Murder in the White House [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Truman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1984

In a town where the weapon of choice is usually a well-aimed rumor, the strangling of Secretary of State Lansard Blaine in the Lincoln Bedroom is a gruesome first. White House counsel Ron Fairbanks is ordered to investigate. There are persistent rumors that the Secretary was an accomplished womanizer with ties to a glamorous call girl. There is also troubling evidence of unofficial connections with international wheeler-dealers.

In death as in life, Blaine is a power to be reckoned with. For Fairbanks, who loves the President’s daughter, one point is soon clear: only a few highly placed insiders had access to the Lincoln Bedroom that fateful evening. And one of them was the president. . . .

--This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“TRUMAN HAS SETTLED FIRMLY INTO A CAREER OF WRITING MURDER MYSTERIES, ALL EVOKING BRILLIANTLY THE WASHINGTON SHE KNOWS SO WELL.”
–The Houston Post

“THE PLOT BUILDS UP TO A SUPERB DENOUEMENT. ONE WONDERS IF ALL IS FICTION.”
–Time
--This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

In a town where the weapon of choice is usually a well-aimed rumor, the strangling of Secretary of State Lansard Blaine in the Lincoln Bedroom is a gruesome first. White House counsel Ron Fairbanks is ordered to investigate. There are persistent rumors that the Secretary was an accomplished womanizer with ties to a glamorous call girl. There is also troubling evidence of unofficial connections with international wheeler-dealers.

In death as in life, Blaine is a power to be reckoned with. For Fairbanks, who loves the President?s daughter, one point is soon clear: only a few highly placed insiders had access to the Lincoln Bedroom that fateful evening. And one of them was the president. . . .
--This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Not Avail (March 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446314021
• ISBN-13: 978-0446314022
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,263,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Truman Makes Some Rookie Mistakes, May 14, 2000

By 

richard_t "richard_t" (Overseas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder in the White House (Paperback)

"Murder in the White House" is the first in the otherwise good 'Murder in Washington' series. Truman hasn't yet shown her best chops. Relying mostly on her personal recollections of White House, she crafts a reasonably good story, albeit with a predictable solution. Most readers will have guessed the President's big 'secret' fifty pages before the protagonists do. The inside scoop on White House is, not surprisingly, the strongest element. The rest is sodden and a bit weak. Truman shows no knowledge at all of the State Dept, guessing that the Secretary of State has a receptionist and a telephone log, as though the Department is run like a high school principal's office. Other agency heads, the Director of the FBI, CIA, etc. seem to be go-fers. Even our hero Ron, the President's Special Counsel, fails to spark much interest. He seems to be an okay guy, but is flat and undeveloped as a character. Truman didn't do her homework for this book, and she hasn't yet developed as a solid writer - either for plot or characterization. As a first effort in a series that gets much stronger over the years, Murder in the White House is not too bad.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Moderately entertaining, April 26, 2004

By 

William Whyte (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder in the White House (Capital Crimes) (Mass Market Paperback)

The first book in Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes series is moderately entertaining, but no more. The Secretary of State is killed in the White House; the President appoints his inexperienced Junior Counsel to head up the investigation. There's a lot of talk, an action sequence, some more talk, another murder, some more talk, and then it all ends rather hurriedly.

The book's main strength is the way it hints that bigger, darker things are at stake. But it has no real sense of urgency or structure. For example: couldn't the investigators have made a list of all people who had access to the relevant part of the White House at the relevant time, and worked through them one by one? Instead, they seem to be poking around at random. You can never tell whether or not they're really making progress. Another example: the hero didn't vote for the President, has no investigative experience, and yet is put in charge of the investigation. This could be a fascinating hook to explore the President's mixed motivations and the hero's ambition, but it too goes nowhere. The characterization throughout is fairly flat, with only the central puzzle holding the reader's attention.

Oh, and... I guessed the murderer, and more or less the motive. Fun, and somewhat atmospheric just by virtue of its setting, but by no means great.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Adventure at the White House, July 19, 2010

By 

A. B. Perchorowicz (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder in the White House (Capital Crimes) (Mass Market Paperback)

Margaret Truman has done it again ! This work is set at our nation's most secure home, the White House. Yet a murder happens within the secure walls and the Secret Sevice is out of the loop in trying to solve the mystery. The reader is taken on a clever journey of suspects and situations, each one which seems likely to lead to the solution of the crime. However a first family secret unknown to but a very few of the characters plays a major part in solving the crime. Without saying more, this story is one a reader will not want to put down until reaching the last few pages where the startling conclusion is revealed.