VJ Books Presents Meg Gardiner!

Meg Gardiner, born 15 May 1957 in Oklahoma, grew up in Santa Barbara, California. Her best-known books are the Evan Delaney novels.

Meg graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School.  She practiced law in Los Angeles and taught writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Initially, she began documenting her travels in a journal, titled Hitchhiking in Lion Country, or Stupid Things I Have Done in Zambia. Her first novel, China Lake, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2002 and won the 2009 Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America for best paperback original.  The Dirty Secrets Club won thw Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Procedural Novel of 2008.

In describing herself, Gardiner has said quite simply: "I write thrillers", before recently elaborating: "I used to practice law. I taught writing at the University of California. Of course, there’s more — and because the Internet can fact-check you, faster than you can type 'Sarah Palin', I’m going to come clean: It’s true that I used to be a mime. But only before mimes became annoying. And yes, I did go in costume to the Star Trek exhibition in Hyde Park. But I did not wear the Ferengi ears. And though I’m American, I currently live near London. This can confuse people. At British book events, people ask, 'When did you get in from California? Aren’t you jet-lagged?' And in the USA, people sometimes say, 'But you don’t have an English accent.' And I never will. If you put a gun to my head and told me to pronounce jolly good, I’d blurt out, 'dude!' Or, if truly panicked, 'y’all!'

Gardiner lives with her family near London.