiable appetite. Overweight as she is, she always assumed she would never know love. But meeting Jerry changes everythi...

  • Windy City Blues

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 9

    FRIENDS & FAMILY CAN BE MURDER Decked out in her silk shirts and no-nonsense attitude, V.I. has barely finished her morning coffee when she sees an ad in the paper asking for information about her own mother, long dead. Enter her newfound Italian ...

  • Heartbreak House

    in Murder for Love

    Sixteen stories about love gone wrong consider the link between romance and death and include contributions by such popular authors as Mary Higgins Clark, Jonathan Kellerman, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, and Joyce Carol Oates. Reprint....

  • Publicity Stunts

    in Women On the Case

    Crime and detection are women's work for twenty-six great writers in this second brilliant collection of mystery fiction edited by Sara Paretsky. From wicked irony and white-collar crime in Amanda Cross's "The Baroness," to the chilling "Only a Woman...

  • The Great Tetsuji

    in 3rd Culprit (Worldwide)

    Crime in all its devious incarnations is presented in this treat of murderous morsels dished out by old ppros and promising newcomers. Artfully crafted and impossible to put down, each story bountifully demooonstrates why these authors are la creme d...

  • Strung Out

    The teenage tennis star had a frighteningly brutal trainer--her father. So nobody cried when he got strangled in the women's locker room. Now V.I. Warshawski wants to clear the number one suspect--who was showering alone at the time in Strung Out. An...

  • Ghost Country

    Sara Paretsky's genius made Chicago private eye V.I. Warshawski a household name. Now the New York Times bestselling author explores an unseen corner of the city she loves. In Ghost Country she has written a parable for the millennium, a powerful,...

  • Hard Time

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 10

    In an instant, the lives of two women collided. One was behind the wheel of a Trans Am she liked to drive too fast. The other was lying in the road, dying an agonizing death. When Chicago private eye V. I. Warshawski got out of her car to look at the...



  • At the 'Century of Progress'

    in Mysterious Pleasures

    'Show me a man or woman who cannot stand mysteries and I will show you a fool. A clever fool -- perhaps -- but a fool just the same' RAYMOND CHANDLER Ever since its creation in 1953, the Crime Writers' Association has celebrated and champione...

  • Female Sleuths

  • Total Recall

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 11

    For V.I., the journey begins with a national conference in downtown Chicago, where angry protesters are calling for the recovery of Holocaust assets. Replayed on the evening news is the scene of a slight man who has stood up at the conference to tell...

  • Blacklist

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 12

    As a favor to her most important client, V. I. agrees to check up on an empty mansion. But instead of a mysterious intruder, she discovers a dead man in the ornamental pond--a reporter for an African-American publication whom the suburban cops are q...

  • Fire Sale

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 13

    A conscience can weigh a PI down more than the heaviest firearm--and get her into more trouble. It's that nagging conscience that makes V. I. Warshawski agree to fill in as coach for the girls' basketball team at her South Chicago alma mater--which i...

  • Acid Test

    in Deadly Housewives

    Wisteria Lane has nothing on the grandes dames of mystery. . . . In the expert hands of fourteen unsurpassed storytellers, being a housewife takes on a whole new meaning. Get ready for a lethal mix of meddling mothers-in-law, creepy neighbors, cheat...

  • Sisters On the Case

    Featuring contributions from some of today's best-known women mystery writers including Sue Henry, Barbara D'Amato, Carolyn Hart, and Sara Paretsky, this thrilling collection is filled with fear, murder, suspense, and revenge. Original....

  • Bleeding Kansas

    In Kansas, on land that once saw some of America's bloodiest antislavery battles, three families have coexisted for more than one hundred fifty years: the Grelliers, the Fremantles, and the Schapens. Once allies in the fight against slavery, today th...

  • Lily And The Sockeyes

    in Penguin Book of Crime Stories

    International bestselling author Peter Robinson turns his razor-sharp instinct for crime writing to this unique anthology featuring the cream of crime fiction. With a selection of 15 stories featuring established bestsellers and new voices, The Pengu...

  • Hardball

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 14

    Chicago's unique brand of ball is sixteen-inch slow pitch, played in leagues all over the city for more than a century. But in politics, in business, and in law enforcement, the game is hardball. When V. I. Warshawski is asked to find a man who's ...



  • Body Work

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 15

    "Doctors take days off -- why not PIs?" V.I. Warshawski demands. But when America's hardest-working private eye goes clubbing, a stranger is shot and dies in her arms. V.I. has been visiting Club Gouge, Chicago's edgiest nightspot, where a woman...

  • Photo Finish

    A classic V.I. Warshawski short story from New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky.   When a beautiful young man hires Chicago detective V.I. Warshawski to find his long-lost father, his story has so many holes that V.I. knows she’s on...

  • Breakdown

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 16

    Carmilla, Queen of the Night, is a shape-shifting raven whose fictional exploits thrill girls all over the world. When tweens in Chicago's Carmilla Club hold an initiation ritual in an abandoned cemetery, they stumble on an actual corpse, a man stabb...

  • Critical Mass

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 17

    New York Times-bestselling author Sara Paretsky's brilliant protagonist V.I. Warshawski returns in another hard-hitting entry, combining razor-sharp plotting and compelling characters with a heady mix of timely political and social themes. V.I. Wa...

  • Dealer's Choice and Lily and the Sockeyes

    Two Sara Paretsky mysteries in one collection

    "Dealer's Choice"

    On the day after Easter, a woman enters Detective Marlow's office, determined to have his help in settling her brother's gambling troubles. It isn't long, however, before Ma...

  • Brush Back

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 18

    Chicago’s V. I. Warshawski confronts crooked politicians and buried family secrets in the gritty new novel from New York Timesâ€"bestselling author Sara Paretsky. No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but there are ...

  • Wildcat

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 0.5

    Sara Paretsky, one of the most legendary crime writers of all time, presents an exclusive and thrilling short story featuring beloved investigator V.I. Warshawski as a ten-year-old girl on her first investigation. V.I. Warshawski developed her str...

  • Fallout

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 19

    Before there was Lisbeth Salander, before there was Stephanie Plum, there was V.I. WARSHAWSKI. To her parents, she's Victoria Iphigenia. To her friends, she's Vic. But to clients seeking her talents as a detective, she's V.I. And her new case will le...

  • Death on the Edge

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 19.5

    In this short story from New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky, acclaimed detective V.I. Warshawski must confront gun violence in her own Chicago hometownLegendary sleuth V.I. Warshawski is no stranger to the sound of bullets. Growing up in...

  • Shell Game

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 20

    Sara Paretsky follows her instant New York Times bestseller Fallout -- her most widely read novel in years -- with an extraordinary adventure that pits her acclaimed detective, V.I. Warshawski, against some of today’s most powerful figures. Lege...



  • Gary Phillips' Hollis For Hire

    Yes, this is a violent world that Nate inhabits, but he steers a true and moral course through the layers of deception, skullduggery and sometime worse that make these stories such high-density entertainment.T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Room of...

  • Dead Land

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 21

    Chicago’s legendary detective, V.I. Warshawski, knows her city’s rotten underbelly better than most, but she’s unable to avoid it when her goddaughter drags her into a fight over lakefront land use, in this propulsive novel from New York Times ...

  • Love and Other Crimes: Stories

    From New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky, a collection of thrilling crime and detective short stories, many featuring legendary detective V.I. Warshawski -- including a brand-new V.I. story. New York Times bestselling author Sara Paret...

  • Overboard

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 22

    Legendary detective V.I. Warshawski uncovers a nefarious conspiracy during the Covid pandemic, in this thrilling novel from New York Times bestseller Sara Paretsky. On her way home from an all-night surveillance job, V.I. Warshawski’s dogs lead ...

  • Ends of Justice

    This collection includes an essay, a poem, and two short stories by acclaimed author Sara Paretsky. All proceeds will be donated to organizations supporting reproductive health care....

  • The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2022

    Sara Paretsky selects the twenty best mystery short stories of the year, including tales by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and more!Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore,...

  • Entertainment to Die For

    Are a famous director and an illustrious screenwriter best buddies or vindictive rivals? Why does an all-Black cast shooting a vampire movie find their star a bit...lethal? Can revenge last in the entertainment world even into the retirement home? Ho...

  • Pay Dirt

    A V.I. Warshawski Mystery - 23

    Legendary detective V.I. Warshawski uncovers a mystery with roots dating back to the Civil War in this edge-of-your-seat thriller from New York Times bestseller Sara Paretsky.V .I. Warshawski is famous for her cool under fire, her intelligence, her h...

  • Great Mystery Series

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Award-Winning Books by Sara Paretsky

Shell Game
2019 Edgar Allan Poe Award -- Sue Grafton Memorial Award
Total Recall
2001 RT Reviewers Choice Award -- PI Novel
A Woman's Eye
1992 Anthony Award -- Short Stories/Collection


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Sara Paretsky has published 48 books.

Sara Paretsky does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Pay Dirt, was published in April 2024.

The first book by Sara Paretsky, Indemnity Only, was published in January 1982.

Yes. Sara Paretsky has 1 series.
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