Timothy Findley

Timothy Findley built a Canadian literary career across novels, plays, and short fiction, often bringing psychological tension and moral uncertainty into historical and contemporary settings. Telling Of Lies refers to his 1986 mystery The Telling of Lies, published by Viking in Canada. The novel begins at the Aurora Sands Hotel, where Vanessa Van Horne becomes troubled by the apparent death of an American financier and by the unusually tidy explanation offered for it. Her questions draw her toward wider political and corporate interests, allowing Findley to combine a classic investigation with an examination of public deception. The work appeared after novels such as The Wars and Famous Last Words, extending his concern with the stories institutions construct to protect power. Later Penguin editions included an introduction by Charles Foran, while the original Canadian edition carried the subtitle A Mystery. Telling Of Lies is thus a shortened form of a novel whose full title and publication history clarify its place in Findley’s fiction.