Sara Paretsky is an American novelist of detective fiction, largely featuring female private investigator V.I. Warshawski. Paretsky’s contributions to crime fiction include writing a female character who breaks all of the rules of what a female detective is “supposed” to be and transcending the typical labels.

Sara Paretsky had her first novel published in 1982, which was Indemnity Only. The frequency of her novels are typically about one every two years – sometimes more, sometimes less. Below is a list of all of Sara Paretsky’s books in order of when they were originally published:

Publication Order of V.I. Warshawski Books

Indemnity Only (1982)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Deadlock (1984)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Killing Orders (1985)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Bitter Medicine (1987)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Blood Shot / Toxic Shock (1988)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Burn Marks (1990)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Guardian Angel (1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Tunnel Vision (1994)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Hard Time (1999)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Total Recall (2001)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Blacklist (2003)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Fire Sale (2005)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Hardball (2009)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Body Work (2010)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Breakdown (2012)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Critical Mass (2013)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Brush Back (2015)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Fallout (2017)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Shell Game (2018)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Dead Land (2020)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Overboard (2022)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of V.I. Warshawski Short Stories/Novellas

Photo Finish (2011)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Wildcat (2017)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Death on the Edge (2018)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of V.I. Warshawski Collections

Windy City Blues (1995)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Ghost Country (1988)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Bleeding Kansas (2007)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Taste of Life (2017)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

A Taste of Life and Other Stories (1995)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Love & Other Crimes: Stories (2020)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Writing In An Age Of Silence (2007)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Words, Works, and Ways of Knowing (2016)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Sisters in Crime Books

Sisters in Crime (1989)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters in Crime 2 (1990)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters in Crime 3 (1990)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters in Crime 4 (1991)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters In Crime 5 (1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Anthology series.

Publication Order of Deadly Allies Books

Deadly Allies (With: Sue Grafton,Jan Grape,Susan Dunlap,Margaret Maron,Nancy Pickard,Loren D. Estleman,Julie Smith,Jeremiah Healy,Max Allan Collins,Benjamin M. Schutz,John Lutz,Robert J. Randisi,Carolyn G. Hart,Lia Matera,Michael Collins,,Rob Kantner,Sandra Scoppettone,Sarah Andrews) (1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Deadly Allies II (By: Susan Dunlap,Loren D. Estleman,John Lutz,Robert J. Randisi) (1994)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Publication Order of Anthologies

The Eyes Have It(1984)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Mean Streets(1986)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Beastly Tales(1989)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
City Sleuths and Tough Guys(1989)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters in Crime 3(1990)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
A Woman's Eye(1991)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
1st Culprit(1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Women of Mystery(1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Deadly Allies(1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1991(1992)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Female Sleuths(1993)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1992(1993)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The New Mystery(1993)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
3rd Culprit(1994)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection(1994)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1993(1994)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Bad Behavior(1995)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Women on the Case(1996)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
First Cases, Volume 1(1996)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1995(1996)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Win, Lose or Die(1996)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Mystery's Most Wanted(1997)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Crime After Crime(1999)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century(2000)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Crime Story Collection(2000)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times(2001)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
A Century of Great Suspense Stories(2001)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction(2004)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Sisters on the Case(2007)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe(2011)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold(2014)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Chicago Blues(2014)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Gary Phillips' Hollis for Hire(2018)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
Crime Hits Home of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors(2022)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price
The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022(2022)Best Hardcover PriceBest Paperback PriceBest Kindle Price

Notes: Blood Shot was published in the United Kingdom as Toxic Shock. Windy City Blues was also published as V.I. for Short.

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Order of Books » Authors » Order of Sara Paretsky Books

6 Responses to “Order of Sara Paretsky Books”

  1. CELIA HOPE RUTHER: 5 years ago

    do the books need to be read in order?

    Reply

    • Graeme: 5 years ago

      Not really but I’d recommend reading in publication order. There’s a change late on in the series that affects the chronology of the books and also changes a lot of things that occurs in the books that could make things very confusing.

      Reply

      • M L: 12 months ago

        There is some sort of gap between the Killing Orders(3) and Bitter Medicine(4). A new character Mr. Contreras and she is living in a new location. I tried finding copy of Skin Deep which sounds like a bridge novel indicated by a 3.5. Even though it was published in 1994. Any info available?

        .

        Reply

        • Graeme: 12 months ago

          I’ve looked into it but can’t confirm whether Skin Deep would fall in between the two or not. Sara doesn’t even list Skin Deep on her website. I also looked up reviews of Bitter Medicine and am not seeing anyone with a similar complaint that they felt there was something missing, or something to read between the two.

          Reply

  2. pat: 9 years ago

    where does the windy city blues come in the v.i. warshawski series

    Reply

    • Brandon: 9 years ago

      It was published between Burn Marks & Guardian Angel. I’ll have it added under the “Collections” section soon.

      Reply

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