About

R.M. Lowery is the award-winning author of the Jakob Larsen Mysteries: "The Gentle Slope," "We Kill Our Own," and "Time Fades Away," as well as "Tough Messes: Eleven Stories of Crime and Desperation." His short fiction has also appeared in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Workers Write, The First Line, and others. Learn more at rmlowery.com.

Lowery is also an award-winning independent journalist whose work has been published by the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Source New Mexico, Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, and many others.

He was awarded the 2020 William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, and the 2021 Sunshine Award from the New Mexico Press Association for his reporting that highlighted lack of transparency from multiple government agencies.

Featured Work

Tough Messes: Eleven Stories of Crime and Desperation

2025
Cover of Tough Messes

Tough Messes brings together eleven short stories featuring a range of characters from varied backgrounds. From a group of mob soldiers trying to mitigate blowback from decades-old deeds in “Moving Day,” to a low-level arms dealer trying to stay alive after present-day blowback in “Leaky Pipe,” to a man making his bones for a modern crime family in “Quality Time.”

In “Luxury Goods,” old-school grifters set their sights on a hapless mark in a hotel bar. And “Flush” takes readers into the world of a master safecracker on parole. Just days away from being clear of his past, he’s presented a shot at a lucrative score. If he pulls it off, he’ll clear six-figures, that is if his partners don’t kill him first.

Also featured in this collection is a story that takes readers inside the mind of a serial killer searching for a victim on the streets of Denver, a corporate nepo baby who pushes unchecked greed to the limits, a low-level drug dealer pushed into an impossible situation, a man trying to rebuild his life and save his nephew from the depths of addiction, a couple struggling to define right and wrong, and a man trying to escape his past—and his many enemies.

This collection of stories, available for the first time in a single volume, is a welcome addition to the library of anyone who enjoys crime, noir, and mystery fiction.

Other Works

  • We Kill Our Own

    2025

  • The Gentle Slope

    2024

Awards and Recognition

  • 2025 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Book in the Suspense Fiction Category.
  • 2024 Best News Writing from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2024 Top of the Rockies award for short-form features writing from the Colorado SPJ.
  • 2024 Best Ongoing/Continuing Coverage from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2023 Best News Writing from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2023 Best Education Writing from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2022 Best Investigative/Enterprise Reporting from the Colorado SPJ.
  • 2022 Best News Writing from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2021 Best Continuing News Coverage from the New Mexico Press Association.
  • 2021 Sunshine Award from the New Mexico Press Association. The award recognizes the best example of covering issues of transparency in New Mexico.
  • 2021 Best Solutions Journalism award from the Colorado SPJ for a four-part series on addiction.
  • 2020 William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. The Dixon award is presented annually to citizens and organizations in New Mexico who champion transparency and defend the people’s right to know the affairs of government.
  • 2020 Best News Series from the New Mexico Press Association for a series of stories on drug and alcohol addiction in New Mexico, exploring the roots of addiction, what’s being done about it, and how other communities are addressing addiction.

Press and Media Mentions