Kerstin Lillemor Ekman (née Hjorth; born 27 August 1933) is a Swedish novelist.

Kerstin Ekman wrote a string of successful detective novels (among others De tre små mästarna and Dödsklockan) but later went on to psychological and social themes. Among her later works is Mörker och blåbärsris (1972) (set in northern Sweden) and Händelser vid vatten (1993), in which she returned to the form of the detective novel.

Ekman was elected member of the Swedish Academy in 1978, but left the Academy in 1989, together with Lars Gyllensten and Werner Aspenström, due to the debate following death threats posed to Salman Rushdie. In 2018, the Academy granted her resignation, the rules of membership having changed to allow members to resign.^[1]

In 1998, she was awarded the Litteris et Artibus medal.

See the article on Swedish Wikipedia for a complete bibliography.

• Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten, 1993), translated by Joan Tate, 1996
• Under the Snow (De tre små mästarna, 1961), translated by Joan Tate, 1997
• The Forest of Hours (Rövarna i Skuleskogen, 1988), translated 1998
• Grand final i skojarbranschen (2011)
• Då var allt levande och lustigt : om Clas Bjerkander : Linnélärjunge, präst och naturforskare i Västergötland (2015)