Baby, Would I Lie?

Sara & Jack #2

by Donald E. Westlake

“A delightfully feisty, smart heroine” is up against a country music killer in this comic thriller from the Edgar Award–winning author of Trust Me on This ( Publishers Weekly ).
 
Having endured the seedy world of tabloid journalism at the Weekly Galaxy, ambitious reporter Sara Joslyn has finally moved on to Trend, a hip New York magazine.
 
But news is news, and Sara is immediately sent to Branson, Missouri, the capital of wholesome entertainment, to cover a sensational celebrity trial. Embattled country music legend Ray Jones is accused of a brutal kidnapping and killing. Making—and mucking—matters worse, Sara’s sleazy former colleagues from the Weekly Galaxy have also infested the town.
 
Sara is surprised by how much she enjoys a bit of pure, proud Americana—as well as the ruggedly smooth Ray Jones. But when he’s suspected of a second homicide, Sara realizes there’s more to the story. And that someone decidedly unwholesome is getting away with murder in the heartland.
 
“The action is jet-fast, and the satiric commentary on country western stars and fans is wonderfully wicked.” —Library Journal
 
“Lots of ingenious twists and turns.” —Booklist
 
Praise for Donald E. Westlake
“Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“No writer can excel Donald E. Westlake.” —Los Angeles Times
 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Crime, Audiobook

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 1994

About the author

Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.

Some of the pseudonyms he used include
•   Richard Stark
•   Timothy J. Culver
•   Tucker Coe
•   Curt Clark
•   J. Morgan Cunningham
•   Judson Jack Carmichael
•   D.E. Westlake
•   Donald I. Vestlejk
•   Don Westlake

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little tale from Donald E Westlake in which he manages to take aim at and skewer tabloid journalists in particular, country music and its fans in general, and, to a lesser extent, small town justice.

The story goes something like this: In the bustling down-home entertainment mecca of Branson, Missouri one time big star Ray Jones is going on trial for the murder of a young woman who had, prior to her violent death, been employed at his concert theater. Ray is someone who's a few years past the big hits but still draws a crowd, something of a lesser country music icon. As the trial proceeds the little town is overrun with media people out for a big story.

Conspicuous among the news folk is a small army of sleazy, scuzzy, drunken, and downright disreputable operatives from The Weekly Galaxy, a tabloid newspaper that makes The National Enquirer look like Time magazine. Their mission is to find the story, make it bigger, bolder, more seedy and in the process throw all other reporters off the track with their usual tactics of chicanery, treachery and what ever else it takes.

Among the competing journalists is one Sara Joslyn a former Galaxy operative who's gone straight by taking a real journalistic job at a New York style magazine. Her mission is to try to get exclusive access to the accused and his people while keeping the tabloids at bay.

It all makes for something of a media circus train wreck to the tune of banjos and fiddles.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with both The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Washington Post Book World, whose blurbs appear on the back cover, I didn't find this particular book to be either "A LAUGH-OUT LOUD NOVEL" (so said The Union-Tribune) nor "DOWNRIGHT HILARIOUS" (Washington Post Book World). It was a good -- not great -- little mystery novel that had a few moments of chuckle worthy humor. Definitely not one of Westlake's funnier endeavors.

Donald E. Westlake really hits hard at Branson, country music fans and the culture around them as represented in this novel, almost as if he has a personal vendetta of some sort -- I picture Mr. Westlake stuck in traffic for several hours behind a modern day wagon train of motor-homes, all with country music bumper stickers and signs saying "Branson or Bust" on them, plotting out this novel as his revenge.

I have no great affinity for country and western music or its fans but there were several times when the attempts at humor at the expense of the culture were so mean spirited they made me wince a little (and I'm a Westlake fan!).

There are fun moments involving the various tabloid characters and their shenanigans. It's a decent book, less mystery than character study in my opinion. The whole did he or didn't he kill her thing doesn't really come into play much until the last 15 pages or so when that whole thing begins to heat up to a rapid boil.

There is some sex and violence -- mainly implied rather than graphic -- and the language gets a little salty once or twice but nothing too seriously bad.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jo Walton's recent re-read:
"Very funny and clever mystery set in Branson, Missouri, which I assumed was satire the first time I read it but turns out to be a real place. This is a book about country music. It’s funnier if you’ve read Trust Me On This but it works alone."
Heh. The view from Quebec! She liked it more than I did.

[Marie (UK) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reasonably good story about a famous musician being tried for murder and the machinations that journalists (good and Bad) get up to. It has a clever twist at the end .

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming comic crime novel of the sort that Westlake is the master. The descriptions and the characters are vivid. The protagonists are sympathetic. All the clues are laid out early on that various characters are pursuing their own deep agendas, with a twist just a dozen pages from the end of the book. Westlake ties it all up in a neat bow at the end.

This is a sequel to _Trust Me On This_, which I read years ago but which is still engraved on my mind. Read _Trust Me_ first, and then this one.

[Brenda Clough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful.

[Roy White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Occasional flashes of the swerving metaphors and goofy twists that make the Dortmunder novels so much fun, but not enough. Set in Branson, which is of course eminently mockable, this novel justcomes across as mean-spirited. The characters are all pretty horrible, and how many put-downs of fat people and fried food are you really interested in hearing?

[William Leight · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Baby, Would I Lie?” is a fun read but lacks the sheer zany energy and satiric bite of “Trust Me On This”. Which, to be fair, it couldn’t really have: Sara is now a legitimate investigative journalist, so the tabloid tactics of the Weekly Galaxy, with their resemblance to a crew of gangsters trying to pull off a heist, are no longer an option for her. Her former co-workers do put in an appearance — there’s a subplot in which Jack tries to take the Galaxy down — and are just as hilarious as ever, but the center of the book, quite unexpectedly, is a courtroom drama set in Branson, Missouri — hillbilly Vegas — and starring (fictional) country music superstar Ray Jones (the book includes the lyrics to several of Ray’s songs, all written, fairly successfully, by Westlake). The choice of setting seems to be mainly intended to produce a fish-out-of-water effect, as Jones’s trial for murder draws a number of people — in addition to Jack and Sarah and the Weekly Galaxy crew, there’s Ray’s high-powered lawyers and the IRS agents who are negotiating with him over restitution for his tax evasion — to a place where they would never otherwise come. Not that Westlake wants us to see Branson’s hidden beauty or anything like that. Of course, we don’t expect Sara, a cynical Eastern journalist who went to a liberal arts college and is not a country music fan, to take to the place, but what clinches it is Ray’s attitude. Ray lives in Branson (in a mansion) because his devoted fans will fill an auditorium to watch him perform every night, but he is largely contemptuous of them and their devotion: they are the little people whose fate he has escaped thanks to his stardom. And the book effectively agrees: none of the country fans who have made the pilgrimage to Branson play more than bit parts in the book. We also don’t expect Sara to take to Ray, but what makes the book work is that she does. Westlake is able to show Sara being impressed by Ray’s performance and charmed by the man himself convincingly enough that the reader, whose viewpoint presumably is closer to Sara’s than to one of Ray’s fans, also ends up on Ray’s side. Nonetheless, though Ray comes off as a charming rogue, the roguishness is just as obvious as the charm, and it becomes increasingly clear that Ray is up to something. The drama in the courtroom drama is not really about Ray’s guilt: all the evidence is circumstantial, and the prosecution doesn’t have any tricks up its sleeve. Mostly, we get a close look at Ray’s defense team — I had never heard of a shadow jury before, but apparently that’s a real thing — and observe as Ray, a smart guy, overrules his lawyers, who were clearly hired because they know exactly what they’re doing. I won’t spoil the book by explaining why, but Westlake has a clever and satisfying resolution that works very well with the Sara-Ray dynamic. As a sequel to “Trust Me On This”, it’s a slight disappointment, but it stands up very well to the other Westlake books I’ve read despite being largely outside his comfort zone.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Donald E. Westlake novel is the story of a murder trial that involves a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long con. The climax revealing the con is an absolute delight, but to get there you have to wade through an awful lot of other stuff, some of it amusing, some not.

This is a sequel to his novel about tabloid journalists, "Trust Me On This," which was set at a publication in Florida called "the Galaxy" and featured sharp reporter Sara Joslyn and cynical editor Jack Ingersoll. At the end of that novel, the pair -- now romantic partners -- have found a way to blackmail their way out of the wacky tabloid jungle of the "Galaxy" and join the staff of "Trend," a respectable New York-based weekly magazine.

Now Sara is in Branson, MO, to cover a murder trial and finds herself up against her old pals from the "Galaxy." The accused is a clever country star named Ray Jones, who has his own theater in Branson, and Westlake helpfully supplies us with the lyrics to a number of Jones' songs, one of which becomes important in his trial. I'd say that Westlake has a tin ear when it comes to authentic country music, but then I remembered this was written back in the era when there were real songs titled things such as "We're Just an Old Pair of Sneakers and We've Been in the Closet Too Long," and so I am inclined to cut him a little slack.

Jones is accused of the brutal murder of a woman who worked at his theater, whose blood turned up in the car parked in his driveway, but not in his house or on his clothes. He's also facing a massive penalty from the IRS (shades of Willie Nelson here).

Yet he's still pretty popular with the public and usually sells out his theater for its two shows. Throughout much of the book, Westlake pokes fun at these fans and their bad taste in everything from clothing to food. There's a bit about Bac-O-Bits that's hilarious, but that's about it for solid laughs. Some of it hits, but a lot of it comes across as more sarcastic sneering than actual wit.

There's also a number of fat jokes at the expense of one of Roy's lawyers, and a thread of misogynistic humor that made me uncomfortable. The fact that the murdered woman was also raped made the book a lot less funny than it might have been.

Roy, in the run-up to his trial, avoids talking to all the reporters, but then he singles out Sara for special treatment by his longtime buddy Cal. Cal arranges for her to be included in a variety of backstage access situations, ranging from getting the "Elvis seat" at Roy's theater to getting a Cal-led tour of Roy's house (while Roy's not there).

Meanwhile Jack is after his former employer, the tabloid, aiming to expose every illegal stunt they've ever pulled. In this case that includes bugging the defense attorney's office, spying on Jones' house from the nearby golf course and sending in a ringer to serve on Jones' "shadow jury" helping steer the case. Their comeuppance is particularly satisfying.

And, as I mentioned, when Sara figures out what's really going on in Roy's case and plots her revenge, it had me laughing at last.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambitious girl reporter Sara Joslyn is sent by Trend, the Manhattan weekly ``For the Way We Live This Instant'' to country-music capital Branson, Missouri to cover the trial of country veteran Ray Jones for the kidnapping, rape, & murder of Belle Hardwick. Sara's old colleagues at the landfill tabloid Weekly Galaxy have infiltrated both the DA's office and the shadow jury Ray's high-powered defense team has assembled to test reactions to every courtroom development; Sara's former editor (now lover), Jack Ingersoll, slithers into town hell-bent to get evidence against those Galaxy frauds; an IRS agent nicknamed ``T P'' is out to squeeze every last drop out of Ray's past or future earnings; & Ray (who's arrested for a 2nd murder on his way to a court appearance for the 1st) pauses just long enough to make T P an offer he can't refuse. Typical Westlake bizarre fun. A Mystery Guild selection.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointment from Westlake. This take on celebrity scandal is filled with disdain for Branson, MO and the people who go there. It is less satiric and more sarcastic. We don’t like them and they don’t like us. That sort of thing. There is room for a sharp look at middle America but this is rather one-dimensional. Still, it is a Westlake novel and there are great lines and vivid characters to be found. From the C&W superstar (and murder suspect) to the diseased-looking tabloid journalist, Don’s eye is as faultless as ever. For a novel about not pre-judging a person, the novel has a lot of prejudice to it.

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doing nothing to dispel my theory that the farther the story gets from New York's Five Boroughs, the lesser Westlake's brilliance shines, this is actually a pretty sound effort, from a plot standpoint. Yes, Westlake's take on all things Middle America may come across as more than a bit mean spirited, but I very much enjoyed every bit of it, because, you know, fuck those people: I'm tired of trying to sing "Kumbaya" with a bunch of xenophobic, homophobic, racist, slack-jawed science deniers.

One thing that cannot be denied: Donald Westlake would have made a crappy Country Music lyricist. I am sure he would have agreed.

[RetroHound · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not too crazy about this book. It's rather hard on Branson, while in many ways it's easy to be hard on Branson, Westlake is not kind to the regular folks. We live only a couple hours away from Branson, but we never went there until we got a "free" two night stay just to listen to time-share pitch and found the town pretty interesting. A lot has changed in the town since this book was written, but I guess the people would look the same to Westlake.

Another thing about the book is that it's 100 pages before anything interesting begins to happen. There were places where it was amusing and there was some mystery, but overall, it was just an OK book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satire. First line: "Sara drove out of the wilderness. Inside the purring air-conditioned Buick Skylark, a rental from the airport, she rolled southward from Springfield through the tumbled Ozarks, more a furrowed plateau than a mountain range, on toward the new home of country music, forty miles away: Branson, Missouri." "Speakers amplified to send message to Mars." "Ixnayed" "A man for whom light suddenly dawned." "Her hair with split ends resplit." "Rag" (tabloids). Last line: "He (Jack) pulled away, snarling. 'What are you so happy about?' "Good news," she said and laughed.

[Alejandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheeky take on a media circus around the murder trial of has-been country star Ray Jones, in Branson, Missouri. The story is a bit of a whirlwind mixing sleazy tabloid staff, a couple of more seasoned investigative journalists, the IRS and a collection of lawyers, everyone with their own agenda. Fun breezy read, although I'm not much of a country connoisseur so the parody may have gone a bit over my head. I hope the lyrics peppered throughout never grace the radio.

[Susan Chapek]

Wherein Westlake aims his satirical arrows at a multitude of targets--courtroom murder mysteries; the country music industry; tabloid journalism; and the middle of the middle of America (Branson, MO). I may have left a few things off the list.

This is #2 in a two-book series. My preferred Westlake series is Dortmunder's, with its large continuing cast of weird, loyal, aspirants to the con artists' hall of fame.

[E M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Westlake and would have said he was so good that he couldn't write a unfunny book (Richard Stark doesn't count). Well, Baby, Would I Lie? proves me wrong. I couldn't finish it. It was more like a comic strip than a comic novel. Especially disappointing to someone who has delighted in his work for so long. Not recommended.

[Rocky Rachal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Westlake Does It Again Very Fun Story

Very fun story with a great twist. Characters are memorable, with edges. I highly recommend this book. Right up there with his Dortmunder novels.

[Patricio Padua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Branson should be a better target, but maybe that’s the problem. One doesn’t get the feeling Westlake likes these people. And if he doesn’t like them or care what happens to them, then no wonder the plot resolves via cheap Deus ex VHS.

[Jeffrey Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and entertaining

Sara is a great character, and Ray is not the stereotype a lesser writer might have made of a country singer in Branson. Another good read from Donald Westlake!

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met gave read this 30 years ago. This time I listened to it. Still quintessential Westlake… sarcastic and cynical with affection towards society’s quirks, this time in Branson. It all works out in the end.

[Oldshamus Pawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book some time ago. DEW is masterful a drawing you in and not letting go until the end.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun and the plot made sense. And the send up of country music is pretty fun. The song called “if it ain’t fried, it ain’t food” is priceless

[Anne Patkau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Country singer Ray manipulates reporter Sara and lawyers, Warren for criminal and Jolie. Guileless Cal will do anything for his rich pal. Will Sara get the scoop her boss/boyfriend Jack hopes for?

[David Bradshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Branson Mo. a fun tale

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Westlake's Dortmunder books, but light entertaining mystery involving a country singer, Ray Jones. Includes lyrics alleged to have been written by Jones (terrible).

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever with a country music setting in Branson. A light, fun pool read

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was better than the first book. I don't think there are any more in this series, which is too bad. I'd like to know what happened to Sara and Jack and Binx.

[Gregory Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of our slyest and most entertaining writers

[Katherine Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts great. Others not so much. Did enjoy the actual outcome.

[Leila Kheiry · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. Doesn’t really stand the test of time.