Murder at Union Station (Capital Crimes Series #20) » (~)

Margaret Truman has won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her ongoing series of Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let us into the corridors of power and privilege, poverty and pageantry, in the nation’s capital. Her new work of nonfiction is The President’s House. She lives in Manhattan.

When Washington’s splendid Union Station opened its doors in 1908, the glorious structure epitomized capital stylishness. Today, restored and refurbished, the station is again a hub of activity where the world’s most famous and infamous people meet–and often collide. Now, in Margaret Truman’s new Capital Crime novel, this landmark locale becomes the scene of a sensational shooting whose consequences ricochet from seedy bars to the halls of Congress.

Historic Union Station means nothing to the elderly man speeding south on the last lap of what turns out to be a one-way journey from Tel Aviv to D.C.–on a train that will soon land him at Gate A-8 and, moments later, at St. Peter’s Gate. This weary traveler, whose terminal destination is probably hell, is Louis Russo, former mob hit man and government informer. Two men are at the station to meet him. One is Richard Marienthal, a young writer whose forthcoming book is based on Russo’s life. The other is the man who kills him.

Russo has returned to help promote Marienthal’s book, which, although no one has been allowed to read it, already has some people shaking in their Gucci boots. The powerful fear the contents will not only expose organized crime’s nefarious business, but also a top-secret assignment abroad that Russo once masterminded for a very-high-profile Capitol Hill client. As news of Russo’s murder rockets from the MPD to the FBI and the CIA, from Congress to the West Wing, the final chapter of the story begins its rapid-fire unfolding.

In addition to the bewildered Marienthal and his worried girlfriend, there is an array of memorable characters: rock-ribbed right-wing Senator Karl Widmer; ruthless New York publisher Pamela Warren; boozy MPD Detective Bret Mullin; shoe-shine virtuoso Joe Jenks; dedicated presidential political adviser Chet Fletcher; and President Adam Parmele himself–not to mention freelance snoops, blow-dried climbers, and a killer or two. There’s no place like the nation’s capital, and as her myriad fans know, Margaret Truman always gets it right. Murder at Union Station is a luxury express, nonstop delight.

Publishers Weekly

The Truman franchise chugs along with little sign of losing steam in the 20th entry (after 2002's Murder at Ford's Theatre) in this reliably entertaining series. Writer Richard Marienthal is eagerly anticipating his publishing debut, an organized crime expos that owes much to Louis Russo, a former hitman turned government informant. But when Russo returns from Israel, where he's been living under witness protection, to help promote the book, the elderly mobster is gunned down in D.C.'s landmark Union Station. Apparently, someone is unhappy with the book's revelation of a clandestine overseas operation authorized by the top echelons of power. As the search for the killer expands, Marienthal realizes it's one thing to risk his own life and career, quite another to expose his fianc e and others to potential harm. As usual, Truman supplies a heady mix of high and low Washington. The FBI, the CIA and the D.C. police each have their own agendas, and few of the good guys are all that good. Meanwhile, travelers stream past the magnificent train station's shoeshine man, Joe Jenks, who serves as an astute observer of the Washington scene. By the end, one can't help wondering where murder will strike next in the nation's capital. Agent, Ted Chichak. (Oct. 26) FYI: Truman's latest work of nonfiction is The President's House (2003). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.