Killing Orders [Paperback]

Sara Paretsky (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: New York Ballantine 1990.; Revised Edition edition (1990)
• ASIN: B000N162KS
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,172,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the award-winning creator of the V I Warshawski detective novels. When Sara introduced V I in Indemnity Only in 1982, she revolutionized the mystery novel. By creating a female investigator who uses her wits as well a her fists, Sara challenged a genre in which women were traditionally either vamps or victims.

V I is the quintessential urban woman. She grew up in the shadow of the old steel mills on Chicago's Southeast side and knows her way around every alley in town. She's a street fighter, a singer, a bit of a clothes horse, and a woman of great intensity and passion.

So how much like V I is her creator? They certainly come from very different places. Sara grew up in rural Kansas where she attended a two-room school. She continues to believe the high point of her life came at the age of twelve when she was picked to play third base for the Kaw Valley District 95 baseball team.

Bleeding Kansas, Sara's 14th novel, is set in the part of the Kaw River Valley where Sara grew up.

Sara first came to Chicago in 1966 to do community service work in the same neighborhood where Martin Luther King was organizing. It was a time of fierce passions in the city and in the country as people fought over racial justice, the rights and wrongs of the war in Vietnam, and women's rights. Sara has always felt that that summer changed her life forever, and when she finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas, she came back to make Chicago her home. Some of the history of that summer is recounted in her essay collection, Writing in an Age of Silence.

Like V I, Sara likes to sing, in an amateur way, has a hopeless passion for the Cubs, loves Italian shoes'and is obsessed by the search for the perfect cappuccino, so much so that she even went to cappuccino school.

In other academic ventures, Sara received a PhD in American History and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1976, she married physics professor Courtenay Wright. The two live in the city of Chicago with their wonder dog Callie. Their lives are made brighter by their adored granddaughter, Maia.

Sara shares V I's passion for social justice. She founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 to support women readers and writers in the mystery world. To give back to the community, Paretsky established the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation, which primarily supports girls and women in the arts, letters, and sciences. She has endowed several scholarships at the University of Kansas, and has mentored students in Chicago's inner city schools. She serves on the advisory boards of Literature for All of Us, a literacy group for teen moms, and Thresholds, which serves Chicago's mentally-ill homeless.

Sara has received numerous awards, including the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers Association, the Gold Dagger for best novel for her book Blacklist, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from several different universities. Sara's books have been translated into almost thirty languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gets into the character, March 22, 2002

By 

Angel L. Soto (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killing Orders (Mass Market Paperback)

KILLING ORDERS is one of Paretsky's earlier V. I. Warshawski novels. In this case her aunt Rosa is accused by her church in committing stock fraud. She reluctantly asks her niece for her help in clearing her name.

I have read most of Warshawski's novels and this one is one of my favorites mainly because I got to learn more about her character as well as her relationship with her friend, Lotty. I regret having read them in disorder but I recommend this novel for anyone interested in learning how V. I. got started. Although this is the third novel in the series it tells a lot.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird but good, September 16, 2000

By 

Christina P. Branson "Strixaluco" (Fort Collins) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Orders (Mass Market Paperback)

Very good, in fact. I don't think Paretsky had quite fashioned her own mold for the genre yet, so there are a few cliché elements in the book, but everything else is a highly original treat. Lots of great little twists throughout--not just plot twists, but different ways of looking at things. With V.I. Warshawski, Paretsky has created a heroine who is intelligent, engaging, and not afraid to shake things up. I haven't read much early V.I. yet, but I intend to, so I can get to know this woman from the beginning.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early VI, August 1, 2007

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Killing Orders: A V. I. Warshawski Novels (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the first in Paretsky's V.I Warshawski series, Killing Orders involves stock fraud among the friars in a Chicago Dominican convent. When VI's less than beloved aunt, who works at the friary, is implicated, she calls in her niece to help her retain her good reputation. It's surprising how interesting a mystery about financial fraud can be in the hands of Sara Paretsky. VI (Victoria) is no pushover, and when the case grows personally intimidating, she digs in and resolves to break it no matter what or who she has to take on. Even if her new love interest is involved.....