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but then again, it might not. the implication in the text is that the tree will cause death, not that god will punish them for disobedience. but this is a really subtle point, and certainly debatable. perhaps god just likes to phrase things in incredibly indirect ways.
If Eve thought the fruit was poisonous, she took a big risk trusting the snake. Remember Eve gave a little different rendition of God's command.
but God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die."
Makes you wonder if she touched the tree first.

The author doesn't depict God character as lying. Since this is a fictional story, we are talking about a character of God and not really God.
At least 1 Kings is depicting their take on reality.