Sara Paretsky Books in Order
Sara Paretsky has written 34 books, published between 1982 and 2026. The first book is Indemnity Only (1982) and the newest is Bad Company (2026). Publication order is the reading order below. 23 of the 34 books listed here are in the V.I. Warshawski series, which has its own page: V.I. Warshawski books in order.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1982–2026
- Confirmed
- 34 of 34 titles
- Pages on record
- 10,548 in 26 of 34 books
- Reading time
- 176–264 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 10,548 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 26 of 34 titles with a page count on record.
Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, born June 8, 1947, and most noted for the novels built around the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. The catalogue holds 34 Paretsky books, from Indemnity Only (1982) to Bad Company (2026), including Deadlock (1984), Killing Orders (1985), Bitter Medicine (1987) and Burn Marks (1990). Subjects on the books include women private investigators, women detectives and Chicago, and the list also carries short story collections and standalone novels.
How many Sara Paretsky books are there?
Sara Paretsky has 34 books, released between 1982 and 2026. 23 of them belong to the V.I. Warshawski series.
Sara Paretsky Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Sara Paretsky books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119823234/4
- 219842634/4
- 319853533/4
- 419873213/4
- 519884003/4
- 619883284/4
- 719903523/4
- 819924173/4
- 919944644/4
- 101995543/4
- 1119953374/4
- 1219994954/4
- 1320014323/4
- 1420034323/4
- 1520055313/4
- 162007–3/4
- 1720076043/4
- 1820094463/4
- 1920104433/4
- 202011–3/4
- 2120124313/4
- 2220134653/4
- 2320154593/4
- 2420161653/4
- 252017–3/4
- 262017–4/4
- 2720174333/4
- 282018–4/4
- 2920183843/4
- 3020205603/4
- 3120206563/4
- 322022–3/4
- 332024–4/4
- 342026–3/4
Sara Paretsky series and characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- V.I. Warshawski books in order 26 books
Sara Paretsky books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
V.I. Warshawski books in order
23 books by Sara Paretsky- 1. Indemnity Only
- 1. Windy City Blues
- 2. Deadlock
- 3. Killing Orders
- 4. Bitter Medicine
- 5. Blood Shot / Toxic Shock
- 6. Burn Marks
- 7. Guardian Angel
- 8. Tunnel Vision
- 9. Hard Time
- 10. Total Recall
- 11. Blacklist
- and 11 more in the table above
Sara Paretsky Standalone Novels
3 books3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
V.I. Warshawski Short Stories/Novellas
3 books3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Sara Paretsky Short Story
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Sara Paretsky Non-Fiction
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Sara Paretsky Short Stories/Novellas
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Sara Paretsky Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Sara Paretsky books run from Indemnity Only (1982) to Bad Company (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Sara Paretsky in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Sara Paretsky books in order?
You only need to read Sara Paretsky books in order within the V.I. Warshawski series, which holds 23 of the 34 Sara Paretsky books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Sara Paretsky
Start with Indemnity Only (1982), the first V.I. Warshawski book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Sara Paretsky book?
Bad Company (2026) is the newest Sara Paretsky book released so far.
Is there a new Sara Paretsky book coming?
No next Sara Paretsky book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Sara Paretsky has won
Wikidata records 6 awards for Sara Paretsky. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement2015Won
- The Grand Master2011Won
- Shamus Award2011Won
- Gold Dagger2004Wonfor Blacklist
- Cartier Diamond Dagger2002Won
- Anthony Award1992Won
Sara Paretsky at a glance
- Still publishing
- Sara Paretsky published a book as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Sara Paretsky books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 10,548 pages across the 26 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 432 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Sara Paretsky books, 11 of 34, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 9 of the 34 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the Sara Paretsky books are about
27 of the 34 Sara Paretsky books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: v. i. warshawski (fictitious character) is tagged on 19 of 27. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- V. I. Warshawski (Fictitious character) 19 of 27 books
- Women private investigators 16 of 27 books
- Private investigators 12 of 27 books
- Warshawski, v. i. (fictitious character) 12 of 27 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 10 of 27 books
- Chicago (Ill.) 8 of 27 books
- Mystery & detective 7 of 27 books
- Homeless persons 2 of 27 books
- Missing persons 2 of 27 books
- Murder 2 of 27 books
Other Mystery authors
Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.
- Mystery authors and series in order
- Freida McFadden books in order 35 books
- J.D. Robb books in order 41 books
- Agatha Christie books in order 290 books
- Janet Evanovich books in order 79 books
- Ann Cleeves books in order 52 books
- Richard Osman books in order 14 books
- Elly Griffiths books in order 49 books
- Elizabeth George books in order 36 books