John Ball was an American writer best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective, Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the Edgar Award-winning In the Heat of the Night, which was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name. The screenplay was also produced on stage as John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night, premiering regionally with a production by Godlight Theatre Company (59E59 Theater).

Ball's other works include Last Plane Out, Operation Springboard (Operation Space), Rescue Mission, Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms, The First Team, Mark One: The Dummy, The Winds of Mitamura, Phase Three Alert, Police Chief, A Killing in the Market, The Mystery Story, The Murder Children, Trouble for Tallon, Chief Tallon and the S.O.R., Murder California Style, The Kiwi Target, The Van: A Tale of Terror, and Artic Showdown.