Sara Paretsky books

Sara Paretsky is an American crime fiction writer best known for her V.I. Warshawski series of detective novels set in Chicago.

Akashic Noir Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
San Francisco Noir 2002 Buy
Seattle Noir 2003 Buy
Bronx Noir 2003 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 2004 Buy
Hasidic Noir 2004 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 2 2005 Buy
Chicago Noir 2005 Buy
Dublin Noir 2005 Buy
Manhattan Noir 2006 Buy
Miami Noir 2006 Buy
D.C. Noir 2006 Buy
Baltimore Noir 2006 Buy
Twin Cities Noir 2006 Buy
London Noir 2006 Buy
New Orleans Noir 2007 Buy
Los Angeles Noir 2007 Buy
Wall Street Noir 2007 Buy
Havana Noir 2007 Buy
Detroit Noir 2007 Buy
Queens Noir 2008 Buy
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth 2008 Buy
Toronto Noir 2008 Buy
Las Vegas Noir 2008 Buy
Trinidad Noir 2008 Buy
D.C. Noir 2 2008 Buy
Manhattan Noir 2 2008 Buy
Paris Noir 2008 Buy
Istanbul Noir 2008 Buy
Boston Noir 2009 Buy
Rome Noir 2009 Buy
San Francisco Noir 2 2009 Buy
Portland Noir 2009 Buy
Delhi Noir 2009 Buy
Phoenix Noir 2009 Buy
Los Angeles Noir 2 2010 Buy
Mexico City Noir 2010 Buy
Richmond Noir 2010 Buy
Orange County Noir 2010 Buy
Indian Country Noir 2010 Buy
Moscow Noir 2010 Buy
Lone Star Noir 2010 Buy
Philadelphia Noir 2010 Buy
Haiti Noir 2010 Buy
Copenhagen Noir 2010 Buy
Pittsburgh Noir 2011 Buy
San Diego Noir 2011 Buy
Barcelona Noir 2011 Buy
Cape Cod Noir 2011 Buy
New Jersey Noir 2011 Buy
Staten Island Noir 2012 Buy
Mumbai Noir 2012 Buy
Long Island Noir 2012 Buy
Venice Noir 2012 Buy
Kingston Noir 2012 Buy
St. Petersburg Noir 2012 Buy
Kansas City Noir 2012 Buy
Boston Noir 2 2012 Buy
USA Noir 2013 Buy
Manila Noir 2013 Buy
Buffalo Noir 2013 Buy
Dallas Noir 2013 Buy
Haiti Noir 2 2013 Buy
Singapore Noir 2014 Buy
Prison Noir 2014 Buy
Tel Aviv Noir 2014 Buy
Tehran Noir 2014 Buy
Belfast Noir 2014 Buy
Helsinki Noir 2014 Buy
Rio Noir 2014 Buy
Providence Noir 2015 Buy
Chicago Noir: The Classics 2015 Buy
Memphis Noir 2015 Buy
Zagreb Noir 2015 Buy
Marseille Noir 2015 Buy
Beirut Noir 2015 Buy
New Orleans Noir: The Classics 2016 Buy
Stockholm Noir 2016 Buy
Brussels Noir 2016 Buy
Mississippi Noir 2016 Buy
St. Louis Noir 2016 Buy
Prague Noir 2016 Buy
San Juan Noir 2016 Buy
Oakland Noir 2017 Buy
Trinidad Noir: The Classics 2017 Buy
Atlanta Noir 2017 Buy
New Haven Noir 2017 Buy
Montana Noir 2017 Buy
Buenos Aires Noir 2017 Buy
Montreal Noir 2017 Buy
Berlin Noir 2018 Buy
São Paulo Noir 2018 Buy
Santa Cruz Noir 2018 Buy
Lagos Noir 2018 Buy
Marrakech Noir 2018 Buy
Baghdad Noir 2018 Buy
Vancouver Noir 2018 Buy
Sydney Noir 2018 Buy
Hong Kong Noir 2018 Buy
Amsterdam Noir 2019 Buy
Milwaukee Noir 2019 Buy
Houston Noir 2019 Buy
Nairobi Noir 2020 Buy
Columbus Noir 2020 Buy
Santa Fe Noir 2020 Buy
Alabama Noir 2020 Buy
Berkeley Noir 2020 Buy
Addis Ababa Noir 2020 Buy
Tampa Bay Noir 2020 Buy
Miami Noir: The Classics 2020 Buy
Accra Noir 2020 Buy
Belgrade Noir 2020 Buy
Palm Springs Noir 2021 Buy
Paris Noir: The Suburbs 2022 Buy
Denver Noir 2022 Buy
South Central Noir 2022 Buy
Cleveland Noir 2023 Buy
East Jerusalem Noir 2023 Buy
West Jerusalem Noir 2023 Buy
Honolulu Noir 2024 Buy
Sacramento Noir 2025 Buy
Hamburg Noir 2025 Buy

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
The Eyes Have It 1984 Buy
Mean Streets 1986 Buy
Beastly Tales 1989 Buy
City Sleuths and Tough Guys 1989 Buy
Sisters in Crime 3 1990 Buy
A Woman’s Eye 1991 Buy
1st Culprit 1992 Buy
Women of Mystery 1992 Buy
Deadly Allies 1992 Buy
Sisters In Crime 5 1992 Buy
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1991 1992 Buy
Female Sleuths 1993 Buy
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1992 1993 Buy
Great Mystery Series: Top Female Sleuths 1993 Buy
The New Mystery 1993 Buy
3rd Culprit 1994 Buy
Seventh Annual Collection 1994 Buy
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1993 1994 Buy
Bad Behavior 1995 Buy
Women on the Case 1996 Buy
Murder For Love 1996 Buy
First Cases, Volume 1 1996 Buy
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1995 1996 Buy
Win, Lose or Die 1996 Buy
Mystery’s Most Wanted 1997 Buy
Women of Mystery III 1998 Buy
Crime After Crime 1999 Buy
The Oxford Book of Detective Stories 2000 Buy
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century 2000 Buy
Crime Story Collection 2000 Buy
Writers on Writing 2001 Buy
A Century of Great Suspense Stories 2001 Buy
The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction 2004 Buy
Deadly Housewives 2006 Buy
Sisters on the Case 2007 Buy
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe 2011 Buy
Suspense Magazine December 2013 2013 Buy
Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold 2014 Buy
Chicago Blues 2014 Buy
The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For 2015 Buy
Bullets and Other Hurting Things: A Tribute to Bill Crider 2021 Buy
Crime Hits Home 2022 Buy
The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 2022 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Writing In An Age Of Silence 2007 Buy
Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing 2016 Buy

Short Stories/Novellas

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Taste of Life 2017 Buy

Short Story Collections

Title Published Buy on Amazon
A Taste of Life and Other Stories 1995 Buy
Love & Other Crimes: Stories 2020 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Ghost Country 1988 Buy
Bleeding Kansas 2007 Buy

V.I. Warshawski Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Indemnity Only 1982 Buy
Valor seguro 1982 N/A
Deadlock 1984 Buy
Killing Orders 1985 Buy
Bitter Medicine 1987 Buy
Medicina amarga 1987 N/A
Blood Shot 1988 N/A
Blood Shot / Toxic Shock 1988 Buy
Burn Marks 1990 Buy
Guardian Angel 1992 Buy
Tunnel Vision 1994 Buy
V.I. For Short 1995 N/A
Die verschwundene Frau. Ein Vic Warshawski Roman. 1999 N/A
Hard Time 1999 Buy
Total Recall 2001 Buy
Blacklist 2003 Buy
Fire Sale 2005 Buy
Hardball 2009 Buy
Body Work 2010 Buy
Breakdown 2012 Buy
Critical Mass 2013 Buy
Brush Back 2015 Buy
Wildcat 2017 N/A
Fallout 2017 Buy
Death on the Edge 2018 N/A
Shell Game 2018 Buy
Dead Land 2020 Buy
Overboard 2022 Buy
Pay Dirt 2024 Buy

V.I. Warshawski Collections Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Valor seguro 1982 N/A
Windy City Blues 1995 Buy
Deadlock 1984 N/A
Killing Orders 1985 N/A
Medicina amarga 1987 N/A
Blood Shot 1988 N/A
Burn Marks 1990 N/A
Guardian Angel 1992 N/A
Tunnel Vision 1994 N/A
V.I. For Short 1995 N/A
Die verschwundene Frau. Ein Vic Warshawski Roman. 1999 N/A
Total recall 2001 N/A
Blacklist 2003 N/A
Fire Sale 2005 N/A
Hardball 2009 N/A
Body Work 2010 N/A
Critical Mass 2013 N/A
Brush Back 2015 N/A
Wildcat 2017 N/A
Fallout 2017 N/A
Death on the Edge 2018 N/A
Shell Game 2018 N/A
Dead Land 2020 N/A
Overboard 2022 N/A
Pay Dirt 2024 N/A

V.I. Warshawski Short Stories/Novellas Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Photo Finish 2011 Buy
Wildcat 2017 Buy
Death on the Edge 2018 Buy

Sara Paretsky is a Chicago-based mystery writer who made her mark with the creation of V.I. Warshawski, one of the first female hard-boiled private investigators in American crime fiction. Her debut novel, Indemnity Only (1982), introduced readers to the tough, independent detective working the streets of Chicago, and the series has continued for over four decades. Paretsky’s books mix classic detective work with social commentary, often touching on corporate corruption, immigration, and political power.

Beyond the Warshawski novels, Paretsky has written standalone fiction including Ghost Country and Bleeding Kansas, as well as nonfiction about the writing life. She edited the Chicago Noir anthology for Akashic Books and has contributed to dozens of mystery anthologies over the years. Her short story collections, including Love & Other Crimes (2020), show her range within the crime fiction genre.

Paretsky co-founded Sisters in Crime, an organization supporting women mystery writers, and has received the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award. Her work helped open the door for a generation of female crime writers who followed, and V.I. Warshawski remains one of the most recognizable characters in American detective fiction.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Sara Paretsky written?

Sara Paretsky has written 228 books across nine series.

What was Sara Paretsky's first book?

Sara Paretsky’s first book is Indemnity Only, published in 1982.

What is Sara Paretsky's most popular series?

Sara Paretsky’s most popular series is the V.I. Warshawski series, featuring a female private investigator in Chicago. The series began with Indemnity Only in 1982 and has grown to include over 20 novels.

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