That’s right. All of them.

A few years back, I became aware of Sam Hawke’s debut novel, City of Lies. Of course, I wanted to read it. When I looked up the book on GoodReads, I saw that there were other novels also called City of Lies. (Hey, tons of books have the same title.) Thus an idea was born: What if I read every book I can find titled City of Lies? And so I did. I had simple criteria: The book itself must be titled City of Lies—subtitles or series names don’t count; the book can have a subtitle as long as CoL is the main title; only “CoL,” meaning no “A City of Lies” or “The City of Lies.”

In total, I was able to find 11 books that qualified. Some of them I was able to read through my library. A couple of them, I had to buy physical copies of, and a few of them I was able to buy ebooks for. Will there be more books that pop in the future? Probably, but that’s not my problem. Here are a couple of fun pie charts:

Of the 11 books in terms of genre:

4 were Crime
3 were Fantasy
2 were Mystery
1 was Romance
1 was Nonfiction Journalism

In terms of setting:

4 were New York
3 were Secondary World
1 was Tehran
1 was Chicago
1 was Ancient Egypt
1 was Washington, D.C.

All right! Let’s go through each of the books. Buckle up; this is going to be a lo…actually, it’s probably going to be a quicker ride than you might think. For many of these I don’t have too much to say.

The Books

City of Lies – Lian Tanner

A child is stolen, and a girl attempts to rescue her. However, she gets caught up in a Festival of Lies where neither she nor anyone else can trust each other.

Aside from a couple of the main characters, a lot of them felt one-dimensional. Nevertheless, lots of action and a very fun, MiddleGrade read.

City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran – Ramita Navai

A journalist records the stories of 8 different people in the underground cultures of Tehran: “the gun runner, the aging socialite, the porn star, the assassin and enemy of the state who ends up working for the Republic, the volunteer religious policeman who undergoes a sex change, and the dutiful housewife who files for divorce.”

This was such an interesting and informative read, and it shed light on things I had previously not known about. We follow people who each have a different lives yet are connected through being part of the “underground” Iranian society.

City of Lies – R.J. Ellory

A man’s father who was thought to be dead is actually still alive.

I honestly don’t remember too much about this book. But what I do remember is how it was for sure set in New York. In the USA. Where all of the characters were from. Born and raised. No immediate family outside of the United States of America. And yet it seemed like every single character was speaking with British colloquialisms. It took me out of the story that I already wasn’t that invested in.

City of Lies – Victoria Thompson

A woman joins a women’s suffrage group in order to hide from someone she thwarted in the past.

This is set during the women’s suffrage movement in the late 1910s, US. AFAIK, it wouldn’t be considered noir, but it has a noir quality to it. This was a pleasant surprise. It started out a bit slow, but once things got into place the characters and plot were enjoyable to read. I especially liked Anna’s character development (I listened via audiobook, so I apologize for any misspellings) — from a timid young woman who doesn’t fully understand her feelings towards other women to highly confident. I thought the plot and characters were great. The style itself wasn’t something I have much interest in (I picked this up on a whim), but I had a good time still.

City of Lies – Robert W. Walker

In 1896 Chicago, a man inspects strange crimes that arise while also dealing with his own personal life.

This is another one where I don’t remember too much of. I remember feeling that it was good. It didn’t blow me out of the water, but I think it accomplished what it set out to do. I wish I could say more, but overall it was solidly alright.

City of Lies – Peter McCabe

“A crime reporter becomes embroiled in a murder case in New York’s Upper West Side, and his forbidden affair with one of the case’s prime suspects could cost him dearly.”

This—ahem—was not the book for me. It was readable, that’s for certain. But the characters, the plot…the everything was just so. Not it. It feels like there could be something there. I liked the idea of the reporter discovering different clues and chasing leads/making connections others hadn’t considered. But the execution was so dry, and the plot itself came off as a paint-by-numbers type.

City of Lies – Alafair Burke

A business tycoon has an apartment that he allows his employees to use from time to time. One day, one of his employees is murdered. Some time later, more people are killed. These other murders and the original one all seem to be connected. Detective Ellie Hatcher is on a mission to find out why.

The actual plot and prose were fine. I thought the ending was a bit convoluted, but overall it wasn’t too bad. I was, however, pretty annoyed throughout this book. It felt like every time a character was introduced, we would get a detailed description of what they looked like and what they were wearing. It was so unnecessary. There was a lot of stereotyping going on: for example, the man who runs a college gossip site is a greasy-haired man with…gasp!…acne! who lives in his aunt’s basement. All of these things are presented in a negative light. Same with the women who choose to be sex workers in the book. It’s presented as a sort of “Oh those poor women, forced to live such shameful lives.”

City of Lies – Anton Gill

Egypt, the 18th Dynasty.

After the death of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Egypt must make the difficult decision of choosing a new ruler promptly.

Ay, a powerful and influential politician has taken to the throne and must protect his country from the resentful Horemheb, leader of the army, who craves power and will do anything to overthrow Ay.

Huy, the scribe who unwillingly quit his profession to become a private detective, has been appointed once again by Ay.

Having achieved his ultimate goal, he is now undecided on his next step – should he marry the charming physician, Senseneb?

As their relation progresses, Huy is faced with the tough responsibility of protecting Ay when Horemheb and his followers suddenly attack the premises.

On the other side of Egypt, Tutankhamun’s widow, Ankhsi lives in solitude to grieve her husband’s death. Horemheb ultimately decides to use her as a hostage and Huy must decide who he will protect first – Ankhsi, whose husband he served for years, or Huy, who he works for now?

Will Huy act quickly when Horemheb arrives in order to save Ay and the future of his country whilst also protecting Ankhsi?

I decided to just quote the entire blurb because I was unsure just how to describe the plot. This book is set in Ancient Egypt and includes both real historical figures as well as completely made up ones. The author notes at the end what research he did, as well as a bit about the history and religious beliefs of that particular setting.

I found some of the sentence structures to be a bit long-winded and confusing at times. As a whole, I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I liked it, but it was just so different to anything I’ve read that it’s hard to judge. I thought the characters were well done. There is a rather creepy brother/sister relationship; while the book doesn’t explicitly speak out against it, it does heavily imply that this relationship is meant to be viewed as abnormal and weird. I also felt like this was a book where you didn’t really understand the plot until after it was over. “Oh! That’s what this book was about!” (By you, I of course mean me.)

City of Lies: Olivia & Gerard’s Story

Olivia is a barista and event coordinator assistant. Gerard is a multi-millionaire. When Gerard uses the company Olivia works for to plan a charity ball, they develop feelings of lust for each other.

I would call this an erotic romance, simply because the sex scenes are explicit in nature. The book also features an HFN (I think). This was another “not for me” book. Olivia had zero agency and literally needed a Big, Strong Man™ to help save her. She has one random spurt of yelling at her cafe boss near the end, and that’s it. Gerard is a complete asshole. In the very beginning, he gets mad at one of his employees. Why? He told her to wear a white blouse with the top four buttons unbuttoned, and she didn’t. She wore a cream blouse. He literally treats and describes Olivia as “prey.” When Olivia leaves town to escape from everything in New York, Gerard follows her there. That is of course, after he has his assistant search where her family lives and makes the assumption that Olivia has gone there. I guess it’s meant to be a romantic gesture, but with his behavior and personality, it just feels stalker-ish. Barring that, “event coordinator” is probably the only concrete job we get. I guess cafe worker, too. But Gerard works for a company. And does company things. Like attend board meetings. And run a company. Yep. I wasn’t here for this couple, and I wasn’t here for the book.

City of Lies – Nathan Carmen

Evil always seems to find Sera Ralldin, even when she’s not looking for it. Just as she finally feels like she has found a place to call home, her security and even her life are challenged when a mysterious bounty hunter tries to claim a reward on her head. Now Sera must return to the city she was banished from to confront the man who wants her dead: King Pelegor.

On her way, she’ll uncover lies, betrayal, and a thirst for revenge as she tries to put an end to the evil once and for all. But her greatest discoveries include a truth she never wanted and a plot that could destroy everything she holds dear.

With her friends Angus, Bannon, and Amelia, Sera must fight to discover the secrets of her past and face off against a greater evil than she ever imagined.

This was a completely adequate, short MiddleGrade book. I thought a couple of the characters felt the same in terms of personality, and I’d often forget that they were two separate people. This book didn’t really do anything new or innovative. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, it was cute and a fun adventure.

City of Lies – Sam Hawke

Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he’s a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state.

But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising…and angry.

Well, we finally made it. The book that started it all. Inspired this particular journey, I mean. (I’m pretty sure that Peter McCabe book was the first one published back in like 1993 or something.)

And wow was it worth it! This was such a good book. I thought the characters were well developed and a delight to read. I loved the portrayal of the culture and society. I also loved how one of the characters had a sickness you couldn’t see. “Well, she doesn’t look sick.” I thought it was handled very well. The epigraphs that included the different poisons was so fun to read, too. In case it hasn’t been made apparent: I basically have nothing but good things to say about this book. I’d say I’m late to the party, but this book waited patiently for me to be ready and greeted me at the door as though I was an honored guest. This is a book that has a mystery element but doesn’t rely on generic mystery tropes. While I certainly enjoyed the plot, the book’s focus is much more on the characters themselves. I don’t have a lot to say other than just gushing. I wrote a slightly more coherent review of the sequel, Hollow Empire. I also wrote a fun cognitive poetics analysis of that book, too. If you want an actually well-written review of City of Lies, check out Sara’s review.

So what have I learned from this experience?

I’ve learned that if a book is called City of Lies, there’s a good chance it’ll either be a mystery/crime book or set in New York. Or both! I learned that my two favorites were Sam Hawke’s and Ramita Navai’s books. A good selection I thought were fine; nothing to write home about but not bad. And there was also a select few that either actually annoyed me while reading or I just found bad to put it bluntly.

Will I do this again with a different book title? Probably on my own. I randomly thought about this challenge back in 2019 when I decided to go ahead with it. Truth be told, I probably could’ve been finished much sooner but I didn’t really dedicate my reading time to it until recently. And also, a couple of the books didn’t come out until relatively recently, so there’s that I guess.

I learned that coming up with these personal reading challenges is really fun. I did one previously where I read books that reminded me of my co-bloggers. And after this second one, I still want to do more. Different challenges, of course.

All in all, I did what I set out to accomplish, so I’m very happy.