Customer Reviews

Murder in the Supreme Court (Capital Crime Mysteries)

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The third in Truman's "Murder in Washington" series is better than the first two, but not much. The plotting is familiar: well-known figure killed in a capital landmark -- this time the Supreme Court, female attorney works the case, and turning the pages yields a half dozen viable suspects. Most readers will have narrowed the field to one or two candidates with fifty pages left, and those who have read Truman before will have no trouble predicting the end. However, "Supreme Court" is better than "White House" and "Capital Hill" because Truman has done more homework and gives us more background. Fewer DC restaurants and more peeks inside the Supreme Court. A good book, not a great one.

The cop had his moments, but on the whole the characters were not very well drawn, and the manner in which they interrelated were slapdash. Maybe it was just typical of the disco era in which this book was written, but I thought the dialogue was atrocious. The puzzle was not all that compelling, and the author's political overtones seemed both simplistic and schizophrenic.

Final verdict: a poor attempt at mystery fiction.

This is a typical Margaret Truman mystery. The plot is simple, the characters are well-drawn, and we get more of Margaret Truman's wonderful insight into Washington. A law clerk at the Supreme Court is found shot to death while he sits in the chair of the Chief Justice. Lieutenant Martin Teller of the Washington police and Susanna Pincher of the Justice Department investigate the murder. They find that the Supreme Court is not the high-minded place they imagined. It is a hot bed of intrigue, backbiting, and politics, especially under a right wing Chief Justice and President. The law clerk had dug up dirt on all the Justices and was using it claw his way to the White House. Thus, we have plenty of suspects in high places. It makes for a tangled web and a relaxing mystery to read.

Murder is not a subject that one thinks of when one considers the somber, hallowed halls of the stately granite structure that abuts the U. S. Capitol grounds. Yet the author makes the crime in the sacred highest court in the land indeed seem plausible. The reader is spellbound throughout the narrative of this page-turner. The insight into the behind-the-scenes working of the court gives even more credibility to this mystery. This is a welcome addition to the spectular crime series.

"Murder In the Supreme Court" is a suspenseful book. A young man by the name of Clarence Sutherland is discovered sitting in the Chief Justice's chair with a hole in his head. Who would want to kill such a bright and handsome young man? Practically everybody wanted to kill him.

Margaret Truman does a remarkable job of going in to great detail of describing the scene of the crime, a room in a house and the conversation people are having. The ending of the book is weak, but other than that it is an excellent book.

I've read all of Margaret Truman's Capitol Crime Mysteries series and recommend not only "Murder In The Supreme Court" but all of the series. She is a excellent writer.

I beleive this was Ms. Truman's last book and she will be sorely missed.I have long felt she was the Agatha Christie of modern times. HerMr.& Mrs. were a couple reminiscent of Mr.& Mrs, North but with more inside knowledge of Washington D.C. and our modern world that only a President's family would know about.

lets just say...i knew "whodunit" within 20 pages of reading the book. then i read the last chapter, and thanked goodness i didn't waste my time reading the entire book.

Truman does a good job of writing murders in a town which her fauther onced lived in. A Murder happening in the Country's most sacred hall takes you page by page.