Lawrence Arthur Goldstone (1903–1998), better known by his pen name, Lawrence Treat, was an American mystery writer, a pioneer of the genre of novels that became known as police procedurals. Treat began his professional life as a lawyer, having attended Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School. When his law firm broke up in 1928, shortly after he had begun to work there, he traveled to Paris. A friend living in Brittany provided him with free room and board, and Goldstone decided to settle down and teach himself to write. His knowledge of law led him to try his hand at crime writing. He sold his very first novel and returned to the United States to write full-time.