Uhnak's debut book, Policewoman (1964), was a non-fiction autobiographical account of her law enforcement career. After its publication, she left police work and devoted herself to writing full-time. Her first novel, The Bait (1968), received a 1969 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel (in a tie with E. Richard Johnson's Silver Street). The Bait was also made into a 1973 made-for-television film of the same title. It was followed by The Witness and The Ledger, which was adapted for the TV-movie and seriesGet Christie Love! starring Teresa Graves. All three novels featured Christie Opara, an NYPD detective assigned to the Manhattan District Attorney Office, where Uhnak herself was assigned for many years.[citation needed]
After the Opara trilogy, Uhnak branched out into longer, more ambitious police novels such as Law and Order, which became a TV-movie starring Darren McGavin; The Investigation, which was adapted into a TV-movie featuring Telly SavalasasKojak; and Victims, which seemed to fictionalize the Kitty Genovese murder.[2] Several of her later novels were bestsellers.[1]