Review: Murder at Ford's Theatre

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.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Book Review: Murder at Ford's Theatre