Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 - April 05, 1988) was a prolific American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1961 tome, Nightmare, and her 1962 entry in her Luis Mendoza series, Knave of Hearts. Regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals," she was one of the first women to write police procedurals — a male-dominated genre of police-story writing.

Besides crime, Linington also took interest in archaeology, the occult, gemstones, antique weapons and languages