Laurie R. King (born 1952) is an American author best known for her detective fiction. Among her books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring Sherlock Holmes as her partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a fictional lesbian San Francisco, California, police officer.

King's first book, A Grave Talent (1993), received the 1994 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and a 1995 John Creasey Memorial Award. This was followed by the 1996 Nero Award, for A Monstrous Regiment of Women, and the 2002 Macavity Award for Best Novel, for Folly. She has also been nominated for an Agatha Award, an Orange Prize, and two more Edgars. Using the pseudonym "Leigh Richards", she has published a futuristic novel, Califia's Daughters (2004).

King earned a BA degree in comparative religion from the University of California, and then completed an MA in Old Testament Theology at Graduate Theological Union where her thesis was on "Feminine Aspects of Yahweh". She later received an honorary doctorate from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She has lived for many years in the hills above Monterey Bay near Santa Cruz, California. From 1977 until his death in early 2009, she was married to the historian, Noel Quinton King. They became the parents of two children, Zoe and Nathan.

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