The Liar's Lullaby [Hardcover]

Meg Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2010

Edgar Award winner Meg Gardiner returns with a third propulsive, groundbreaking thriller about forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett and the lies that are even more dangerous than fame.

Tasia McFarland is a washed-up country-pop singer desperate for the break that will get her topping the charts again. The tabloids have raked over every part of Tasia's rocky life, following every high and low, her addictions, her breakdowns, her increasingly erratic behavior-and every broken relationship. The highlight of this lowlight reel: her failed marriage to an ambitious Army officer whose political talents earned him a spot in the nation's highest office. Tasia McFarland is the ex-wife of the President of the United States.

So when Tasia writes a song with politically-charged lyrics, people take note and her star begins to rise anew. In the spectacle-driven opener of her comeback tour, she is lowered into a stadium on a zip line and as helicopters fly overhead she fires her prop Colt 45 at the fireworks-filled stage. Tasia is riding high.

Until she's killed by a bullet to the neck, before the shocked crowd of 40,000.

When video can't prove that the shot came from Tasia's own Colt .45 and the ballistics report comes up empty, the authorities call on forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett to do a psychological autopsy and clean up the potential political disaster. But as Jo sifts through the facts, she only finds more questions. Was Tasia's gun loaded? Did she kill herself in one last cry for attention? Were her politically-charged lyrics the rantings of a paranoid woman losing her grip? Or warnings from a woman afraid and in danger? For Jo, pouring over Tasia's past quickly becomes a race to extinguish the conspiracy rumor mill before it incites a level of violence that reaches America's highest corridors of power-and tears apart the very fabric of our nation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jo Beckett investigates a national security threat in Edgar-winner Gardiner's absorbing third thriller to feature the San Francisco forensic psychiatrist (after The Memory Collector). When troubled country singer Tasia McFarland—who happens to be the U.S. president's ex-wife—dies of a gunshot wound to the neck during a stunt that goes awry at a huge outdoor concert, Jo's SFPD friend, Lt. Amy Tang, asks Jo to help determine whether Tasia, who fired a Colt .45 automatic as part of the stunt, shot herself or was shot by an assassin. The ballistics are inconclusive. As Jo looks into the sordid details of Tasia's life, an antigovernment extremist, Tom Paine, who runs a conspiracy-fueled Web site called Tree of Liberty, accuses people in the government—in particular, President Robert McFarland—of orchestrating Tasia's death and demands punishment for those responsible. Despite the broad scope of Jo's inquiry, Gardiner mostly manages to keep the far-reaching plot on course. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Tasia McFarland may be a has-been country singer, but her status as ex-wife of the current president keeps her in the public eye. At the opening of Gardiner’s third mystery to feature San Francisco forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett (after The Memory Collector, 2009), McFarland is killed when a stunt at one of her concerts goes terribly awry. Speculation about her death abounds, given the singer’s well-publicized bouts with bipolar mania. Was her tragic end just a grandiose—and very public—suicide, or had she really been in mortal danger as one of her recent songs claimed? Beckett takes the case, and when probing puts her in the path of a stalker, she becomes convinced that the threats to Tasia were real. She hopes Ace Chennault, ghostwriter of Tasia’s forthcoming biography, can shed some light. (He claims to have explosive revelations about Tasia’s affair with fellow country singer Searle Lecroix but refuses to divulge them.) The sharp investigator forges ahead, making herself the target of right-wing radicals with assassination on their minds. Breathless suspense, slick plotting, and a cast of compelling characters make this a solid addition to Edgar winner Gardiner’s dossier of superlative thrillers with appeal both for pure suspense fans and those who favor well-delineated characters. --Allison Block

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (June 24, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525951725
• ISBN-13: 978-0525951728
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #876,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meg Gardiner writes thrillers set in California. The Evan Delaney novels, featuring a Santa Barbara freelance journalist, include 2009 Edgar Award winner China Lake. The Jo Beckett series features a San Francisco forensic psychiatrist. The Dirty Secrets Club won the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Procedural Novel of 2008 and was chosen one of the year's Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers by Amazon.com. Originally from Oklahoma, Gardiner practiced law in Los Angeles and taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives near London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plot twists and mounting suspense get people to race from the start of a book to the end, June 28, 2010

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Liar's Lullaby (Hardcover)

Tasia McFarland might be just another pretty country star on the verge of being over the hill, but she's also the ex-wife of the President of the United States. So when she dies by a gunshot to the throat during a spectacularly ill-conceived stunt on her latest concert tour, the investigation into her death is anything but simple. For one thing, no one is quite sure whether the singer, previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, committed suicide or was murdered. And then there's the cryptic song lyrics Tasia left behind, words that seem to hint at an assassination threat not only to her but also to her ex-husband.

It's convenient that forensic psychologist Jo Beckett happens to be in the audience for Tasia's final, fatal concert, because she's about to be brought into the investigation by her friend Amy Tang, a San Francisco Police Department homicide detective. Jo's job is to analyze the dead woman's psyche, to look into her medical and behavioral history, her legacy of written work, and her relationships with friends and family, to determine what might have led to the singer's death.

As Jo delves into Tasia's life, she finds it's full of contradictions; Tasia was the ex-wife of a liberal president but has since been a regular poster on anti-government conspiracy-theorist websites. She adores her fans but hides the fact that she's being stalked via email. Jo has plenty of people to talk to --- Tasia's sister, her biographer, her lover and bandmate --- but when the picture they paint is far from clear, she's not sure where to go. And when Tasia's friends start showing up dead, Jo and Tang begin to suspect that Tasia might not have been the ultimate target. Meanwhile, when everyone involved in the case begins to run into trouble with the Feds, Jo wonders if the President himself is trying to derail the case or he has something to hide.

Meg Gardiner, who achieved fame in the United Kingdom long before she won an Edgar Award in this country, proves herself wickedly adept with plot twists and turns in THE LIAR'S LULLABY. Playing with readers' expectations without ever seeming manipulative, her plot shifts will have readers flipping backward --- and relentlessly reading onward --- to figure out what they might have missed and to propel themselves forward to find out what happens next.

Of course, plot twists and red herrings by themselves do not a great suspense novel make; in her third Jo Beckett book, however, Gardiner also demonstrates her facility at engaging readers' sympathy for her characters. In particular, the prickly but vulnerable Amy Tang is a fascinating supporting character who continues to be developed over time. In addition, Jo's developing relationship with Gabe Quintana --- two damaged souls who are finding healing in each other --- continues to grow in depth and complexity.

Plot twists and mounting suspense get people to race from the start of a book to the end, and complex characterizations and dynamic situations keep them coming back. Thanks to Meg Gardiner's skill at both, her readers will be anxiously waiting, eager to devour whatever this talented writer comes up with next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast Paced Thriller, July 17, 2010

By 

J. A. Harnick "JennJustReading" (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Liar's Lullaby (Hardcover)

I'm a huge Meg Gardiner fan - both her Evan Delaney series and her Jo Beckett series. This is the latest installment in the latter and it does not disappoint!

Being a forensic psychologist has it's caveats. It can make you a target for grieving family and psychopaths, and in a high profile case such as this, stalkers, conspiracy nuts, killers, and government intimidation. Jo must investigate this case quickly and thoroughly as she is feeling pressure from all sides to wrap things up (and everyone's pushing for a different outcome) but records are missing, interviewees are uncooperative, or unavailable, and things just aren't adding up.

Gardiner's books are fast paced and detailed. Did I figure out the whodunit before Beckett? Yes, but that's because the reader is supplied with far more information than poor Jo. The fascinating part was having more pieces of the puzzle than Jo, and being able to get a hazy picture of the situation, but not being able to put all the pieces together. We need Jo's investigation to do that for us. And even with all of that, there were still twists and turns that surprised me. Gardiner, as always, also finds a way to alleviate some of the the intensity in the book by inserting levity in the form of wit, sarcasm, and in this case, revenge on a prying media hound.

Though her books are parts of a series, Gardiner also makes them stand-alone accessible -especially the Beckett series- but with most series, they're more enjoyable in order. Relationships and non-plot related conflicts are left open, leading the reader into the next book.(The first book in the Evan Delaney series is China Lake. The first book in the Jo Beckett series is The Dirty Secrets Club.)

Gardiner's one of the few thriller authors whose books I can never put down. I suggest you pick her up.
[..]

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Tasteless, drippy American cheese, March 9, 2011

By 

upfront_reader (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Liar's Lullaby (Jo Beckett Series) (MP3 CD)

I picked up the audio version of this on a road trip but never made it past the first disk. The author's snobbery and condescension as she describes the country music concert that is the backdrop for her interminable opening scene made it impossible to take the book seriously. From her made-up country lyrics to the sneer evident in her description of the concert-goers, it is clear the author considers herself far above the average Americans she is attempting to depict. Throw in wooden dialog and an implausible beginning to the police investigation and you have a pretty tough sell. But it was when the author started inserting her political views and displaying her narrow-minded intolerance for anyone who dares to think otherwise that I punched the Eject button on this thoroughly unpleasant book.