Sara Paretsky

(* 1947)

Biographical Sketch

Sara Paretsky (born Ames, IA, USA, June 8, 1947) is a modern American author of detective fiction. The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky’s novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski’s eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into offices looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight. But she also pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.

Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. She also is considered the founding mother of Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports and promotes women in the mystery field. Paretsky was named 2011 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. She is the winner of many awards, including the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the CWA Gold Dagger for her novel Blacklist.

Major Awards and Honors

Edgar (Allan Poe) Awards (Mystery Writers of America)

2011: Grand Master Award – Lifetime Achievement

Shamus Awards (PWA – Private Eye Writers of America)

2005: The Eye – Lifetime Achievement Award
2011: The Hammer Award (Best P.I. Series Character) – V.I. Warshawski

Anthony Awards (World Mystery Convention)

1986: Best Novel – “Killing Orders”
1989: Best Novel – “Blood Shot”
1992: Best Short Story Collection – “A Woman’s Eye”
(editor and contributor)
2011: Lifetime Achievement Award

Dagger Awards (CWA – Crime Writers’ Association, Great Britain)

1988: Silver Dagger – “Toxic Shock” (“Blood Shot”)
2002: Diamond Dagger – Lifetime Achievement Award
2004: Gold Dagger – “Blacklist”

Bibliography

The V.I. Warshawski Mysteries

Indemnity Only (1982)
Deadlock (1984)
Killing Orders (1985)
Bitter Medicine (1987)
Blood Shot (1988)
A/K/A: Toxic Shock
Burn Marks (1990)
Guardian Angel (1992)
Tunnel Vision (1994)
Windy City Blues (1995)
– Short story collection.
Hard Time (1999)
Total Recall (2001)
Blacklist (2003)
Fire Sale (2005)
Hardball (2009)
Body Work (2010)
Breakdown (2012)
Critical Mass (2013)
Brush Back (2015)
Wildcat (2017)
– Short story.
Fallout (2017)
Death on the Edge (2018)
– Short story.
Shell Game (2019)
Dead Land (2020)

Non-Series Novels

Ghost Country (1998)
Bleeding Kansas (2007)

Short Story Collections and Anthologies

Eye of a Woman (1990)
– Editor and contributor; A/K/A: A Woman’s Eye.
Crimes of Passion (1993)
– Contributor.
A Taste of Life and Other Stories (1995)
Women on the Case (1997)
– Editor; A/K/A: Woman’s Other Eye.
Photo Finish (2000)
– E-book; stand-alone short story.
V.I. x 2 (2002)
– E-book; includes short stories Photo Finish and Publicity Stunts.
Sisters on the Case (2007)
– Editor.
V.I. x 3 (2011)
– E-book; includes both stories from V.I. x 2 and A Family Sunday in the Park.

Nonfiction

Case Studies in Alternative Education (1975)
Writing in an Age of Silence (2007)
Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing (2016)