Sara Paretsky Books in Order: Complete List + V.I. Warshawski

By T.L. BransonMystery

The Sara Paretsky books in order begin with the V.I. Warshawski mysteries, which introduced readers to a sharp, stubborn, and fiercely independent Chicago private investigator. Paretsky debuted V.I. in Indemnity Only in 1982 and helped change what a woman detective could look like in crime fiction.

This guide covers the full-length V.I. novels, Paretsky’s standalone fiction, short stories and collections, nonfiction, anthologies, and the screen adaptation. It also explains the few places where alternate titles, overlapping collections, or different formats can make the bibliography confusing.

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V.I. Warshawski Series

I recommend reading the full-length V.I. Warshawski novels in publication order. Each investigation has its own central mystery, but V.I.’s friendships, family history, and personal life continue from book to book. Publication order gives those relationships the most natural progression.

  1. Indemnity Only (1982)
  2. Deadlock (1984)
  3. Killing Orders (1985)
  4. Bitter Medicine (1987)
  5. Blood Shot (1988)
  6. Burn Marks (1990)
  7. Guardian Angel (1992)
  8. Tunnel Vision (1994)
  9. Hard Time (1999)
  10. Total Recall (2001)
  11. Blacklist (2003)
  12. Fire Sale (2005)
  13. Hardball (2009)
  14. Body Work (2010)
  15. Breakdown (2012)
  16. Critical Mass (2013)
  17. Brush Back (2015)
  18. Fallout (2017)
  19. Shell Game (2018)
  20. Dead Land (2020)
  21. Overboard (2022)
  22. Pay Dirt (2024)

Blood Shot was published in the United Kingdom as Toxic Shock. Pay Dirt is the twenty-second full-length V.I. Warshawski novel.

V.I. Warshawski Short Stories and Collections

Paretsky has also returned to V.I. in short fiction. I prefer keeping these stories and collections with the main series because they add to V.I.’s history and world. The simplest approach is to read them around their publication dates, although none is required to follow the full-length novels.

  1. Windy City Blues (1995)
  2. Photo Finish (2000) (Short Story)
  3. V.I. x3: Photo Finish, Publicity Stunts, and Marquette Park (2009)
  4. Wildcat (2017) (Short Story)
  5. Death on the Edge (2018) (Short Story)

If you want to place Windy City Blues among the novels, I recommend reading it after Tunnel Vision. V.I. x3 collects “Photo Finish,” “Publicity Stunts,” and “Marquette Park.” It has been distributed through Women & Children First and Lulu rather than through a standard Amazon edition.

Wildcat follows V.I. as a child in 1966, so it takes place before the novels. I’d still read it near its publication date because it was written for readers who already know the adult V.I.

Love & Other Crimes, listed below with Paretsky’s mixed collections, also contains eight V.I. stories. It repeats “Photo Finish,” “Publicity Stunts,” “Wildcat,” and “Death on the Edge,” so readers interested mainly in V.I. should check that overlap before buying multiple collections.

Sara Paretsky Standalone Books

Paretsky has also written novels outside the V.I. Warshawski series. These books are separate from one another, so they can be read in any order. I’d choose whichever premise interests you most.

  1. Ghost Country (1998)
  2. Bleeding Kansas (2008)
  3. Bad Company (2026)

Bad Company introduces Lily Sedako, a retired CIA field agent, rather than continuing the V.I. Warshawski series.

Sara Paretsky Short Stories and Collections

The books below collect Paretsky’s standalone short fiction or combine V.I. stories with work about other characters. I’ve kept the dedicated V.I. material under the series above so readers can find everything connected to Warshawski in one place.

  1. A Taste of Life and Other Stories (1995)
  2. Love & Other Crimes: Stories (2020)
  3. Ends of Justice (2022)

A Taste of Life and Other Stories contains “A Taste of Life,” “Dealer’s Choice,” and “The Man Who Loved Life.” The later standalone ebook edition of “A Taste of Life” is a reissue of the title story rather than a separate work.

Love & Other Crimes contains 14 stories, including eight featuring V.I. Warshawski and six centered on other characters. Ends of Justice is a mixed collection containing an essay, a poem, and two short stories.

Sara Paretsky Nonfiction Books

Paretsky’s nonfiction combines memoir, political and literary reflection, and scholarship. Writing in an Age of Silence considers dissent, civil liberties, and the writer’s public role, while Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing is the published form of her doctoral dissertation.

  1. Writing in an Age of Silence (2007)
  2. Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing (2016)

Sara Paretsky Anthologies

Paretsky has edited major crime anthologies and contributed stories, essays, or introductions to many others. The books below are arranged by publication year and grouped according to her role.

Anthologies Edited by Sara Paretsky

  1. Beastly Tales (1989)
  2. A Woman’s Eye (1991)
  3. Women on the Case (1996)
  4. Sisters on the Case (2007)
  5. The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 (2022)

Paretsky guest-edited The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 with Otto Penzler.

Anthologies Featuring Sara Paretsky

  1. The Eyes Have It (1984)
  2. Mean Streets (1986)
  3. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe (1988)
  4. City Sleuths and Tough Guys (1989)
  5. Sisters in Crime 3 (1990)
  6. 1st Culprit (1992)
  7. Women of Mystery (1992)
  8. Deadly Allies (1992)
  9. The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1991 (1992)
  10. The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1992 (1993)
  11. Female Sleuths (1993)
  12. Great Mystery Series: Top Female Sleuths (1993)
  13. The New Mystery (1993)
  14. 3rd Culprit (1994)
  15. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection (1994)
  16. The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1993 (1994)
  17. Bad Behavior (1995)
  18. First Cases, Volume 1 (1996)
  19. The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1995 (1996)
  20. Win, Lose or Die (1996)
  21. Murder for Love (1996)
  22. Mystery’s Most Wanted (1997)
  23. Women of Mystery III (1998)
  24. Crime After Crime (1999)
  25. The Oxford Book of Detective Stories (2000)
  26. Crime Story Collection (2000)
  27. The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000)
  28. Writers on Writing (2001)
  29. A Century of Great Suspense Stories (2001)
  30. The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction (2004)
  31. Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold (2014)
  32. Chicago Blues (2014)
  33. Gary Phillips’ Hollis for Hire (2018)
  34. Bullets and Other Hurting Things: A Tribute to Bill Crider (2021)
  35. Crime Hits Home (2022)

V.I. Warshawski Adaptation

The books reached the screen with V.I. Warshawski (1991), directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Kathleen Turner. The movie is based primarily on Deadlock, the second V.I. novel. Both stories center on the death of former Chicago Blackhawks player Boom-Boom and send V.I. into a case connected to Chicago’s shipping and dockside business. Familiar characters including Murray Ryerson, Bobby Mallory, and Lotty Herschel also appear.

It is not a faithful adaptation of Deadlock. In the novel, Boom-Boom is V.I.’s cousin and lifelong friend, and he has no daughter. The movie instead makes him a man V.I. has just met, gives him a teenage daughter named Kat, and has Kat accompany V.I. through much of the investigation. It also turns the novel’s serious maritime mystery into a lighter action comedy while substantially changing the suspects, relationships, and resolution. I’d treat the film as a loose variation on Deadlock rather than a substitute for the book. Turner captures much of V.I.’s toughness and sardonic humor, but the story itself is very different.

About Sara Paretsky

Born in Iowa and raised in Kansas, Sara Paretsky came to Chicago at 19 to do community service work on the city’s South Side. She later earned graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and worked in business while developing the character who became V.I. Warshawski.

Paretsky created V.I. after growing frustrated with mystery fiction that too often limited women to victims or seductive side characters. In my view, V.I.’s lasting appeal comes from the balance Paretsky gave her: she is capable and independent, but she is also flawed, loyal, vulnerable, and shaped by her community.

Paretsky also helped found Sisters in Crime, an organization created to advocate for women crime writers. Her novels regularly examine corporate power, political corruption, poverty, class, and social justice without losing sight of the investigation at the center of each story.

She began writing stories as a child and has spoken about the early influence of Little Women. Chicago later became both her home and the defining setting of the V.I. Warshawski books.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more mystery authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Mystery Books in Order index.

3 thoughts on “Sara Paretsky Books in Order: Complete List + V.I. Warshawski”

  2. This is a valuable resource for crime fiction lovers, especially for me when I want to explore the works of Sara Paretsky.

    Reply

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