Laurence Shames is an accomplished American author, well-known for his humorous mystery novels and non-fiction books. He is the mastermind behind the Key West Mysteries series, which has captivated readers with its unique blend of humor and mystery. Prior to his successful writing career, Shames had a series of diverse jobs, including being a NYC cab driver, lounge singer, furniture mover, lifeguard, dishwasher, gym teacher, and shoe salesman. However, it was not until 1976 that he decided to pursue writing on a full-time basis.
Since then, Shames has made four different New York Times Bestseller lists, all under different pen names. He has published around twenty books and close to hundreds of articles and essays for various magazines. He is particularly famous for his critically acclaimed Key West series, but he has also written several non-fiction works and worked as a ghostwriter and collaborator. Out of all the books that Shames has written, four have become New York Times bestsellers, which is an impressive achievement in itself.
Shames was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1951, to chain-smoking parents of modest means but flamboyant emotions. He did not know any of the other famous people who have come from his hometown, such as Philip Roth, Paul Simon, Queen Latifa, or Shaquille O'Neal. Shames graduated summa cum laude from NYU in 1972 and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He first heard the call of the writer's vocation on an Italian beach in the summer of 1970, and it was not until 1979 that he became a journalist and started publishing in top-shelf magazines. By 1982, he was named Ethics columnist of Esquire and also made a contributing editor to that magazine. In 1986, he started writing non-fiction books, which established his credentials as a collaborator and ghostwriter. His 1991 national bestseller, Boss of Bosses, written with two FBI agents, was a critical success and bought him a ticket out of New York to his current home in Key West, Florida. It was there that he finally got back to his original plan of writing novels, which feature palm trees, high humidity, dogs in sunglasses, and New York mobsters blundering through a town where people are too laid back to be afraid of them.