Sara Paretsky chats to Paul Burke about her new spy thriller Bad Company, Lily, CIA = bad dog, being a Chicago Pitbull and falling out of bed in Paris as inspiration for a novel.
Bad CompanyThe CIA forced Lily to retire before she was ready. She'd spent forty years as a field agent. She'd been skilled, resourceful, dedicated – everything that makes a good agent, but she'd rubbed too many of her bosses the wrong way. They jumped on a botched op as an excuse to fire her. Now in her seventies, waiting in a doctor's office, she reads a magazine article that startles her out of retirement. The story casts doubt on everything she believed about her first – and happiest – posting in Hayalistan, one of the old Soviet republics. Lily's angry, and she decides to find out what really happened when she was stationed there. As word of her investigation gets back to the CIA, the Company knows they must silence her. But Lily's aging body can't perform the feats it managed in her forties and fifties, and escaping their attempts on her life will test her physical and mental skills at a whole new level.
Mentions: Sally Carson, Ian McEwan, Saul Bellow, Ross Thomas, Dasheill Hammett, Raymond Chandler, The Sisterhood Liza Mundy
Sara Paretsky Called a "genius" by Lee Child and "one of the all time greats" by Karin Slaughter, Sara Paretsky transformed the role of women in the mystery world with her detective, V.I. Warshawski. V.I. is tough, feminine and vulnerable, but above all loyal to her friends and clients. Paretsky and Warshawski share a love of singing, Golden Retrievers and Italian reds. V.I. has escaped many near-death experiences, including drowning in Chicago's swamps (Blood Shot), falling down an elevator shaft (Burn Marks), and multiple attempts to shoot her down (Dead Land). Paretsky would have retired to the Umbrian Hills after one such event, but V.I. keeps coming back for more. Paretsky's passion for social justice is reflected in her novels but also in her support for reproductive health and the welfare of women and children. She founded Sisters in Crime, an international organization that advocates for women in the mystery/thriller field. She is one of four living writers to earn both the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers and Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America.
Paul Burke's first book Spies on Screen will be published in October.
Produced by Junkyard Dog
Crime Time
Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,
