Sara Paretsky - Bibliography

Writer of detective fiction, born in Ames, Iowa, USA. She studied at the University of Kansas (1967 BA) and the University of Chicago (1977 MA; 1977 PhD), and became a publications manager for Urban Research Corp (1971–4), a free-lance business writer (1974–7), and an advertizing and direct-mail marketing manager (1977–85) before writing full time from 1985. All her novels are set in and around Chicago, and feature V I Warshawski, a female hard-boiled private detective. Her first Warshawski novel, Indemnity Only, appeared in 1982. Many of her books such as Bitter Medicine (1987) and Burn Marks (1990), explore social issues. Ghost Country (1998) does not feature her heroine, though she returned to Warshawski in Hard Time (1999). Blood Shot (1988) is considered by critics to be her best work. Later novels include Blacklist (2004) and Fire Sale (2006). She is a founder of Sisters in Crime, which promotes the work of women writers of detective fiction. In 2002 she received the Diamond Dagger Award of the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain.

Sara Paretsky (b. Paretsky was raised in Kansas.

The protagonist of all but one of Paretsky's novels is V.I.

Like those of most successful mystery writers including Dick Francis and Robert B. Parker, Paretsky's plots are based on the traditional formula: someone is murdered in the early pages to conceal a crime (which often involve important corporations and their business in Paretsky's novels), and more killings follow, culminating with Warshawski herself narrowly escaping being killed in a climactic confrontation with the murderer. As with Francis, the lack of variety in Paretsky's storylines is compensated for by rich details about the lives and businesses of Paretsky's characters. And, as in Parker's novels, local color abounds, in Paretsky's case including traffic on the Stevenson Expressway and the perennial travails of the Cubs.

Bibliography

NOVELS

Indemnity Only (1982) Deadlock (1984) Killing Orders (1985) Bitter Medicine (1987) Blood Shot (1988) Burn Marks (1990) Guardian Angel (1992) Tunnel Vision (1994) Ghost Country (1998) Hard Time (1999) ISBN 0-385-31363-2 Total Recall (2001) ISBN 0-385-31366-7 Blacklist (2003) ISBN 0-399-15085-4 Fire Sale (2005)

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Windy City Blues (1995) V.I.