Background
Meg Gardiner was born on May 15, 1957, in Oklahoma, United States. She spent her childhood in Santa Barbara, California and is the daughter of an English professor Frank C. Gardiner and Sally Gardiner.
2009
Meg Gardiner has won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original.
2009
Meg Gardiner
2010
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Meg Gardiner at the Brophy Brothers restaurant at the Santa Barbara marina.
2011
Meg Gardiner with freshly signed copies of her novel, The Nightmare Thief.
2012
Los Angeles, California, United States
Meg Gardiner at the Olympic Stadium with her son.
2012
Meg Gardiner
2012
Gardiner's novel, The Nightmare Thief won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year.
2013
Meg Gardiner with her fellow writer Christopher Rice.
2013
Broward Library Foundation, 100 S Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301, United States
Meg Gardiner with Tess Gerritsen and Ace Atkins at the Broward Library Foundation Literary Feast.
2014
Gardiner by the stand of Edgar and his little friend the Raven.
2018
Meg Gardiner with the Barry Award for Best Thriller.
2018
Gardiner is proud to announce that her origin story is coming to the big screen.
2018
Meg Gardiner is chilling outdoors.
2018
Gardiner gave an interview to KOOP 91.7 FM, and Writing on the Air - Martha Hunter, Joe Brundidge, and Bob Dailey.
2018
Gardiner at The Poisoned Pen with Lisa Gardner and after recording a podcast.
2019
Meg Gardiner is a recipient of the Edgar Award.
2019
Gardiner is taking an interview with Harlan Coben about his new novel Run Away at Murder by the Book.
Meg Gardiner is an American bestselling American crime writer.
Leland Stanford Junior University, Stanford, California, United States
Gardiner received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University, California.
Stanford Law School, Stanford, California, United States
Gardiner obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School.
Gardiner either kindergarten or first grade.
A photo of Gardiner when she was a senior in high school.
Meg Gardiner's sophomore class photo from Dos Pueblos High School.
(After a hit-and-run accident leaves a friend dead, Evan D...)
After a hit-and-run accident leaves a friend dead, Evan Delaney wants justice. But she underestimates the power of the person responsible. When the witnesses begin dying one by one, Evan is unprepared for the dark places retribution will take her.
https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Canyon-Evan-Delaney-Novel-ebook/dp/B001BKTEZK/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-13
2003
(When Evan Delaney finds her father’s car at the bottom of...)
When Evan Delaney finds her father’s car at the bottom of a ravine, the police suspect suicide - but there’s nobody. Evan’s suspicions of something sinister are confirmed when she receives a call from her father’s kidnappers. The ransom isn’t money, but more of a puzzle - one that Evan has only 72 hours to piece together, as she follows a madman’s trail into the very heart of darkness.
https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Chain-Evan-Delaney-Novel-ebook/dp/B001G8PO4W/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-11
2006
(Evan Delaney learns that not only has her ex-sister-in-la...)
Evan Delaney learns that not only has her ex-sister-in-law joined a religious cult, but the unstable young mother plans to regain custody of her son and disappear with him into the fold of the fanatical group. But when murder raises the stakes, Evan is dragged even deeper into the nightmare.
https://www.amazon.com/China-Lake-Evan-Delaney-Novel-ebook/dp/B001AO6F1S/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-5
2008
(When a woman’s body washes up on the shore of California’...)
When a woman’s body washes up on the shore of California’s Jericho Point, she’s identified as Evan Delaney. Except that Evan is very much alive - apparently the victim of an identity thief who’d been scamming Hollywood elite. The thief may be dead, but the crimes she was murdered for - committed in Evan’s name - are turning Evan’s life into a nightmare. Now it’s all Evan can do to survive in the shadow of a dead woman’s lies.
https://www.amazon.com/Jericho-Point-Evan-Delaney-Novel-ebook/dp/B001D8QUNE/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-6
2008
(A string of high-profile murder-suicides has San Francisc...)
A string of high-profile murder-suicides has San Francisco more rattled than the string of recent earthquakes. Hired by the SFPD to shed light on the victims' lives, forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett makes a shocking discovery: all the suicides belonged to a group of A-listers with lots of money and plenty to hide. And soon Jo finds herself trapped in a nightmare from her past when she gets invited to join the club...
https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Secrets-Club-Beckett-Book-ebook/dp/B0015DROH8/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-9
2008
(Evan Delaney knew China Lake was a tough place to grow up...)
Evan Delaney knew China Lake was a tough place to grow up. But she never knew how tough until now? She returns to the desert military base for her high school reunion and learns that a number of her classmates have died young.
https://www.amazon.com/Crosscut-Delaney-Novel-Meg-Gardiner-ebook/dp/B001FA0NYC/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-16
2008
(Rory Mackenzie vowed to never return to her hometown of R...)
Rory Mackenzie vowed to never return to her hometown of Ransom River, California. But she comes back and does her civic duty. Now she’s juror number seven on a high-profile murder case. While most of the town is focused on the tense and shocking circumstances of the trial, Rory’s return to Ransom River dredges up troubling memories from her childhood that she can no longer ignore. And in the wake of a desperate attack on the courthouse, Rory realizes exposing these dark skeletons has connected her to an old case that was never solved, and that bringing the truth to light just might destroy her.
https://www.amazon.com/Ransom-River-Meg-Gardiner-ebook/dp/B0073XV4LQ/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-8
2012
(One year ago, a shootout in a trendy L.A. club left barte...)
One year ago, a shootout in a trendy L.A. club left bartender Harper Flynn’s boyfriend dead, Sheriff Deputy Aiden Garrison shattered, and two gunmen engulfed in flames. But if the case is closed, why is Harper still afraid? Certain that a third gunman escaped and is targeting survivors, Harper pins her last hope on the only person willing to listen. But a traumatic brain injury has left Aiden with a rare and terrifying disorder: a delusion that random people are actually the same person in disguise. As Harper and Aiden delve deeper into the case, Harper fears that the attack might have been more personal than anyone believed. And now her only ally is unstable, paranoid, and mistrustful - because he’s seeing the same enemy everywhere he looks.
https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Instinct-Meg-Gardiner/dp/0451466098/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-4
2015
(Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six mo...)
Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB - what the FBI calls an unknown subject - the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case. The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders - eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh - was the final nail in the coffin for a once-promising career.
https://www.amazon.com/UNSUB-Novel-Meg-Gardiner-ebook/dp/B01M3U5566/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-2
2017
(In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappea...)
In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappearing. One vanishes from a movie theater. Another, from her car at a stoplight. A mother is ripped from her home while checking on her baby. Rookie FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix, newly assigned to the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, fears that a serial killer is roaming the dark roads outside Austin. Caitlin's unit discovers the first victim's body in the woods, laid out in a bloodstained white baby-doll nightgown. A second victim in a white nightie lies deeper in the forest's darkness. Around the bodies, Polaroid photos are stuck in the earth like headstones, picturing other women with their wrists slashed. The women in the woods are not the killer's first victims, nor are they likely to be his last.
https://www.amazon.com/Into-Black-Nowhere-UNSUB-Novel-ebook/dp/B0725MVZ34/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580893127&sr=8-3
2018
(The bedroom communities of Los Angeles are gripped with d...)
The bedroom communities of Los Angeles are gripped with dread, and the attacks are escalating. Still reeling from her best friend’s close call in a bombing six months ago, FBI behavioral analyst Caitlin Hendrix has come to Los Angeles to assist in the Midnight Man investigation and do what she does best - hunt a serial killer. Her work is what keeps her going, but something about this UNSUB - unknown subject - doesn’t sit right. She soon realizes that this case will test not only her skills but also her dedication, for within the heart of a killer lives a secret that mirrors Caitlin’s own past. Hesitancy is not an option, but will she be able to do what must be done if the time comes?
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Corners-Night-UNSUB-Novel-ebook/dp/B07WT64CK2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Meg+Gardiner&qid=1580892953&sr=8-1
2020
Meg Gardiner was born on May 15, 1957, in Oklahoma, United States. She spent her childhood in Santa Barbara, California and is the daughter of an English professor Frank C. Gardiner and Sally Gardiner.
Meg Gardiner first went to Dos Pueblos High School for her general education and graduated in June 1975. After that, she attended Stanford University, California graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. She also obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School.
After graduation from Stanford Law School, Gardiner went to Los Angeles to practice law before returning to Santa Barbara where she taught writing and legal research at the University of California. She had lived in Surrey proximal to London until 2013 when she relocated to Austin, Texas.
Meg Gardiner considers writing as her third career having taught law and writing at the University of California. During the early 1990’s she relocated to the United Kingdom with her family, and it was during her free time during those years while in the United Kingdom that she wrote her first novel, and thus completing a task that she had set for herself over ten years earlier. Her debut novel, China Lake was published in 2002 by Hodder & Stoughton. Since her debut novel, Meg dedicated her time to writing and has published more than ten additional titles.
Evan Delaney series consists of 5 novels. The first book in the series is China Lake (2002) while Mission Canyon (2006) marks the last installment. Jo Beckett series consists of The Dirty Secrets Club (2008) as the first book in the series and The Memory Collector published in June 2009 is the second novel. Meg Gardiner has authored standalone novels such as The Shadow Tracer (2013), Ransom River (2012) and Phantom Instinct (2014).
An ongoing series of high profile and public suicides-murders has the entire San Francisco even more perturbed than a series of recent earthquakes. A vivacious fashion designer burns to death holding the body of his killed lover. Again a superstar jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge, and most horrifying of all these suicides is when a United States attorney drives her BMW off a road overpass killing herself and three people as well.
Jo Beckett, a Forensic psychiatrist, is hired by the SFPD to investigate the leading cause of the series of high-profile suicides. Soon she makes a horrifying discovery; all the people who committed suicide belonged to Dirty Secrets Club, a group of wealthy individuals with lots of money and dark secrets to hide. As the death toll increases, Jo investigates the sinister motives behind this mysterious group- until she gets a letter that contains some dark secrets that Jo thought she had left deep down her past.
This first book starts out fast-paced like an action movie and maintains to keep the pace steadily throughout. The lead character, Jo Beckett, a psychiatrist is brought in to determined the victim state of mind prior and during death. Her work being establishing types of death, whether murder, suicide or an accident, she is the lady to go for. She is an interesting character that contributes to the greater extent of the novel. Even though she hides some dark secrets which are later revealed, she is an engaging character. On the other hand, the two main villains are eerie and the death scenes depicted in the novel run from being creepy to horrifying.
Jo Beckett’s profession is the psychological autopsy- in which she investigates into a person's life to establish whether a death was accidental, natural, homicide or suicide. She calls herself a dead shrinker rather than a head shrinker. The silence of her patients is what makes her job so attractive. However, when she tasked with carrying out a psychological autopsy on a living person, she knows that all the skills she possesses will be put to the test.
She is called to the scene of an airplane arriving from London to help deal with one passenger who is behaving unsettled. She soon discovers that the passenger is suffering from anterograde amnesia and cannot form new memories and soon finds herself racing against time to save a patient who talks and walk but yet cannot help establish what happened to him. For every single ambiguous clue he can trace from his memory, Jo has to filter through myriads nonsensical statements.
Suddenly, a series of clues surface and something to do with deadly biological agent code known as Slick, a missing son, and wife, a secret affair gone awful wrong. She soon realizes that her patient confused mind could be the key to preventing a catastrophic event from befalling her town of San Francisco. Moreover, to prevent it she must dig deep into a patient’s life than she has ever done before, clinging that the truth will emerge from the misty fog of the patient’s life in time to save her beloved city.
The second novel in Jo Beckett series is a fantastic read, full of thrills and suspense as well. Jo is such a believable woman and a lead character as well, the interactions with the bad guys as well as with her sidekick, Detective Amy Tang give an insight into her motivations. The plot is fast-paced featuring characters that are well crafted. Additionally, the dialogue is realistic and the science incorporated is steady. The conclusion gives relief, and all the answers that arose in the midst are answered. If you love crime novels full of suspense and some exciting scenes that will leave you wanting more, it is recommended that you give Meg Gardiner crime novels a try.
(Evan Delaney learns that not only has her ex-sister-in-la...)
2008(Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six mo...)
2017(When Evan Delaney finds her father’s car at the bottom of...)
2006(A string of high-profile murder-suicides has San Francisc...)
2008(When a woman’s body washes up on the shore of California’...)
2008(The bedroom communities of Los Angeles are gripped with d...)
2020(Rory Mackenzie vowed to never return to her hometown of R...)
2012(After a hit-and-run accident leaves a friend dead, Evan D...)
2003(In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappea...)
2018(Evan Delaney knew China Lake was a tough place to grow up...)
2008(One year ago, a shootout in a trendy L.A. club left barte...)
2015Gardiner says that she loves writing crime fiction simply because it gets to the cores of the human condition. It is about people confronting imminent danger or maybe fighting the evil that invades their world. Also, she gets the chance to toss the readers into situations that they would hate in real life, such as sadistic killers, a kid in danger. The author further explains that her writing tries to examine the boundaries between wrongdoing and morality. She attributes her training as an attorney as the foundation of her prolific writing skills.
Quotations:
"Every time I finish writing a novel, I hate saying goodbye to the characters. When I can come back to one - like Caitlin - it feels like meeting up with a close friend. And it’s exciting to continue exploring Caitlin’s mission and her world. She’s young, driven, dedicated, and still has a lot to learn. I want to take her on that trip."
"A strong character needs a vivid personality, real presence on the page, and the determination to dig deep when it counts. He or she must find the resources and courage to rise to the challenge the story flings at them – in the face of ridicule, shame, exile, danger, or death."
"I try to write the kind of books I want to read: books that enthrall and surprise me. That means I have to look past the first ideas that occur to me - because ideas that occur off the top of our heads tend to be familiar and clichéd - and dig deeper into the story’s possibilities. I keep a piece of writing advice in mind: Give readers what they want, but not the way they expect it."
"I’m very aware that women are exploited, even in a twenty-first-century Western country. If I can expose some of that and some of the ways that even a seemingly normal person can exploit people, maybe it’s valuable. But I also wanted to feature female investigators who have agency - literally and metaphorically - to tackle the issue."
Meg Gardiner is married to Paul Shreve and currently lives in Austin, Texas.