Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as sp ...

novels.

Life and career

Lippman was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, and raised in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began wit ...

. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman, Jr., a writer at the ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'', and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a retired school librarian for the

Baltimore City Public School System Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore Cit ...

. Her paternal grandfather was Jewish, and the remainder of her ancestry is Scots-Irish. Lippman was raised Presbyterian. She attended high school in

, where she was the captain of the

Wilde Lake High School Wilde Lake High School is a secondary school located in Columbia, Maryland's Village of Wilde Lake, United States, one of 12 public high schools in Howard County. The school is centrally located in Howard County, and its district borders that ...

It's Academic ''It's Academic'' is the name for a number of televised academic student quiz shows for high school students through the United States and internationally. ''It's Academic'' programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV Chicago, WRC-TV ( ...

'' team. She also participated in several dramatic productions, including ''

Finian's Rainbow ''Finian's Rainbow'' is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane, produced by Lee Sabinson. The original 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances, while a film version was r ...

'', '' The Lark'', and ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ''Barefoot ...

''. She graduated from

in 1977. Lippman is a former reporter for the now defunct ''San Antonio Light'' and ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

''. She is best known for writing a series of novels set in Baltimore and featuring Tess Monaghan, a reporter turned

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. Lippman's works have won the Agatha,

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

, Gumshoe and Shamus awards. ''

What the Dead Know ''What the Dead Know'' is a crime thriller by the American writer Laura Lippman, published in 2007. The story, set in Baltimore in 2005, is about an investigation into a woman who claims to be Heather Bethany, a girl who had gone missing thirty y ...

'' (2007), was the first of her books to make the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, and was shortlisted for the

Crime Writer's Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

Dagger Award. In addition to the Tess Monaghan novels, Lippman's novel '' Every Secret Thing'' was adapted into a 2014

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

starring

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to st ...

. Her novel ''Lady in the Lake'', was adapted into a limited series for Apple. Lippman lives in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Federal Hill and frequently writes in the neighborhood coffee shop Spoons. In addition to writing, she teaches at

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...

, just outside

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. In January 2007, Lippman taught at the 3rd Annual Writers in Paradise at

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

. In March 2013, she was the guest of honor at Left Coast Crime. Lippman is married to

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...

, another former ''Baltimore Sun'' reporter, and creator and an executive producer of the HBO series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

.'' The character Bunk is shown to be reading one of her books, ''In a Strange City'', in episode eight of the first season of ''The Wire''. Lippman appeared in a scene in the first episode of the last season of ''The Wire'' as a reporter working in the ''Baltimore Sun'' newsroom. Lippman and Simon have a daughter named Georgia Ray Simon, who was born in 2010.

Works

Tess Monaghan series

* ''Baltimore Blues'' (1997). * ''Charm City'' (1997). * '' Butchers Hill'' (1998). * ''

In Big Trouble ''In Big Trouble'' is a book written by Laura Lippman and published by Avon Books (owned by HarperCollins) in 1999, which later went on to win the Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouch ...

'' (1999). * ''The Sugar House'' (2000). * ''In a Strange City'' (2001). * ''The Last Place'' (2002). * ''By A Spider's Thread'' (2004). * '' No Good Deeds'' (2006). * ''Another Thing to Fall'' (2008). * ''The Girl in the Green Raincoat'' (2011). * ''Hush, Hush'' (2015). Short Stories: * "Orphans' Court" (1999) (short story in ''First Cases: Volume 3'', edited by

Robert J. Randisi Robert Joseph Randisi (born August 24, 1951) is an American author, editor and screenwriter who writes in the detective and Western genres. Biography Randisi has authored more than 650 published books and has edited more than 30 anthologies of sh ...

) * "Ropa Vieja" (2001) (short story in ''Murderers Row'', edited by

Otto Penzler Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is a German-born American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Biography Born in Germany to a German-American mother and a German father, Penzler moved to The ...

) * "The Shoeshine Man's Regrets" (2004) (short story in ''Murder and All That Jazz'', edited by

)

Standalone works

Novels

* '' Every Secret Thing'' (2004). * ''To The Power of Three'' (2005). * ''

'' (2007). (''Little Sister'' in the UK) * ''Life Sentences'' (2009). * ''I'd Know You Anywhere'' (2010). (''Don't Look Back'' in the UK) * ''The Most Dangerous Thing'' (2011). * ''And When She Was Good'' (2012). * ''

After I'm Gone ''After I'm Gone'' is a book written by Laura Lippman and published by William Morrow Publishers (an imprint of HarperCollins) on February 11, 2014; it won the Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presente ...

'' (2014). * ''Wilde Lake'' (2016). * ''Sunburn'' (2018). * ''Lady in the Lake'' (2019). * ''Dream Girl: A Novel'' (2021).

Short story collections

* ''Baltimore Noir'' (2006). (editor and contributed one story) * ''Hardly Knew Her: Stories'' (2008). * ''Seasonal Work: Stories'' (2022).

References

External links

Interview with Laura Lippman in ''Shots'' Ezine, September 2012
(archived)
Interview with Laura Lippman in ''Topic'' magazine, March 2019, Issue 21: Crime
*Laura Lippman interview in ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''
September 13, 2013: "How Laura Lippman Changed Paths At 42 And Became A Bestselling Author
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippman, Laura 1959 births 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Agatha Award winners American mystery writers American women journalists American women novelists American people of Jewish descent American people of Scotch-Irish descent Anthony Award winners The Baltimore Sun people Barry Award winners Edgar Award winners Goucher College faculty and staff Living people Macavity Award winners Medill School of Journalism alumni Nero Award winners Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state) Novelists from Maryland People from Columbia, Maryland Shamus Award winners Writers from Atlanta Writers from Baltimore Women mystery writers American women academics