Jess Lourey

Jessica Lourey is an American author of crime, young adult, and magic realism novels, children's books, and nonfiction books.

Biography

Lourey was born in 1970, in Tacoma, Washington and presently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has two children. Her husband, Jay, died of suicide shortly after their wedding, which prompted her creative writing career.
In August 2016, she presented at the TEDxRapidCity event, where she "explores how everyone, not just authors, can use the power of fiction to transform."
Lourey has received a Master of Arts and Master of Science degree. As of 2021, she taught at St. Cloud Technical and Community College for 11 years in the college's Liberal Arts division. There, she received The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship. She retired from teaching in August 2021 to pursue writing full-time.
In addition to writing novels, Lourey is a blogger for Psychology Today and hosts writing workshops.

Awards and honors

Lourey has received a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council.

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
2021	Unspeakable Things	Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Winner
2022	Bloodline	Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Winner
2022	Bloodline	ITW Thriller Award for Paperback Original Novel	Winner
2023	The Quarry Girls	Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction	Winner
2023	The Quarry Girls	Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original	Winner

Publications

Adult fiction

Standalone novels

Unspeakable Things Bloodline Litani

''The Quarry Girls''

Reed and Steinbeck Thrillers

Catch Her in a Lie The Taken Ones The Reaping
''The Laughing Dead''

The Catalain Book of Secrets series

The Catalain Book of Secrets

''Seven Daughters''

Murder by Month Romcom Mystery series

May Day
June Bug
Knee High by the Fourth of July
August Moon
September Mourn
October Fest
November Hunt
December Dread
January Thaw
February Fever
March of Crime
April Fools
''Monday Is Murder''

Salem's Cipher thrillers

Salem's Cipher
''Mercy's Chase''

Children's books

''Leave My Book Alone!''

Short stories

Death by Potato Salad: A Murder-by-the Minute Short Story Featuring Mrs. Berns Give Her a Hand: A Short Story The Adventure of the First Problem Catch Her in a Lie, part of the Getaway series by multiple authors

Young adult novels

''The Toadhouse Trilogy''

Nonfiction

''Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction''