Vera Caspary (November 13, 1899 ? June 13, 1987) was an American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories. Her best-known novel Laura was made into a highly successful movie in 1944 with Gene Tierney in the title role.

Though she claimed she was not a "real" mystery writer, her novels effectively merged women's quest for identity and love with murder plots. Independence is the key to her protagonists, with her novels revolving around women who are menaced, but who turn out to be neither victimized nor rescued damsels.

Originally, Laura ran in Colliers from October to November 1942 as a seven-part serial entitled Ring Twice for Laura. Houghton Mifflin republished Laura in book form the next year; afterwards, Caspary sold the film rights to Twentieth Century Fox, resulting in a 1944 hit movie starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. In 1946, Caspary sold the story for a fourth time, this time co-writing a theatrical version with George Sklar.

Laura achieved an international readership and has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese and Dutch. Since its original publication, the novel has been reissued many times.