Lisa Gardner's consulting career was cut short by a husband who savagely murdered 10 women. The psychopathic spouse is the villain in Gardner's 1998 best-selling suspense novel, The Perfect Husband (Bantam). Gardner penned the book late at night following her long days as a young research analyst with Mercer Management (now Oliver Wyman) in Boston during the mid-1990s.
A self-professed "research geek," Gardner says her time as a consultant gave her the skills and confidence to follow a line of investigation while delving into new topics. "What brought me to both writing and consulting is my passion for research," she says from her home in New Hampshire.
Gardner published three romance novels before she finished college. "You don't publish a novel and then hang up your hat," she notes. To quench her thirst for research, and economic stability, Gardner joined Mercer in 1993. For two years, she worked 12-hour days and then returned home to write fiction from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. She ultimately produced 13 romance novels, including one (The Midnight Hour) that was made into a TV-movie.
