Mary Kubica is an American writer of suspense fiction. She is best known for The Good Girl (2014) and Local Woman Missing (2021). Her novels have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.
Mary Kubica was born in the United States and studied at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and American literature. After graduation, she worked as a high school history teacher.
Kubica later moved into writing full-time. She lives outside Chicago with her husband and two children. According to her, she enjoys suspense novels as a reader. She focuses on reversals and withheld truth rather than simple solutions. She once explained that she writes toward the moment “where the rug is pulled completely out from under you.”
Her debut novel, The Good Girl (2014), marked her entry into suspense fiction. The book was selected as an Indie Next pick. It received a Strand Critics nomination for Best First Novel. It was also nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards in two categories. The novel established her focus on fractured families and shifting viewpoints.
She followed with Pretty Baby, Don’t You Cry, Every Last Lie, and When the Lights Go Out. Her later novels expanded in scope while retaining close psychological focus. The Other Mrs. and Just the Nicest Couple continued this approach.
Local Woman Missing (2021) became one of her most recognised works. It was selected as an Indie Next pick. The novel was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Mystery and Thriller. It was also a finalist for an Audie Award. The book explores disappearance, secrecy, and delayed truth.
Her novels have been selected as Amazon's Best Books of the Month. They have also appeared on the LibraryReads list. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. Worldwide sales exceed five million copies.
In 2024, she published She’s Not Sorry (2024). The novel follows an intensive care nurse involved with an unconscious patient. Kubica researched nursing practice for accuracy. She described the writing process as discovery-driven rather than planned.
Her most recent novel is It’s Not Her (2026). The book centres on a family holiday disrupted by a violent discovery. A missing teenager becomes the focus of suspicion. The story examines trust, perception, and hidden histories within a closed setting.
Mary Kubica lives in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, specifically in or near Plainfield, Illinois, with her husband and children.
Photo credit: marykubica.com
