Take Murder On Capitol Hill (Capital Crimes, #2) Authored By Margaret Truman Depicted In Digital Copy
have read a few other of Margaret Truman's mysteries but this second entry in the series had somehow escaped me until now.
Well done and now I can cross Washington D, C. off my ReadtheUSA mystery challenge : The Senate Majority leader, Cale Caldwell, is murdered at a party being thrown in his honor.
His wife Veronica, is chosen by the governor of their state to replace him in the Senate.
Lydia James is selected as special counsel to a Senate committee investigating the Senator's murder, It seems no one wants her to actually discover the truth, The review on the back cover said," A good old fashioned mystery, " I can't add anything to that, A Great story
This the second one I've read of Margaret Truman's stories and the keep getting better.
I loved the story line and the characters were really well written, I plan on reading all her other ones, because she writes such good stories, Very good book.
Will be reading all the books written by Margaret Truman, Even forty years ago our elected officials didn't work for the people, murders, brain washing and family dynamics.
I like Margaret Truman's writing style, so I've been reading a number of her books in this Washington insider series.
It's fun to think some of her ideas probably came from watching the goings on in D.
C. when her father was president, She weaves a good mystery, usually lots of suspects, as in this case, with the true "villain" not disclosed until near the end.
I liked the twists and turns, showcasing many possible killers until the kind of surprising ending.
The "tape" wasn't what I expected, I also liked her understated romance scenes, Read it many many moons ago, Came across the title and I remember I had a number of her books on my shelves.
Can not remember what I thought of the book it was so many years ago but I would suspect if was pretty good if I obtained more of her books.
I found this book at a second hand bookstore in a mall here in Cebu, I have read books of Margaret Truman before and they were similar to this one, They were all about politicians in DC, I think these kind of stories are Margaret Truman's specialty, By the way, Margaret Truman is the daughter of former US President Harry S, Truman. Just so you know. :
What is in this story
A dead senator, A lot of suspects. A shady religious cult who is accused of brainwashing its members to keep them, A female defense lawyer as a protagonist,
A very nosy radio announcer, An unsolved murder that might or may not be related to the case but the victim was related to the senator.
Add in a few more people with their own motives and agendas, All these make for a very chaotic and big mess, The only way to solve the case is to check each possible angle without dismissing any single thing, no matter how tiny that might have any relevance or shed light to the case.
Margaret Truman's insider knowledge of DC is shining through here, No one does it like her, The classic question of who has done it lives in every page, It seemed like everyone could be a suspect but the real culprit is never ever obvious.
You have to read the whole book to find out and be astonished in the revelation.
This is definitely one of those mindboggling crime mysteries I have read, The suspect I had in mind was not the real killer, If there were clues as to who has done it, they were so subtle that even I, a selfproclaimed mystery, thriller and suspense junkie had missed them.
Which means, the author is at the top of her game, I am happy to be told that my hunch was wrong, I love that the story is so unpredictable, The best thing about mysteries is to never know what's coming, To surprise and to bewilder both the suspicious and the unsuspecting reader,
I give the book/video tapes, This is a classic case of leave no stone unturned, The puzzle has to be solved by connecting the pieces one at a time, Unraveling the secrets bit by bit, This is one good oldfashioned mystery in its finest, This story reminds me why I was so drawn into this genre, I think most of the books I have read is composed ofof this genre, When YA was not yet the thing, this was my default setting for stories to read.
It was like second nature to me to hunt for these kind of stories, I live for these kind of stories,
I admire people who demand the truth, even if they are annoying,
Margaret Truman, Murder on Capitol Hill
Classy amp Suspenseful
This book reads like a Murder She Wrote episode.
There is a classiness to the writing that I enjoy, I'm sorry it has taken me so many years to read this series of books, It was worth the wait, "It's bad, Cale. These cults and their hold over their followers, They're a real threat. There should be more investigations"
"It's touchy," Cale said, "Start messing with religion, or what purports to be a religious group and you run the risk of being called intolerant, messing with constitutional rights.
. . hey, you're a lawyer, you know all about it, " Pg.
"There's nothing more we can do, Jason, and you'll have to understand that, My father, sad to say, has lost his grip on reality, He knew he was very ill, and that acute knowledge of mortality did strange things to his mind.
He had the need to set the record straight, as he put it, to make amends for what he considered the sins of his friends, his family, his own life.
Very sad, but not unusual, Think of all the celebrities who write their autobiographies once they pass the wrong side of fifty.
That was all my father was doing, writing his life story, " Pg.
I feel like this excuse is overused when their is little to no evidence, Another decent political mystery from Margaret Truman, who certainly used her White House knowledge to portray a gritty Washington reality.
It reads like a thriller, with plenty of twists and turns, While the murderer was pretty obvious from the get go, the motive kept me guessing right until the end.
An excellent read
I enjoy politics and have an interest in cults.
Combine the two with a mystery and you have Murder on Capitol Hill, It's well put together,and the mystery itself is quite well thought out, It's not quite the pageturner Murder in the White House is, but it's still a great read.
"Jason DeFlaunce" SERIOUSLY
Why did I do this to myself, Seriously, that's abouthours of my life I'll never get back, I could have spent that time staring at the back of the bus seats, it would have been better for me.
This book, which was worse even than Murder at Union Station, is probably the biggest steamiest pile of crap I've ever read, and I've read Elsie Dinsmore.
The characters are absurd, the plot completely unbelievable, the dialog stilted, the love scene gosh, the love scene is the worst I've ever read.
One of Trumans better mysteries, The ultimate unraveling is twisted and not totally convincing, but the path getting there is interesting and well paced.
The weakest element of the novel is the Utah political side story that is unconvincing, This book was definitely better than the first book in the series, A little more going on to hold your interest, The pace moved a little faster and it was, for me, more exciting than Murder in the White House.
Discovered Another Great Mystery Writer!
Loved this book, Real page turner! I love it when I enjoy a mystery so thoroughly! Loved the plot, all the twist amp turns.
Highly recommended. Between them, Senator Cale Caldwell and his blueblooded wife controlled as much power on Capitol Hill as the law would allow.
Sadly, it wasnt sufficient to protect him from a killer, even surrounded by his friends at a champagne reception in his honor.
The senators murder wasnt the familys first brush with violence, Only two years ago, a niece had been murdered, her killer never found, But when attorney Lydia James, counsel to a senate committee investigating the tragedy, suggests there might be a connection between the two deaths, shes voted down fast.
Yet strange rumors persist. The senators death could benefit many people, among them a bitter political adversary, an ambitious talk show host, and a master of spin who makes even murder look
good.
The Majority Leader Cale Caldwell of the US Senate is murdered in the larger of the Senate Dining Rooms during a reception in his honor hosted by his wife, Veronica.
It was by an ice pick behind a screen near the table with the decimated shrimp tree I for one was very happy it happened after the shrimp had been devoured the description was a thing of beauty not to go to waste.
Withpossible witnesses/suspects, the MPD is overwhelmed and of course the Senate must convene a special committee to investigate and hire a special counsel.
Oh how apt was it to read this mystery set inorafter spending a week watching the chaos in the House while McCarthy gave away the store overvotes to become its Majority Leader!
At the center of this murder mystery is Lydia James, ayear old former criminal defense lawyer now heading a successful firm specializing in FCC licensing, who is asked by the widow to be special counsel to the Senate committee and no relation or connection to NYS current AG, Letitia James but I kept envisioning her as Letitia because for ayear old woman attorney to be that successful inshe had to be one of the best attorneys out there.
It wasn't untilthat law schools started admitting more than half a dozen to a dozen women to its classes.
Just the numbers of women in law were miniscule in those days, though more numerous than the number of women in the Senate I believe that Sen.
Nancy Kassebaum, R Kas, was the only woman in the Senante at the time this book was written in.
I applaud Truman for making our special counsel a woman,
It provided a wonderful backdrop to show how women lawyers were considered and treated generally, mostly in subtle but very accurate ways.
I was not yet a lawyer didn't go to law school untilbut I worked in law firms and know it well because it was still happening when I began to practice law.
The mystery is reasonably complex though I figured out a good deal of it.
Events of the time were a clear influence there's a religious cult this wasyears after the Jonestown Massacre, references to the Jean Harris murder trial, and a damaging videotape that was first missing then kept changing hands all of course pulled from major events of thes.
I was instantly back inwith no answering machines, land lines and payphones, library research and xerox copies, a metallic blue Buick Skylark with speakers mounted in the rear deck, Flair pens, the Early American decorating style, and most of all the frequent way the male senators and the MPD chief refer to Lydia as a girl, the casual sexual invitations addressed to her.
the lack of respect. I did find myself occasionally chafing at her response or placid acceptance and then I remembered how you just picked your battles and kept on with your job when it was just words.
That was the world and Truman depicted it well,
My critique is mostly that Lydia talked way too freely to her lover about the murder and her investigation to the point that I felt she violated the Professional Code of Ethics as a lawyer.
But then who was her client The Senate No, the People of the US, So maybe she wasn't. .