Science Friday

Sara Paretsky transformed the mystery world in 1982 with the introduction of private eye V I Warshawski in Indemnity Only. She and V I—tough, credible, street-smart, and feminine—challenged the stereotypes of women in fiction as victims or vamps. They made it possible for a new generation of crime writers and fighters to thrive. Thirty years later, as NPR’s Maureen Corrigan said, “Warshawski [is] still the gal you want beside you in a fight—be it short, dirty and physical, or a longer campaign for social justice.” The author of Critical Mass (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013), Paretsky is based in Chicago, Illinois.