Capitol Murder: A Novel of Suspense [Hardcover]

Phillip Margolin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 3, 2012

Deadly intrigue, breathtaking twists, and exhilarating suspense await in the third book of Phillip Margolin’s New York Times bestselling Washington Trilogy. Hot on the heels of Supreme Justice, Margolin delivers another heart-pounding thriller featuring private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are forced by a terrorist attack on a football stadium—and by the escape of Executive Privilege’s convicted serial killer Clarence Little—to follow a sinister trail of lies, treachery, and betrayal into an unexpected new arena: the U.S. Congress.

“Phillip Margolin knows how to pack in the thrills.” —Tess Gerritsen

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Several plots converge in this political thriller, each driving toward the last suspenseful page. . . . CAPITOL MURDER is as frightening as any election. Grade: A” (Cleveland Plain Dealer )

“Like the preceding books in this trilogy, CAPITOL MURDER offers its readers an exciting story focused on topical events. Margolin expertly unravels each of the threads of his complicated plot only unite them again in a consistently developed conclusion.” (Examiner.com )

“A killer follow-up. . . . Phillip Margolin’s CAPITOL MURDER is like a cold shower—it grabs our attention and gets our adrenaline running.” (New York Journal of Books )

“Margolin delivers another slam-bang political thriller. . . . A nonstop read. ” (Library Journal )

From the Back Cover

Private investigator Dana Cutler and attorney Brad Miller have overcome more than a few daunting challenges and powerful enemies to see justice done. Against tremendous odds, they successfully unmasked an American president's involvement in a chain of murders. They also saved the life of a Supreme Court justice while foiling a conspiracy by rogue members of the CIA to fix a case headed for the court.

Now wicked threats old and new are about to bring them together once again. Convicted serial killer Clarence Little has escaped from death row in Oregon, and Brad receives threatening messages in D.C., where he is working for Senator Jack Carson, a high-ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. A dead body, murdered according to Little's M.O., is found in the senator's Georgetown home, and Carson has disappeared. While Dana is in Oregon digging into Carson's shady background, a terrorist cell is poised to destroy a packed professional football stadium in one of the biggest attacks on American soil. As the senator's personal life begins to dovetail with the cell's evil plan, Brad and Dana will risk it all again to uncover the truth and save their country.

Phillip Margolin proves once more that he is a true master of suspense, delivering another high-octane thriller set in Washington's legendary corridors of power. Capitol Murder's breathtaking pace and electrifying twists will have old fans and newcomers racing to the final, stunning page.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (April 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062069888
• ISBN-13: 978-0062069887
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in New York City and Levittown, New York. In 1965, I graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C., with a bachelor's degree in government. I spent 1965 to 1967 in Liberia, West Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer, and graduated from New York University School of Law in 1970, working my way through the last two years by teaching junior high school at night in the South Bronx. My first job following law school was a clerkship with Herbert M. Schwab, the chief judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals, and from 1972 until 1996, I was in private practice, specializing in criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels. As an appellate attorney I have appeared before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Oregon Supreme Court, and the Oregon Court of Appeals. As a trial attorney, I handled all sorts of criminal cases in state and federal court, and have represented approximately thirty people charged with homicide, several of whom faced the death penalty. I was the first Oregon attorney to use battered women's syndrome to defend a woman accused of murdering her spouse.

Since 1996, I have been writing full-time. All of my novels have been bestsellers. Heartstone, my first novel, was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar for best original paperback mystery of 1978. My second novel, The Last Innocent Man, was made into an HBO movie. Gone, But Not Forgotten has been sold to more than twenty-five foreign publishers and was made into a miniseries starring Brooke Shields. It was also the Main Selection of the Literary Guild. After Dark was a Book of the Month Club selection. The Burning Man, my fifth novel, published in August 1996, was the Main Selection of the Literary Guild and a Reader's Digest condensed book. My sixth novel, The Undertaker's Widow, was published in 1998 and was a Book of the Month Club selection. Wild Justice (HarperCollins, September 2000) was a Main Selection of the Literary Guild, a selection of the Book of the Month Club, and was nominated for an Oregon Book Award. The Associate was published by HarperCollins in August 2001, and Ties that Bind was published by HarperCollins in March 2003. My tenth novel, Sleeping Beauty, was published by HarperCollins on March 23, 2004. Lost Lake was published by HarperCollins in March 2005 and was nominated for an Oregon Book Award. Proof Positive was published by HarperCollins in July 2006. Executive Privilege was published by HarperCollins in May 2008 and in 2009 was given the Spotted Owl Award for the Best Northwest Mystery. Fugitive was published by HarperCollins on June 2, 2009. Willamette Writers gave me the 2009 Distinguished Northwest Writers Award. My latest novel, Supreme Justice, was published by HarperCollins in May 2010. My next novel, Capitol Murder, will come out in April 2012.

On October 11, 2011, HarperCollins will publish Vanishing Acts, my first Young Adult novel, which I wrote with my daughter, Ami Margolin Rome. Also in October, the short story "The Case of the Purloined Paget," which I wrote with my brother, Jerry, will be published by Random House in the anthology A Study in Sherlock.

In addition to my novels, I have published short stories and nonfiction articles in magazines and law journals. My short story "The Jailhouse Lawyer" was selected for the anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 1999. The House on Pine Terrace was selected for the anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 2010.

From 1996 to 2009 I was the president and chairman of the Board of Chess for Success. I am still heavily involved in the program, and returned to the board after a one-year absence in 2010. Chess for Success is a nonprofit charity that uses chess to teach study skills to elementary- and middle-school children in Title I schools . From 2007 to the present, I have been on the Board of Literary Arts, which sponsors the Oregon Book Awards, the Writers in the Schools program, and Portland Arts and Lectures.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#36 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#40 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#54 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#60 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#36 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#40 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#47 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#54 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#60 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Can anyone guess what they do on Capitol Hill? March 5, 2012

By michael a. draper TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Some fighters use a one, two punch to win their matches.

In "Capitol Murder," Phillip Margolin delivers an interesting and well executed one, two, three pronged approach to his story.

First we have convicted serial killer, Clarence Little. He murders and mutilates young women. However, one of the cases where he was found guilty shows faulty evidence, resulting in the case being overturned. Due to this, Little's other convictions must be reviewed.

Brad Miller is an attorney who was active in overturning Little's conviction. Brad is living in Washington, D.C. and begins getting notes from Little boasting about the trophies he took from his victims.

A second layer of the plot involves a terrorist plot to blow up a professional football stadium while packed with fans watching a Monday night football game. Since this game is shown around the world, it would be a blow to the U.S. and demoralize the U.S. servicemen.

The final segment of the story has to do with Brad Miller. He is currently working for Senator Jack Carson of Oregon. Carson is an influencial public official but has unusual sexual behavior and will do anything to keep this a secret.

The story comes together nicely but perhaps a bitt too conveniently. It does have a number of interesting plot twists but there is the question of how realistic the plot would seem to the reader, in addition, the packed football staduim as a target of the terrorists has been done before.

The two central characters are Brad Miller and P.I. Dana Cutler. They are very likable and people who the reader will want to succedd in their actions.

The book is an easy read and I felt myself nodding in agreement with the satisfying ending.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 2 1/2 Stars - Fast-Moving But More Than Offset By Mediocre Characterizations And Far-Fetched Plotting! February 16, 2012

By bobbewig TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I've read virtually all of Phillip Margolin's books and have enjoyed all of them to varying degrees; although my degree of enjoyment has been steadily lessening with each new Margolin book. This downward trend continues with Capitol Murder, the third book featuring lawyer Brad Miller and private investigator Dana Cutler.

Without going into detail, Capitol Murder is set in Washington D.C, where Brad Miller is working for Oregon's senior senator. When the senator inadvertently puts national security at risk, Miller and Cutler begin looking into the senator's shady dealings. Two other plot lines involve Miller being stalked by an escaped serial killer (who appeared in an earlier Margolin book), and a terrorist cell that puts into motion a plan to destroy the city's football stadium during a sold out game.

On the plus side, Capitol Murder is a fast-paced, suspense-filled thriller. Margolin packs the book with scenes that will most likely make you want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next. It is these types of qualities that make me a big thriller fan and (though as I said to a decreasing degree) a long-time fan of Margolin.

However, with this said, I consider Capitol Murder to be perhaps the weakest of Margolin's books that I've read for two primary reasons. One reason is that each of these plot lines, while generally entertaining, are too far-fetched; requiring me to stretch my ability to believe to the limit (and probably then some). Further, the plot lines involving an escaped prisoner stalking the person that helped put him there and about a terrorist plan to destroy a fan-packed stadium are not very original. Additionally, the plot line about the terrorist attack on a stadium has already been done much, much better -- if you recall Black Sunday by Thomas Harris. The second reason for my opinion is that Margolin seems to have had the portion of his brain devoted to character development on auto-pilot. All of the characters come off as stock, one-dimensional figures and not very interesting and credible. The best I can say about the characters are that they are serviceable.

To sum up, Capitol Murder isn't a bad book; it's just not one I'd recommend you rush out to read.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another enjoyable thrill ride from Margolin February 7, 2012

By William D. Curnutt TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Brad and Dana are back for another adventure. This time though we have Brad's new wife Ginny involved as well as a brief appearance at times from Dana's significant other, Jake. Life is just getting back to normal for everyone after the adventure of dealing with a serial killer and the corruption of an American President. So, Brad, Dana and Ginny all would like to just have 'normal' for a little while.

Unfortunately that is not going to happen. Margolin weaves three different plot lines through the novel and keeps you moving along at a very good clip. He then brings all the stories together and ties them up nicely at the end. My only disappointment? I think he could have gone on for another couple of hundred pages and developed each of the story lines a bit more, but then again, I'm not the writer and he might tell me that would be 'over the top.'

Our serial killer from the previous book, Clarence Little, is back on the scene as he seeks to get new trials for two of the murders that he is in prison for. He is grateful to Brad for his work on getting him cleared in the third murder that he didn't commit, but he is still in trouble on the two others. But his new lawyer believes she can get him new trials and an acquittal. Brad hopes not, but it's not his problem.

Then we turn to Brad and Ginny, now living in the Washington D.C. area and starting new jobs. Ginny with the Department of Justice and Brad as a legal staff member for a U.S. Senator. These should be fairly simple jobs (yes they take up a lot of time) that don't have to high degree of adventure to them. But wrong, just went Brad thought his life could be simple it get's complex again. The Senator has his own issues and is facing some problems with his lifestyle and his work on the Intelligence Oversight Committee.

Ginny has an issue when she gets transferred to a new department and put in charge of collating paperwork for a terrorism case, oh yeah, did I mention that terrorist are planning on blowing up a major American Sporting Event? Yeah, things just can't be simple. But Ginny stumbles across paperwork that could put a serious dent in the U.S. Government's case. What should she do.

And all this time Dana is getting more and more jobs as a private investigator as well as continuing to write stories for a "rag" magazine. But her new client happens to intersect with Ginny's job and strangely enough also with Brad's.

Margolin is a master of weaving all these stories together and giving you a ride that you will enjoy. His writing is good and detailed. Maybe the only problem is that he adds to many new characters to the mix in this story. But then again, he has no way around it to give us a good novel.

I'll stop here so that I don't accidentally give away a spoiler. But let me say that you will enjoy this book. Thanks Phillip for another great story.

Enjoy!