The Liar's Gallery

A Gus LeGarde Mystery (LeGarde Mysteries Book 7)

By: Aaron Paul Lazar

Narrated by: Lou Hecker

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

From award-winning author Aaron Paul Lazar: The last place Gus LeGarde expects to find his old friend Byron Cunningham is in a plane that crashes in a field near his farmhouse. But that's just the first surprise in a series of shocking events beginning with the discovery of a Monet painting crammed into the plane's fuselage.

Is it real? Or fake? The trail leads Gus into a twisting trio of dangerous art world conspiracies. Gus fends off some very pushy collectors and soon realizes he may have crossed paths with treacherous criminals, putting his family at risk. As if that isn't enough, he must also contend with a problem that's close to his heart: his daughter, Shelby, is growing up too fast. She's determined to sing professionally and is now under the spell of a wolf in tenor's clothing, handsome Greek student Dmitri. When she vanishes with the family car, her frantic parents desperately chase the fading trail. A slew of Facebook messages on Shelby's computer lead them to The Eastman School of Music, where both Shelby's new flame and Gus's old friend have been hiding secrets linked to the art scandal. There's a real Monet out there somewhere, and nothing - including murder - will stop the desperate man who wants it.

The author's alternate suggested listening order for the LeGarde Mysteries series:

1. Double Forté 2. Upstaged 3. Mazurka 4. FireSong 5. Tremolo 6. Don't Let the Wind Catch You 7. The Liar's Gallery 8. Spirit Me Away 9. Under the Ice 10. Lady Blues 11. Voodoo Summer

©2014 Aaron Paul Lazar (P)2014 Aaron Paul Lazar

Art and mystery

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, too much trivial story telling of family, not enough suspense and mystery.

If you’ve listened to books by Aaron Paul Lazar before, how does this one compare?

Better.

What about Lou Hecker’s performance did you like?

Good diction and cadence.

Did The Liar's Gallery inspire you to do anything?

Not particularly.

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

Book 7

Any additional comments?

This audiobook is really very good .The story was well written and the characters seemed real.Lou Hecker did fine narration for all of the people in this story.This was a good read on it's own.I will have to go back to bk 1 to see where it all started.

An Excellent Mystery!

The Liar's Gallery is a really good audiobook! The LeGardes discover that a painting hanging on their wall in the family home may be quite valuable. They search their attic for possible clues about the provenance and come across forgotten treasures and additional mystery. Listeners will feel like they want to be in the attic too, searching for clues and uncovering secrets from the past. As typical in the Gus LeGarde series, action and danger are interspersed with the simple pleasures of family life. This book in the series has quite a bit of family drama, mainly due to teenage daughter Shelby, who has discovered boys and a need for independence. This audiobook never has a dull moment! The narrator delivers the story very nicely. The listener can hear the smile in the narrator's voice during many of this book's poignant moments.

Superb as always

There are a lot of twists and turns in this mystery which made it a real "page turner". I was barely able to stop listening to do my daily chores and listened in the evening until I was so tired I couldn't stay awake. The way Mr. Lazar details the scenes and activities in their family adds so much to the story. It reminds me of Charles Dickens' style, one of my favorite authors. The descriptions make me feel like I know the characters personally and am actually viewing the scenes. I love a good mystery! Mr. Lazar writes some of the best!

Great Series

Gus encounters an old friend and invites him to stay. He was a vocal instructor and could help his step daughter with an audition. Trouble came when she meets his protege, of which Gus doesn’t like that his step daughter is growing up. The boy has secrets, which troubles Gus. As to his friend, why was there a famous painting in his possession. Good series and good narration. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

The Liar's Gallery

Any additional comments?

I really liked this book.The story was well written and the characters seemed real.Lou Hecker did fine narration for all of the people in this story.This was a good read on it's own.I will have to go back to bk 1 to see where it all started.There was adventure,love and a mystery all tied up in 1 story.Highly recommended!

An intriguing mystery from paragraph one!

Aaron Paul Lazar is fast becoming one of my favorite go-to authors. His skill at weaving intriguing mysteries is so dependable, I have no doubt I’m in for a treat when I pick up one of his books... or in this case audiobook.

The Liar’s Gallery, Gus LeGarde Mystery, did not disappoint, and even though this was book 7 in the series, I had no trouble With any of the storyline as the book is easily a stand-alone. Yanked into the mystery on the first page, I had a hard time putting the book down and snatched it up again every free moment I had.

Gus, his family, and all the characters in Lazar’s story are so well-developed I feel like I know them. The plot line in The Liar's Gallery is fresh, and the intrigue takes off in the first few paragraphs when Gus sees a small plane crash right in front of him. I was immediately drawn into the mystery. When Gus discovers the pilot, Byron Cunningham, was a childhood friend.

Twists and turns abound as Gus an Byron discover a tube containing a rolled-up painting in the plane wreckage. I’m not one to reveal the secrets of the mystery, so I will end my review here. Suffice to say I award five gold stars to The Liar's Gallery And highly recommend the story.

I wanted to like it

I listened to and enjoyed one other Gus LeGarde Mystery and I have two others on my wish list for future download. I expected to like this one but it was just okay.

The beauty of the LeGarde mystery is that really interesting whodunnit's play out in the background of normal life. The characters eat dinner and the prep for said dinner is detailed. They aren't on a non-stop quest to solve a mystery; life takes front and center. It's a great story telling tactic and is really well done by Lazar in all of his books, but especially this series.

The problem I had with this book is the bad decision-making. I don't want to give away any spoilers but there was one instance where someone in Gus's world was seen leaving the scene of a crime and nary a word was said to that person. What? Stuff like that just took me out of the story.

The narrator for this listen was different than the book I listened to earlier. He had a nice voice but you could tell he narrated the book at different times of the day. Every once in awhile, during chapter transitions, his tone and cadence changed. This was a challenging book though. There were British and Greek accents as well as French and German, if memory serves. That was a lot to keep track of!

I wanted to like this listen but while I didn't hate it, I've lost the desire to continue with the series.