World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Laura Lippman

ローラ・リップマン

Laura Lippman

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1959-01-31 （Atlanta, Georgia, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Presbyterian (Protestant)
Residence History
Columbia, Maryland → Federal Hill, Baltimore, Maryland → Atlanta, Georgia (birthplace)

Career

Occupations
Author, Journalist, Instructor
Active Years
1980-

Education

Wilde Lake High School
Period: 1973–1977
Year of Graduation: 1977
Country: United States
Participated in academic quiz team and dramatic productions in high school
Northwestern University (Medill School of Journalism)
Journalism
Country: United States
Studied journalism at Medill (graduation year not specified)

Awards

Agatha Award for Best Novel
1999
Work: Butchers Hill
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Agatha Awards
Result: Won
Anthony Award for Best Novel
2004
Work: Every Secret Thing
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Anthony Awards
Result: Won
Anthony Award for Best Novel
2007
Work: What the Dead Know
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Anthony Awards
Result: Won
Barry Award for Best Novel
2007
Work: What the Dead Know
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Barry Awards
Result: Won
Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel
2007
Work: What the Dead Know
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Mystery Readers International
Result: Won
Pinckley Prize for a Distinguished Body of Work
2014
Organization: Pinckley Prize
Result: Won
Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel
2015
Work: After I'm Gone
Category: Best Mystery Novel
Organization: Strand Magazine
Result: Won
Nero Award
2000
Work: The Sugar House
Organization: Nero Award
Result: Won
Anthony Award for Best Novel
2015
Work: After I'm Gone
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Anthony Awards
Result: Won
Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel
2019
Work: Sunburn
Category: Best Mystery Novel
Organization: Strand Magazine
Result: Won
Anthony Award for Best Novel
2020
Work: Lady in the Lake
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Anthony Awards
Result: Finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Baltimore Blues

1997 Detective fiction / Mystery

The first Tess Monaghan novel, set in Baltimore and introducing the private investigator protagonist.

urban lifecrime investigationpersonal reinvention

Butchers Hill

1998 Mystery

A Tess Monaghan series entry exploring family ties and crime in Baltimore.

familyurban historyjustice

Every Secret Thing

2004 Crime fiction

A suspense novel about two girls involved in a past crime and its continuing effects on families and community.

memory and traumafamily secretsjustice and morality
Adaptations
  • [Film] Every Secret Thing / Unknown (2014)

What the Dead Know

2007 Mystery / Thriller

A novel revolving around a disappearance, weaving past and present; it became a New York Times bestseller.

memoryidentitymedia and truth

After I'm Gone

2014 Family suspense

Centers on a father's disappearance and the slow revelation of family secrets and past choices.

family secretsburden of the pastresponsibility

Lady in the Lake

2019 Mystery

Connects a 1950s murder with contemporary women; adapted as a limited series for Apple TV+.

intersection of past and presentgender and powerrecords and testimony
Adaptations
  • [TV / Limited series] Lady in the Lake / Unknown (2021)

Bibliography

  • Baltimore Blues
  • Charm City
  • Butchers Hill
  • In a Strange City
  • In Big Trouble
  • The Sugar House
  • Every Secret Thing
  • What the Dead Know
  • After I'm Gone
  • Wilde Lake
  • Sunburn
  • Lady in the Lake
  • Dream Girl
  • Prom Mom
  • Murder Takes A Vacation

Adaptations

  • Every Secret Thing (2014 film)
  • Lady in the Lake (Apple TV+ limited series)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Modern mystery with hard-boiled elementsFocus on interior life and family dynamicsRealist detail of contemporary social settings
Recurring Motifs
Baltimore setting and neighborhood specificityfamily secrets and the shadow of the pastjournalism and the pursuit of truth

Legacy

Laura Lippman is an American mystery novelist known for works set in Baltimore; she has won multiple major crime-fiction awards and is praised for character-driven stories grounded in local detail.

Academic Societies

  • Mystery Writers of America (associated)

Archives

  • Baltimore Public Library archives (related materials)
  • Personal papers / manuscripts (location unspecified)

In Popular Culture

  • Referenced in The Wire (a character is shown reading one of her books) and Lippman appears in a cameo in the series

Quotes

  • I write about where ordinary lives intersect with violence.
    Source: Interview (summary) (2007)

Trivia

  • Known for the Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore.
  • Every Secret Thing was adapted as a film in 2014.
  • Reportedly often writes at the Federal Hill coffee shop Spoons.
  • Married David Simon in 2006; divorced in 2024.
  • Has had a title appear on The New York Times bestseller list.