Lori Roy (born 1965) is an Americanmystery fiction andSouthern Gothic author. Since 2011, Roy has released five books and two short stories. Of her works, Roy won the 2012Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author withBent Road and the 2014Edgar Award for Best Novel withUntil She Comes Home. With her Edgar Award wins, Roy became the first female author to win these two Edgars.Bent Road was also picked by theState Library of Kansas as one of theKansas Notable Books for 2012. Apart from writing, Roy worked inaccounting forHallmark Cards.
In 1965, Roy was born inManhattan, Kansas.[1][2] She began writing while completing her high school education. For her post-secondary education, Roy completed a finance program at theUniversity of Kansas.[3]
Following her studies, Roy was hired byHallmark Cards and worked inaccounting.[4] During the mid-1990s, Roy and her family moved fromKansas City toTampa Bay, Florida. While in Tampa Bay, Roy ended her accounting career and took care of her children while her husband worked.[5]
In her writing career,The Chattahoochee Review published one of Roy's stories. She attended multiplewriters workshops atEckerd College.[6][2] Roy wrote two novels and one short story that were never published.[6]
In 2011,Bent Road was the first book by Roy to gain publication.[7] It won an Edgar Award for first novel.Cross Creek Pictures acquired rights and started planning a movie adaption ofBent Road in 2012.[8]
Roy publishedUntil She Comes Home in 2013 andLet Me Die in His Footsteps in 2015.[2] Additionally, Roy publishedThe Disappearing in 2018 andGone Too Long in 2019.[9] In assembled collections, Roy's short story "Chum in the Water" was part ofTampa Bay Noir in 2020.[10] The following year, Roy was featured in a 2021Mystery Writers of America publication titledWhen A Stranger Comes To Town with "Do You Remember".[11]
Roy used a short story that she did not release as the basis forBent Road. During the two years she took to writeBent Road and get it published, Roy set up social media accounts to advertise the novel.[6] The main characters are a family who move to Kansas during the1967 Detroit riot.[12]Until She Comes Home takes place in Detroit during 1958.[13] Both books have a plot about a missing person and a previous murder.[14][15]
ForLet Me Die in His Footsteps, Roy set her book in the 1930s and 1950s in Kentucky.[16] Her contemporary works,The Disappearing andGone Too Long are set in Florida and Georgia, respectively.[2][17]
During her writing ofThe Disappearing, Roy focused on individual characters and summarized the completed content before the book was fully written. She based the story on acriminal investigation at theArthur G. Dozier School for Boys and killings byTed Bundy.[2] InGone Too Long, Roy focused on theKu Klux Klan and included a timeline of the organization.[17] Her books are written in theSouthern Gothic andmystery fiction genres.[18]
In 2012,Bent Road was given theEdgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author.[19]Bent Road was also named one of theKansas Notable Books for 2012 by theState Library of Kansas.[20] WithUntil She Comes Home, Roy was nominated for the 2014Edgar Award for Best Novel.[21] In 2016, Roy won the Edgar Award for Best Novel withLet Me Die in His Footsteps. She was the first woman author to win these two Edgar Awards.[22]