Megan Abbott

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Megan Abbott
Abbott in 2015
(1971-08-21) August 21, 1971Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Author, screenwriter, journalist
English
United States
University of MichiganNew York University (PhD)
Crime fiction
Edgar Award 2008 Queenpin Barry Award – Best Paperback Novel 2008 Queenpin
Philip Abbott (father)
www.meganabbott.com

Megan Abbott (born August 21, 1971) is an American screenwriter and author of crime fiction and non-fiction analyses of hardboiled crime fiction. Her novels and short stories have drawn from and reworked classic subgenres of crime writing from a female perspective.

Abbott grew up in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. She graduated with her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University.

Abbott has taught at NYU, the State University of New York and New School University. In 2013 and 2014, she served as the John Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi.

In 2002, Abbott published her first book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir. In it, Abbott challenges the archetypes of the "tough guy" and "femme fatale" common to noir literature.

Three years later, Abbott published Die a Little, the first of several novels presenting woman-centered takes on traditional noir tropes. Set in midcentury Los Angeles, the story centered on Lora King, a schoolteacher whose brother Bill falls in love with Alice Steele, a former costumer for the film industry. Suspicious of Alice's motives and jealous of her hold over Bill, Lora sets out to investigate Alice's background, only to find herself pulled into the dark side of Hollywood.

In addition to literature, Abbott has written for major journals and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She also writes a blog with novelist Sara Gran.

Abbott was a screenwriter for The Deuce, an HBO show that premiered in 2017 and deals with pornography and the Mafia in New York in the 1970s and beyond. In 2019, she adapted her bestselling novel Dare Me into a TV series on USA Network. She served as co-showrunner on the series, along with Gina Fattore.

Abbott was influenced by film noir, classic noir fiction, and Jeffrey Eugenides's novel The Virgin Suicides. Two of her novels refer to notorious crimes. The Song Is You (2007) is based around the disappearance of Jean Spangler in 1949, and Bury Me Deep (2009) on the 1931 case of Winnie Ruth Judd, dubbed "the Trunk Murderess".

Abbott has won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for outstanding fiction. Time named her one of the "23 Authors That We Admire" in 2011. Publishers Weekly gave her 2011 novel The End of Everything a starred review.

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
Die a Little	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist
Barry Award for Best First Novel	Finalist
Edgar Award for Best First Novel	Finalist
Queenpin	Anthony Award for Best Paperback	Finalist
Barry Award for Best Paperback Original	Won
Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original	Won
Bury Me Deep	Hammett Prize	Finalist
Anthony Award for Best Paperback	Finalist
Barry Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist
Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original	Finalist
Macavity Award for Best Novel	Finalist
The End of Everything	Anthony Award for Best Mystery	Finalist
Dare Me	Steel Dagger Award	Finalist
Anthony Award for Best Mystery	Finalist
The Fever	Strand Critics Award for Best Novel	Nominated
ITW Thriller Award for Novel	Won
"Little Men"	Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Won
You Will Know Me	Anthony Award for Best Mystery	Finalist
ITW Thriller Award for Best Novel	Finalist
Macavity Awards	Finalist
Steel Dagger Award	Finalist
Give Me Your Hand	Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller	Nominated
Anthony Award for Best Novel	Finalist
Steel Dagger Award	Finalist
The Turnout	Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults	Selection
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller	Won
ITW Thriller Award for Hardcover Novel	Finalist
Booklist's Best Mysteries & Thrillers	Top 10

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• .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}—— (2007). A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir. ISBN 9780979270994.

• —— (2002). The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir. ISBN 0312294816.

• —— (2005). Die a Little. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743261708.

• —— (2007). The Song Is You. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743291712.

• —— (2007). Queenpin. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416534280.

• —— (2009). Bury Me Deep. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416599098.

• —— (2011). The End of Everything. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316097796.

• —— (2012). Dare Me. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316097772.

• —— (2014). The Fever. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316231053.

• —— (2016). You Will Know Me. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316231077.

• —— (2018). Give Me Your Hand. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781509855681.

• —— (2021). The Turnout. G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780593084908.

• —— (2023). Beware the Woman. G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780593084939.

• —— (2025). El Dorado Drive. G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0593084977.

• "Oxford Girl" (2016). Appeared in Mississippi Noir.

• "Girlie Show" (2016). Appeared in In Sunlight or in Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper.

• "Little Men" (2015). Appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories 2016.

• "My Heart Is Either Broken" (2013). Appeared in Dangerous Women.

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Notes
The Deuce	Yes	No	also story editor
Dare Me	Yes	Yes	also executive producer
The Turnout	No	Yes

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• Megan Abbott's website
• Megan Abbott at IMDb
• Short statement on why she thinks LA is so associated with noir.
• Interview