Crime writer Paretsky honoured

Sara Paretsky: A "lifetime's outstanding contribution to crime writing"

Best-selling crime author Sara Paretsky has been honoured as the Crime Writer of the Year at a gala event on Wednesday night.

Paretsky flew to the UK from her home in the US to receive the prestigious Diamond Dagger Award at a ceremony at London's British Museum.

The reception was attended by around 100 members of the UK Crime Writers' Association (CWA), who also voted for Paretsky as this year's winner.

Sara Paretsky has broken the mould for female crime writers and private investigators, in a field unfairly considered to be dominated by men

Russell James, from the CWA

Paretsky has acquired an international reputation as the creator of the female detective VI Warshawski, the star of 10 novels such as the latest Total Recall.

Members of the CWA include reknown crime writers such as Dick Francis and Ian Rankin.

And, according to the CWA's former chairman Russell James, they considered Paretsky a worthy winner for a "lifetime's outstanding contribution to crime writing".

"Sara Paretsky has broken the mould for female crime writers and private investigators, in a field unfairly considered to be dominated by men," said Mr James.

"For this coveted award the CWA selects writers whose careers have been marked by sustained excellence.

"They must also have made a significant contribution to crime fiction published in the English language, whether originally or in translation."

Pioneer

Paretsky's VI Warshawski is a private investigator based in Chicago who made her first appearance in Indemnity Only in 1982.

VI Warshawski specialises in white collar crime, often finding companies bolstering their position without regard for the ordinary people who work for them.

John Le Carré is a former winner

She helped spawn a wave of women detectives in fiction dealing with a wide range of social issues in their investigations.

In 1986, Paretsky became the co-founder and first president of Sisters in Crime, an association for female crime writers.

She got involved in response to findings that many female authors were not getting the same media attention as their male counterparts.

The now-successful organisation has 50 chapters across the world.

The CWA's annual award was set up in 1986 and its first winner was Eric Ambler.

Subsequent recipients have been PD James, John le Carré, Dick Francis, Julian Symons, Ruth Rendell, Leslie Charteris, Ellis Peters, Michael Gilbert, Reginald Hill, H.R.F. Keating, Colin Dexter, Ed McBain, Margaret Yorke and Peter Lovesey.

The CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for 2001 went to Lionel Davidson.

Paretsky, also the author of Ghost Country, a non-crime fiction novel, has also previously received the CWA Silver Dagger Award for Toxic Shock, known as Blood Shot in the US.