Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels.^[1] Her novels have won multiple awards, including an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards, an Edgar Award, a Gumshoe Award, a Macavity Award, a Nero Award, two Shamus Awards, and two Strand Critics Award.

Laura Lippman
Lippman at the 2015 National Book Festival
Born	(1959-01-31) January 31, 1959 (age 66) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Author
Alma mater	Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Wilde Lake High School
Subject	Detective fiction
Notable awards	Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Nero, Barry, Macavity, Strand and Shamus
Spouse	David Simon ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2024)​
Children	1
Website
www.lauralippman.com

Biography

Lippman was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Columbia, Maryland. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman, Jr., a writer at The Baltimore Sun, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a retired school librarian for the Baltimore City Public School System.^[2] Her paternal grandfather was Jewish, and the remainder of her ancestry is Scots-Irish.^[3][4] Lippman was raised Presbyterian.^[5] She attended high school in Columbia, Maryland, 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. She graduated from Wilde Lake High School in 1977.^[6]

Lippman is a former reporter for the now defunct San Antonio Light and The Baltimore Sun. She is best known for writing a series of novels set in Baltimore and featuring Tess Monaghan, a reporter turned private investigator. Lippman's works have won the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Nero, 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 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 starring Diane Lane. Her novel Lady in the Lake was adapted as a limited series for Apple TV.^[7]

Lippman lives in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Federal Hill and frequently writes in the neighborhood coffee shop Spoons.^[8] In addition to writing, she teaches at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, just outside Baltimore. In January 2007, Lippman taught at the 3rd Annual Writers in Paradise at Eckerd College. 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. 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.^[9]

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 series The Wire, in a "narrow brick row house", in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood.^[10][11]

In 2006, Lippman married Simon in a ceremony officiated by John Waters.^[12][13] She had been married for seven years, to another man, which ended in a "difficult divorce."^[10] Lippman and Simon married in 2006 and have a daughter who was born in 2010.^[14]

Lippman and Simon separated in 2020, divorcing in 2024.^[15] The two continue to co-parent their daughter.^[16]

Awards

What the Dead Know was a New York Times Best Seller.^[17]

In 2014, Lippman won the inaugural Pinckley Prize for a Distinguished Body of Work.^[18]

Awards for Lippman's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1998	Baltimore Blues	Shamus Award for Best First Novel	Finalist	[19]
	Charm City	Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist	[19]
		Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original	Won	[19]
		Macavity Award for Best First Novel	Finalist	[19][20]
		Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original	Won	[19][21]
1999	Butchers Hill	Agatha Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][22][23]
		Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Won	[19][22][24]
		Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist	[19][22]
		Macavity Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19][20][22]
		Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist	[19][22]
	In Big Trouble	Agatha Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
2000		Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Won	[19][24]
		Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist	[19]
		Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original	Won	[19][21]
	The Sugar House	Nero Award	Won	[19]
2003	Every Secret Thing	Hammett Prize	Finalist	[19]
	The Last Place	Shamus Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
2004	By a Spider’s Thread	Agatha Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
	Every Secret Thing	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][24]
		Barry Award for Best Novel	Won	[19]
2005	By a Spider’s Thread	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
		Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
2006	To the Power of Three	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
		Gumshoe Award for Best Mystery	Won
2007	No Good Deeds	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][24]
2008	"Hardly Knew Her" from Dead Man's Hand	Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Won
	What the Dead Know	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][24]
		Barry Award for Best Novel	Won	[19]
		Gold Dagger Award	Finalist	[19]
		Macavity Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][20][25]
2009	Life Sentences	Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[26]
	“Scratch a Woman” in Hardly Knew Her	Macavity Award for Best Short Story	Finalist	[20]
2011	I’d Know You Anywhere	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19][27]
		Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
2015	After I'm Gone	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Won	[19][24]
		Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel	Won	[28]
2017	Wilde Lake	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19][29]
		Barry Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[19][20][30]
2019	Sunburn	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19][31][32]
		Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel	Won	[33][34]
2020	Lady in the Lake	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[19]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[19][35][36]
		Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[37][38]
2021	Dream Girl	Strand Critics Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[39]
2022		CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger	Finalist	[19][40]

Publications

Tess Monaghan series

• Baltimore Blues (1997). ISBN 0380788756
• Charm City (1997). ISBN 0380788764
• Butchers Hill (1998). ISBN 0380798468
• In Big Trouble (1999). ISBN 0380798476
• The Sugar House (2000). ISBN 0380978172
• In a Strange City (2001). ISBN 0380978180
• The Last Place (2002). ISBN 0380978199
• By A Spider's Thread (2004). ISBN 0060506695
• No Good Deeds (2006). ISBN 978-0060570729
• Another Thing to Fall (2008). ISBN 978-0061128875
• The Girl in the Green Raincoat (2011). ISBN 978-0061938368
• Hush, Hush (2015). ISBN 978-0062083425

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

• Every Secret Thing (2004). ISBN 0060506679
• To The Power of Three (2005). ISBN 0060506725
• What the Dead Know (2007). ISBN 978-0061128851 (Little Sister in the UK)
• Life Sentences (2009). ISBN 978-0061128899
• I'd Know You Anywhere (2010). ISBN 978-0061706554 (Don't Look Back in the UK)
• The Most Dangerous Thing (2011). ISBN 978-0061706516
• And When She Was Good (2012). ISBN 978-0061706875
• After I'm Gone (2014). ISBN 978-0062083395
• Wilde Lake (2016). ISBN 978-0062083456
• Sunburn (2018). ISBN 978-0062389923
• Lady in the Lake (2019). ISBN 978-0062390011
• Dream Girl: A Novel (2021). ISBN 978-0063204652
• Prom Mom (2023). ISBN 9780062998064

Short story collections

• Baltimore Noir (2006). ISBN 978-1888451962 (editor and contributed one story)^[41]
• Hardly Knew Her: Stories (2008). ISBN 978-0061584992
• Seasonal Work: Stories (2022). ISBN 978-0063000032

Memoir

• Summer of Fall (2023). ISBN 978-1094455402 (Scribd original)

See also

• Tart Noir
• Katy Munger

References

1. "Laura Lippman Finds Her Fighting Words". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
2. Evory, Ann (November 15, 1978). Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Gale. p. 518. ISBN 9780810300385. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
3. "Secrets and Ties: Author Laura Lippman Takes a Break From Heroine Tess Monaghan With Every Secret Thing, 'The Most Hard-Boiled Book to Ever Begin With A Barbie Doll.'". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
4. "[Committee] Authors Laura Lippman & David Simon ('the Wire') Sunday 3 PM @ Bolton St.Synagogue". Bsfs.org. January 14, 2005. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
5. Chauncey Mabe (July 9, 2006). "The Dark Side Of Charm City". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
6. "Wilde Lake" (2016), Afterword
7. Petski, Denise (April 19, 2021). "'Lady In The Lake' Co-Creator Dre Ryan Inks Overall Deal With Endeavor Content". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
8. "Laura Lippman, mystery novelist". Slate.com. June 24, 2003. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
9. Baker, Jeff (March 13, 2008). "Interview: Author Laura Lippman on "Another Thing to Fall"". oregonlive.com. The Oregonian. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
10. Gross, Jane (July 28, 2005). "Laura Lippman: When Friendship Fails You". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2024. she recalls the end of her seven-year marriage...In five years together, Ms. Lippman said, she and Mr. Simon have routinely aired their grievances...Ms. Lippman and Mr. Simon live in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore...Ms. Lippman and Mr. Simon have much in common, including an aversion to marriage after difficult divorces.
11. Talbot, Margaret (October 22, 2007). "David Simon and the Creation of "The Wire"". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. It helped that Laura Lippman, Simon's third wife—whom he began dating in 2000 and married last year—was a Baltimore girl, whose mystery novels were set in the city, and who had no intention of leaving it
12. Zak, Dan (September 28, 2010). "'The Wire' writer David Simon among MacArthur genius grant winners". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
13. Weiss, Max (August 2009). "The Baltimore Grill: Laura Lippman". Baltimore Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
14. Pinckley, Diana (October 3, 2010). "Author Laura Lippman on her husband David Simon, New Orleans life and her love for mysteries". The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
15. Lippman, Laura (December 5, 2024). "I Don't Know Why #4". Oldster Magazine. Retrieved February 14, 2025. Our marriage ended Feb. 9, 2020, although the divorce wouldn't be official until Jan. 12, 2024.
16. McCauley, Mary Carole (May 3, 2023). "Baltimore author Laura Lippman's deeply personal essay reveals breakup with David Simon, family crises". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
17. Dunkel, Tom (April 5, 2007). "What Her Fans Know". The Baltimore Sun. pp. C1, C3. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Awards: Pinckley Winners; Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction". Shelf Awareness. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
19. "Laura Lippman". Stop, You're Killing Me!. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
20. "Macavity Awards". Mystery Readers International. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
21. "The Private Eye Writers of America and The Shamus Awards". Thrilling Detective. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
22. Quinn, Judy (November 29, 1999). "Booknews: No Mystery to Laura Lippman's Leap". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
23. Schaub, Michael (July 19, 2021). "Agatha Award Winners Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
24. "The Anthony Awards: A Literary Award for Crime Fiction". Crime Fiction Awards. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
25. "Macavity Awards". Lincoln City Libraries. September 2022. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
26. "Awards: L.A. Times Book Prize Finalists; Strand Mag Critics Award Nominees". Shelf Awareness . February 23, 2010. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
27. "Awards: Anthony Nominees". Shelf Awareness. May 12, 2011. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
28. Gulli, Andrew (July 10, 2015). "It's a Tie: Lippman and Abbott Win the Award for Best Novel..." Strand Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
29. "Awards: Nebulas; Chautauqua; Anthonys". Shelf Awareness. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
30. "Announcing the 2017 Macavity Awards Nominees". Criminal Element. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
31. "2019 Anthony Award Winners". Mystery Scene Magazine. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
32. "Announcing the 2019 Anthony Award Winners". CrimeReads. November 3, 2019. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
33. "Critics Awards 2019". Strand Magazine. February 15, 2024. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
34. "Awards: Dylan Thomas; Strand Critics; Nicholas Schaffner". Shelf Awareness. May 20, 2019. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
35. "Macavity Awards - 2020". Nightstand Book Reviews. October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
36. Schaub, Michael (July 17, 2020). "Macavity Awards Shortlists Are Announced". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
37. Gulli, Andrew (July 17, 2020). "2020 Strand Critics Awards Nominations". Strand Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
38. "Awards: Strand Critics Finalists". Shelf Awareness. July 21, 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
39. Book Trib (June 30, 2022). "The Strand Magazine Announces Nominations for 2022 Strand Critics Awards". Strand Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
40. "CWA Dagger Award Winners 2022". Deadly Pleasures. June 30, 2022. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
41. "Baltimore Noir". Publishers Weekly. May 2006. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2020.

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, September 13, 2013: "How Laura Lippman Changed Paths At 42 And Became A Bestselling Author