Murder in the Smithsonian


Book Description

In a mystery replete with “nonstop action and a brilliantly evocative setting,” a noted historian is murdered at the National Museum of Art (Booklist). Dr. Lewis Tunney, a brilliant historian who had stumbled onto an international art scandal, was brutally murdered in front of two hundred guests at an elegant party at the Smithsonian. Taking the case, DC police Cpt. Mac Hanrahan begins to uncover a web of secrets, lies, and revenge surrounding the historian’s killing. From the deceased Tunney’s strong-willed fiancée, Heather McBean, to the congressmen with secrets to hide, Hanrahan finds himself unsure who to believe. Soon after, two more murders add to the intrigue. Murder in the Smithsonian is the fourth volume in Margaret Truman’s beloved Capital Crimes series, in which Truman enlivens history with her first-hand knowledge as the daughter of US President Harry S. Truman. Each of the novels revolve around Washington, DC, and its landmarks. The Smithsonian’s museums, with their quirky staff, forensic scientists, and sometimes-spooky exhibits are the perfect setting for a thrilling political crime novel. “Truman’s novels of Washington will continue to entertain both mystery and Washington buffs.” —The Washington Post




Murder at the FBI


Book Description

Special agent George Pritchard was nobody's favorite at the FBI. But when his murdered body is found, agents Ross Lizenby and Christine Saksis look for answers--only to find that the bureau wants questions kept to a suspicious minimum....




The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death


Book Description

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator. Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully. Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.




Murder in the White House


Book Description

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. . . .




Murder in the House


Book Description

He died beneath the Statue of Freedom, clutching a 9-mm pistol in his hand. But as dawn rose, the politician would die again--in a hail of rumor and character assassination. Now one man suspects the shattering truth: that the congressman's suicide was a carefully planned murder. In the heart of the free world, a furious struggle begins: to reclaim a man's innocence, expose a woman's lie, and stop a chilling conspiracy of murder that reaches halfway around the world. . . .




Murder on Capitol Hill


Book Description

A senator’s death sends shock waves through Washington, DC, in this mystery by the New York Times–bestselling author and presidential daughter. Sen. Cale Caldwell and his blue-blooded wife maintained a far-reaching and powerful grip on Capitol Hill society, but not powerful enough to save him from foul play. The influential senator’s life is cut short in brutal fashion at a glamorous reception held in his honor. It happens just two short years after tragedy struck the Caldwell family in the form of the unsolved murder of his niece, but when attorney Lydia James suggests a connection, she’s shut down, and fast. Who stands to benefit from the Caldwells’ tragedies, and James’s silence—the senator’s political rivals, the media, or perhaps even the family’s closest allies? “A dazzling series.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Murder on Capitol Hill proves that the author is much more than a one-term mystery writer . . . All the insider’s knowledge and gossip that made Murder in the White House so captivating.” —Booklist “Truman has settled firmly into a career of writing murder mysteries, all evoking brilliantly the Washington she knows so well.” —The Houston Post




Murder in the Supreme Court


Book Description

Justice must be served when a chief clerk is killed in this mystery by the New York Times–bestselling author. When Clarence Sutherland, chief clerk of the Supreme Court, is found dead, Lt. Martin Teller of the DC police and Susanna Pinscher of the Justice Department are pulled together to find the killer. It turns out that Sutherland had a lot of confidential information on important people, and any one of them could be responsible for his death. But one startling clue seems to implicate the high court itself: Sutherland was found slumped over in the chief justice’s chair. Did the clerk know something that the top judge, and perhaps even the president himself, didn’t want revealed? Teller and Pinscher intend to find out . . . From the daughter of President Harry Truman, an expert at depicting the details of life inside the beltway, Murder in the Supreme Court provides an intriguing peek into the world of Washington’s powerful justice system. “Truman’s hints as to the real state of Washington are terrifying if true.” —Chicago Sun-Times “A dazzling series.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution




Murder in the Collective


Book Description

Seattle printing collective owner Pam Nilsen is on the case when a member of the group turns up dead before a controversial merger Pam Nilsen and her twin sister, Penny, inherited Best Printing four years ago when their parents died in a car crash. Unwilling to sell their family legacy, the sisters turned it into a collective run by a cadre of activists whose arguments over the business can be just as impassioned as their support for progressive causes. But internal divisions at the collective pale in comparison to those between Seattle typesetters B. Violet and Moby Dick—once a single company that has since broken apart into an all-female (and lesbian-run) company, and an all-male (and quickly bankrupt) operation. Shortly after Best Printing and B. Violet begin discussing a merger, the offices of the typesetter are ransacked, one of their members nowhere to be found. Then an employee of Best Printing is found murdered. It appears as if someone will stop at nothing—not even murder—to prevent the merger. And it’s up to Pam to get to the bottom of this deadly turn of events before the killer strikes again. Murder in the Collective is the first book in the Pam Nilsen Mystery trilogy, which continues with Sisters of the Road and The Dog Collar Murders.




Monument to Murder: A Capital Crimes Novel


Book Description

Agreeing to investigate a cold-case file, private investigator Robert Brixton finds himself in the underworld of Savannah's power elite and uncovers a secret government organization of contract killers who perform "patriotic" assassinations.




The Innocents Abroad


Book Description

Reprint of the original, first published in 1869.




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