Customer Reviews

Murder at Ford's Theatre (Capital Crimes Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In her latest novel, Margaret Truman stages "Murder at Ford's Theatre" with a cast drawn from recent headlines and past novels in her Capital Crime Series. The murder of Senate intern Nadia Zarinski, romantically linked to her boss, outside the historic theatre now run by the senator's ex-wife and Hollywood producer, Clarisse Emerson, who is preparing for her confirmation hearing as the next chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts sets off a media frenzy all too familar in the nation's capital. The case is so sensational that Truman's favorite Washington couple, George Washington University law professor Mackensie Smith and his wife Annabelle, are compelled to play leading roles once again. Supporting cast members and Lincoln buffs, detectives Klayman and Johnson, representing the Metropolitan Police Department, and Sydney Bancroft, aging British thespian and Ford Theatre artistic director, add colorful moments to this fast paced drama.

It is impossible for me to criticise Truman's work. Her attention to detail especially about local landmarks and legends in Washington, DC provides the reader with a sense of place that locals recognize and visitors remember. I don't doubt that Truman strolled the cafes and galleries of Dupont Circle sipping latte at Kramerbooks & Afterwoods researching the details about historic Ford's Theatre that she got correct right down to the spelling.

Above all, "Murder at Ford's Theatre" is first rate suspense. Whether you live inside the infamous beltway or not, add this book to your list right away.

Nadia Zarinski, intern to Senator Lerner, is found dead in the alley out back of Ford's Theatre in DC. She volunteered time at the Theatre now and then. She was found by Johnny Wales, a stage hand at the theatre. The only eyewitness to her murder is John Partridge. He is an alcoholic and thinks he is a CIA agent. He was sleeping it off in the alley.

Detectives Rick Klayman and Mo Johnson are investigating this death. There are rumors that Nadia and Senator Lerner were involved. The Senator's ex-wife, Clarise, is the head of Ford's Theatre and was unaware that Nadia was volunteering time at the theatre. Clarise is also to be confirmed as the head of the National Endowment of Arts within the week.

The Senator and Clarise's son Jeremiah becomes a suspect in the murder when a previous boyfriend of hers mentions that Jeremiah dated Nadia. That information is confirmed by another source.

Mac Smith is now a professor of law. He is teaching a special class on Lincoln the lawyer. He was a criminal lawyer until a drunk driver hit and killed his first wife and only son. He is remarried to Annabel who was a divorce lawyer and now owns and operates a Columbia art gallery. Mac is asked by Clarise to assist Jeremiah when he is arrested. Mac and his former law partner Yale Becker represent Jeremiah.

Detective Klayman wonders if they haven't been hasty in arresting Jeremiah. He's not convinced that all the other suspects were sufficiently interrogated.

Mac and Annabel are surprised by the Senator's and Clarise's detachment from Jeremiah through this ordeal.

Detective Klayman is very interested in President Lincoln and attends Mac's class. They are careful to not discuss this case, just Lincoln.

I am very happy that Margaret Truman has returned to her Capital Crimes series. I like Mac and Annabel and always enjoy seeing Mac get involved in a murder investigation. They feel like very down-to-earth people to me. Like your neighbor next door.

The Senator in this book was very well written. He was very detached and always too busy to deal with the daily problems.

All of the peripheral characters were well constructed as well. In the end of the book, I found myself flip-flopping from thinking one person did it to another. I wasn't able to easily pick out the killer. A sign of a good mystery!

I highly recommend this book and all the books in this series. The fact that I know the DC/VA area that was discussed always makes it more interesting.

After a seventeen-novel run, you might think that Margaret Truman must have pretty well exhausted the possibilities for murder and mayhem on the Washington scene, but with "Murder at Ford's Theatre", she has found yet another fascinating new venue to explore in her popular 'Capital Crimes' series. Her real life premise? Restored to its original Civil War Era splendor and maintained by the National Park Service as an historic site, today Ford's is also a state-of-the-art, working theater run by the non-governmental Ford's Theatre Society. Fictional charismatic Clarise Emerson: former Hollywood TV producer, ex-wife of playboy Senator Bruce Lerner and presently a nominee for the Chairmanship of NEA is currently its producing director, but...aided by her new comptroller, Bernard Crowly...her primary concern is fund-raising and public relations, so she delegates the actual production mounting tasks to her staff of trained professionals including former Shakespearean matinee idol, Sydney Bancroft. When Sydney is a no-show at an early morning tech staff meeting, real life drama abruptly intrudes into Ford's make-believe world as a stagehand going out for a smoke stumbles over the badly beaten dead body of alluring volunteer intern, Nadia Zarinski. Seasoned police officers Rick Klayman and Mo Johnson 'catch' the case. As they pursue their investigation, among other confusing pieces of conflicting evidence, they uncover a romantic relationship between Nadia and Senator Lerner as well as one with his and Clarise's son, Jeremiah. After Jeremiah is arrested and charged with her murder, Clarise asks Lincoln scholar, legal expert and law professor Mac Smith and his wife Annabel...her close friends...to come to his rescue. In the novel's exciting denouement, their insiders' take on the tangled emotional environment at Ford's helps winnow out the real killer during a Gala evening at the Theatre while, on-stage, history almost repeats itself in a chilling tour de force performance by a madman.

Margaret Truman has such a marvelous flair for capturing the minutiae of Washington's history as integral addenda to her thoroughly engrossing mysteries. She successfully combines a solidly-crafted police procedural format with completely believable characterizations and plenty of fast action to always provide an extremely pleasurable reading experience. I was especially interested in the material that I found here about the Theatre itself as well as Abraham Lincoln which made "Murder at Ford's Theatre" a thoroughly enjoyable read for me.

I have read many of her books. I found this one better than a lot of her others. I kept me going and I finished it in 2 days.

Margaret Truman's mysteries get better with each new one that appears. In this one, she uses Ford's Theatre as her site. Anyone who has visited Ford's Theatre will agree that she picked a place with the right atmosphere for a mystery. Someone murdered Nadia Zarinski in the alley behind Ford's Theatre. She was an intern for Senator Bruce Lerner, and there are rumors of an affair, so he is a suspect. The murder also casts an unwanted spotlight on Clarise Emerson, Lerner's former wife, head of the Ford's Theatre Society, and presidential nominee to chair the National Endowment for the Arts. Aging actor Sydney Bancroft claimed that Jeremiah Lerner, son of the Senator and Clarise, had been dating the victim. A surly brat, he ran when confronted by detectives, and was soon arrested for the murder. Clarise begs law professor Mac Smith to help her son. Mac and wife Annabel, an urbane couple, are in many of Margaret Truman's mysteries. Mac agrees to help, and the real mystery unfolds until it reaches a surprising climax. This is a splendid tale, with real characters (not cardboard) and a nice pace.

This was not one of Truman's best books. I kept waiting for some action and mystery... and then it did not come. The other Capital Crimes book I read most recently (Murder at the Smithsonian; Library of Congress) had a lot more intrigue. I did like the many DC references, but those are in all of her books... hopefully Ms. Truman will have some better books to offer in the future.

My daughter and I recently visited Washington DC and toured the museum and listened to the Park Ranger tell of the night that Lincoln was shot. This book fully portrays the historical content and shares the setting within the theatre to great length. The story and plot were great, but the book dragged somewhat in the middle when "as-been" actor spent time in London. I think Truman was trying to throw a bone to get readers off of the focus of the story. But overall, it was a good read and I plan to order the book as a gift to my daughter for the historical content alone.

I skipped the book that comes right after Murder of the Library of Congress - it's about a plane crash, and I don't like flying. I was not impressed with LoC, but since I checked out some of her more recent Capitol Crimes, I gave this one a chance. Once again, it's simply an average read. I felt that the main detectives, Klayman and Johnson, were stereotypes. Klayman is the nerdy, white Jewish kid with a bleeding heart; Johnson is the black family man who sees crimes realistically. Their dialogue was not believable, but I did enjoy their working together on the job. (Did I need to read about Klayman dining with Johnson and his family? No, and I skimmed those and other irrelevant parts.)

I dislike the fact that everyone uses the term "make love" to describe Nadia's hook-ups. Only in one instance, when being described by a young man, was the term "screw" used. Instead of the fluffy "make love", couldn't other professionals have used "have sexual intercourse", "become physically intimate"?

The Smiths aren't as prominent in this story. Mac is more of the "hero" in that he is teaching a class in which that one of the other characters is enrolled. Mac also becomes involved in Nadia's murder case. Wife Annabel tries to support friend Clarise, who is working on something political.

What I did like what the history woven into the story. Truman researched Lincoln's assassination. The descriptions of DC were, of course, appreciated.

As the daughter of a former President, Truman knows what makes Washingtonians tick - what gets them to become so cutthroat, so phony, so immoral, etc. She's not afraid to use that knowledge in this book, creating a few vile characters in this installment.

Because of all the cliches and forced dialogue, I'm not sure if I'm going to read the other two Capitol Crimes that I checked out of the library.

I Love these books, I love the insight and the stories. Keep them coming.

With a title to entice one to expect a connection to John Wilkes Booth (perhaps his ghost) and the happenings of April 14, 1865, the reader will be sadly disappointed. This being the first Margaret Truman-penned book for me to be even slightly interested in reading, I was not prepared for something so mundane. It was full of politics, not so much mystery.

The elderly British movie star who got no respect in America put on a show as demented spouting Shakespeare: "to be" (to go on living) or "not to be" (to take his own life) emulated Booth's actions at times. Some prurient characters ruin the story which might have historical significance had not the premise fallen into morass.

One historical fact I did not know was that the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. was around the circle from Watergate, which has its own stigma, faced the Reflecting Pool, with the Capitol on the other end, had been copied from the view by the Taj Mahal and Versailles. Another bit of history is that in 1965, Ford's Theatre was restored and opened again as a working theater and proclaimed a National Historic Site. The British spelling was used as back then all things British were considered superior to USA (Jack, now you know!)