Lunchbreak Program: Two Truths and a Lie, with Author Ellen McGarrahan

The Book Stall is delighted to host Ellen McGarrahan, whose true crime memoir, Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice, racked up a host of accolades even prior to publication. McGarrahan, a journalist turned private investigator, has written a riveting book, both an in-depth look at a terrible crime, and the author’s personal account of how her search for the truth turned into an obsession. She will be in conversation with The Book Stall’s event coordinator, Robert McDonald. This free program is highly recommended for fans of In Cold Blood, The Executioner’s Song, and contemporary true crime podcasts.

About the Book: In 1990, Ellen McGarrahan was a young reporter for the Miami Herald when she covered the execution of Jesse Tafero, a man convicted of murdering two police officers. When it later emerged that Tafero may have been innocent, McGarrahan was appalled by her unquestioning acceptance of the state’s version of events. The revelation propelled her into a new career as a private investigator.

Decades later, McGarrahan finally decides to find out the truth of what really happened in Florida. Her investigation plunges her back into the Miami of the 1960s and 1970s, a world of nightclubs, speed boats, and drug cartels awash in violence. She combs through stacks of court files and interviews everyone involved in the case. But even as McGarrahan circles closer to the truth, the story of guilt and innocence becomes more complex, and she gradually discovers that she hasn’t been alone in her need for closure. Because whenever a human life is forcibly taken–by bullet, or by electric chair–the reckoning is long and difficult for all.
A fascinating glimpse into the mind of a private investigator, Two Truths and a Lie is ultimately a deeply personal exploration of one woman’s quest to find answers in a chaotic world.

“Dark, foreboding, and emotional, this title is as gripping as a thriller and laced with cogent insights—McGarrahan stresses that sometimes there isn’t an objective truth to uncover. Fans of Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark will be spellbound.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)

About the Author: Ellen McGarrahan earned a degree in history from Yale and worked for a decade as an investigative reporter at newspapers in New York City, Miami, and San Francisco before accidentally finding her calling as a private detective. A former resident of Chicago, she now resides in London. Two Truths and a Lie is her first book.