Sara Paretsky (1947- )

Sara Paretsky is an American detective novelist. She was born in Iowa, and her father was a microbiologist. She attended University and studied political science and did an MBA. Her family life was not very happy. She lived in Chicago and married a professor of physics at the university there. She was involved in social work, and then began to write detective fiction. She created a character Victoria (Vic) Warshawski. Like Paretsky, Vic lives in Chicago. She studied law but then became a private detective. She married a lawyer but she and he began to diverge on political matters and they divorced. Vic is steadily left wing and her ex husband was much more conservative. She is partly Jewish and she was involved in many liberal causes in her youth, such as demonstrating against the Vietnam war, and running an underground abortion network. She is independent and has no interest in being married again or having children. She is very physically active and takes a lot of risks, in pursuing her cases. Paretsky was one of the first to create a woman detective who is tough and able to fight and look after herself. She is a bit too much of a card carrying left winger for my tastes but the stories are entertaining and a good read.