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 criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

novels. Her novels have won multiple awards, including an

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short ...

, seven

Anthony Awards The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

, two Barry Awards, an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

, a Gumshoe Award, a

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "Macavity, mystery cat ...

, a

Nero Award The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout. The Nero Award is presented annually at the Black Orch ...

, two Shamus Awards, and two Strand Critics Award.

Biography

Lippman was born in

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

and raised in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

. 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, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a retired school librarian for the Baltimore City Public School System. Her paternal grandfather was Jewish, and the remainder of her ancestry is Scots-Irish. Lippman was raised

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

. She attended high school in

, where she was the captain of the Wilde Lake High School '' It's Academic'' team. She also participated in several dramatic productions, including '' Finian's Rainbow'', '' The Lark'', and ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy stage play 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 ...

''. She graduated from Wilde Lake High School in 1977. Lippman is a former reporter for the now defunct ''San Antonio Light'' and ''

''. 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; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

. Lippman's works have won the Agatha, Anthony,

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

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

, Gumshoe and Shamus awards. '' What the Dead Know'' (2007), was the first of her books to make the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, and was shortlisted for the

Crime Writers' 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. ...

Gold Dagger Award. In addition to the Tess Monaghan novels, Lippman has written works independent of that character. Her novel '' Every Secret Thing'' was adapted as a 2014

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

starring Diane Lane. Her novel ''

Lady in the Lake ''Lady in the Lake'' is a 1947 American film noir starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames and Jayne Meadows. An adaptation of the 1943 Raymond Chandler murder mystery '' The Lady in the Lake'', the pictu ...

'' was adapted as a limited series for Apple TV. 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 university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

, just outside

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

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

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront (area), waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega ...

. In March 2013, she was the guest of honor at Left Coast Crime.

Representation in other media

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 ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

''. 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.

Personal life

In 2000, she began dating and soon living with David Simon, another former ''Baltimore Sun'' reporter, and creator and an executive producer of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

'', in a "narrow brick

row house A terrace, terraced house (British English, UK), or townhouse (American English, US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses party wall, sharing side walls. In the United States ...

", in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood. In 2006, Lippman married Simon in a ceremony officiated by

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

. She had been married for seven years, to another man, which ended in a "difficult divorce." Lippman and Simon married in 2006 and have a daughter who was born in 2010. Lippman and Simon separated in 2020, divorcing in 2024. The two continue to co-parent their daughter.

Awards

''What the Dead Know'' was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. In 2014, Lippman won the inaugural Pinckley Prize for a Distinguished Body of Work.

Publications

Tess Monaghan series

Short stories

* "Orphans' Court" (1999) (short story in ''First Cases: Volume 3'', edited by Robert J. Randisi) * "Ropa Vieja" (2001) (short story in ''Murderers Row'', edited by Otto Penzler) * "The Shoeshine Man's Regrets" (2004) (short story in ''Murder and All That Jazz'', edited by Robert J. Randisi)

Standalone works

Novels

Short story collections

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

Memoir

* ''Summer of Fall'' (2023). (Scribd original)

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'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''
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 American women mystery writers American women academics