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Jan Burke
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Liar: An Irene Kelly Mystery Mass Market Paperback – April 7, 1999

by Jan Burke (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 92 ratings
See all formats and editions
Investigative reporting has its hazards, but trouble hits home for Irene Kelly when her estranged aunt is murdered--and Irene becomes the leading suspect. With the police hot on her trail, Irene sets out to find cousin Travis, her dead aunt's son, convinced he's the next target.

But when Irene finds Travis, a camper-driving children's storyteller with suspiciously deep pockets, things blow up--literally. It takes several brushes with death, staying one step ahead of the law, and a few not-so-sweet reunions for Irene to untangle a complex web of family secrets and long-held grudges, and discover just who is killing off the Kelly clan--and why.

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Previous page
  1. Book 6 of 11
    Irene Kelly Mysteries
  2. Print length
    400 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    HarperTorch
  5. Publication date
    April 7, 1999
  6. Dimensions
    4.19 x 1 x 6.75 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780061044403
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0061044403
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gifted storyteller who can hold her own with any writer in

the genre...including Cornwell [and] Crichton."

-- -- Amazon.com

"A winner...The best book in this wonderful...series."

-- -- Midwest Book Review

"Ms. Burke keeps things moving, spinning an intricate

yarn...riveting and wholly enjoyable."

-- -- Chicago Tribune

"The best Kelly adventure to date."

-- -- St. Petersburg Times

"A deliciously convoluted story that kept me turning the pages." -- Mystery News

"A gifted storyteller who can hold her own with any writer in the genre...including Cornwell [and] Crichton." -- Amazon.com

"A thriller of a ride...So riveting, I couldn't put it down. Jan Burke only gets better. The pace is fast and never slows down, each layer of the mystery is revealed artfully and...the believability factor is high. Irene and the gang held me in their grasp." -- The Snooper

"A winner...The best book in this wonderful...series." -- Midwest Book Review

"Ms. Burke keeps things moving, spinning an intricate yarn...riveting and wholly enjoyable." -- Chicago Tribune

"The best Kelly adventure to date." -- St. Petersburg Times

About the Author

Jan Burke is the recipient of the Macavity Award, the Ellery Queen Mystery MagazineReaders Award and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Contemporary Suspense. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Tim, and Cappy the devil dog. She is currently at work on the sixth Irene Kelly novel.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0061044407
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperTorch (April 7, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780061044403
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061044403
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.19 x 1 x 6.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 92 ratings

About the author

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Jan Burke

Jan Burke

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I'm the author of crime fiction novels and short stories. You can find out more about my writing on my Web site.

I'm also the founder of The Crime Lab Project, which works to increase awareness of the problems facing public forensic science labs in the U.S.

I live in Southern California with my husband, Tim, and our two dogs, Cappy (in the photo above) and Britches.

I want my epitaph to read, "Had a great time, thanks for inviting me." I hope not to be in need of that any time soon.

Oh yeah -- I'm a lifelong night owl. As another night owl once said, don't go to bed on the same day you've awakened.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
92 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Loretta B. Deloggio
5.0 out of 5 stars Jan Burke on a personal note, keeping the series from becoming boringly repetitive
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
Jan Burke is one of the top 20 authors on my murder mystery list. She delivers a great sense of place, of character, and of dialogue, all mixed with suspenseful plot, not as fast as a car chase, but more than compensating by the intensity of her protagonists job as a reporter'. the characters are incredibly real, and the inner dialogue is as engaging as the faster paced interviews of the reporter.
This is perhaps the fifth book in a series that begins with "Good night, Irene." While this one is sufficiently different to stand on its own, with a plot based primarily on family relationships rather than on her investigative reporting, there are enough references to people in the earlier novels that it can be best appreciated in its proper place in the series.
One person found this helpful
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Tera Irving
5.0 out of 5 stars I love the whole series
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2018
Verified Purchase
Jan Burke's Irene Kelly novels are very well written and wildly entertaining. I love the whole series!
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Pep Jewell
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Burke homerun
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2012
Verified Purchase
I just found Jan Burke as an author.........I think I have read all her books now. An amazing author. This one ranks right up there with the rest.
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Amy
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
Great book! Love all the Irene Kelly novels!
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Someone who will always love a good Irene Kelley book!
5.0 out of 5 stars Ends the way you need it to.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
Amazing.....must read them in order though..... her books always end by closing up all lose ends.... never wondering we'll what if...
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D.Beyer
3.0 out of 5 stars Honestly...
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2016
...I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy reading "Liar." It took a bit of effort however, a fizzle to the fun factor, diminishing the rating to three stars as a consequence. I kept having to consider the fallen family tree of characters and how they were related to either Irene, the protagonist, or her male cousin Travis; the "bastard child" of Irene's mother's sister's union with a bigamist father, Arthur Sperry, who was the primary suspect in the murder of his first wife, sugar beet heiress Gwendolyn. Among the assortment of suspects are Travis's father's older brother, Gerald, whose last name is Spalding--Arthur changed his to Sperry--and who served as a father figure to a young Arthur, and a cousin of Gwendolyn's, Robert DeMont (and his father, Horace), to whom Gwendolyn periodically signed checks to. Running interference are a couple of biased investigators, one private and the other a Los Angeles cop. Having just read Burke's more recently published "Kidnapped," I was pleasantly surprised by the comparative depth and dimension of her characters in "Liar." Entanglement is in the details.
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Margaret Ledbetter
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
great read
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Karen Kirsch
2.0 out of 5 stars too long - too confusing
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2001
While I read Goodnight Irene and enjoyed it, this novel was just a little too long and just a little too confusing. There were too many characters. I had trouble keeping track of brothers, in-laws, nephews, etc. I found myself trying to finish this book as a pain, not a pleasure. I think I will read the next "Bones", hoping that Burke has tightened up her act a little. Don't give me 400 pages when 350 would do just as well. Karen Kirsch - Novi, MI
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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buhimaman
5.0 out of 5 stars アイリーンのかなり複雑な親族関係が判明
Reviewed in Japan on December 25, 2003
Verified Purchase
　　ある日アイリーンの姉バーバラが、両親の墓地に見知らぬ人が埋葬されていると騒ぎ出した。アイリーンが調べてみると、埋葬されたのはアイリーンの母の姉ブラィアナと判明。しかし彼女の死因には疑問があったし、その息子トラヴィスは行方が知れない。実はアイリーンは事情があって自分の母の葬儀の時以後ブラィアナ母子には会っていなかったのだ。アイリーンは従兄弟トラヴィスの行方を捜し、今まで目を背けてきた親族の秘密に迫る決意をする。
　　両親が既に亡くなっている、という以外、あまり語られていなかったアイリーンの親族間の複雑な事情が初めて明かされます。登場人物が多くなり、その間の関係が重要になりますから、人物相関図を書き込みながら読むことをお勧めします。
　　アイリーン・ケリーシリーズは前の事件に関するちょっとしたエピソードが頻繁に出てきます。それを知らなくてもストーリーを追うのには全く差し支えありませんが、やはり順番に読んで、「あっ、あのときのことね」とわかった方がアイリーンの心情も理解でき、より楽しめます。この巻ではアイリーンが学生時代からずっと乗ってきた、彼女の分身のようなカルマン・ギアが爆破されてしまいましたが、次はどんな車に乗ることになるのでしょう？シリーズタイトルは書かれた順に
1Goodnight, Irene
2Sweet Dreams, Irene
3Dear, Irene
4Remember Me, Irene
5Hocus
6Liar
7Bones　です。
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