Murder at Union Station: A Capital Crimes Novel

This is the second book that I have read my Ms. Truman and I enjoyed it a bunch. It's about a writer and a hit man returning from Israel who is gunned down who was helping to promote the book. I love the characters and the story. It really kept me intrigued. I can't wait to read more from her. She is a great mystery writer and I hope that she continues to write more great books.

In a remarkably realistic and fast paced thriller centered around the DC area, Truman's story involves an interestingly woven plot involving an ambitious writer, a past mobster, politics of presidential elections, and personal relations. The characters seem real and well-developed and most of the characters are evolved well throughout the novel. The unwinding of the plot at the end is a little bit too quick and the sudden acceleration provides the only jarring note in the novel. Other than that, an excellent work with a fairly original plot. A good read.

Margaret Truman has written a series of enjoyable, crime stories centered on Washington landmarks. This one involves Washington's Union Station. We see crowds of famous and not famous moving through the station under the watchful eye of Joe Jenks, bootblack. Louis Russo, a hit man, arrives at Union Station after a flight from Israel, where he has been hidden by the US witness protection program after he testified against his bosses in the Mafia. Waiting for him is Richard Marienthal, a writer, whose forthcoming book is based on Russo's claim that he murdered a foreign leader under orders from the White House. Before Russo can meet Marienthal, Russo is murdered in the station, and his killer is soon murdered also. It looks like a payback from the Mafia for a squealer, but is it? Soon, Marienthal and those around him are in grave danger, and the story proceeds to a surprising and very satisfactory ending. Unlike what we see in many novels, Margaret Truman gives substance to her characters, which adds to a believable plot. I have read several of her novels, and this is the best that has come along. You should enjoy it.

This is about the nineteenth "Murder at" mystery that Margaret Truman has written. It's possible that the first book, or even two or three would have gotten published just because of her name, but not nineteen. You publish nineteen books because you've developed a legion of fans that like your work. This book will not dissappoint her fans. It's about a book. Of course there's a murder. The victim is on a train that will soon land him at Gate A-8 and, moments later at St. Peter's Gate. The problem is that the victim is a former mob hit man, government informer, and perhaps masterminded a top-secret assignment abroad for a very-high-profile Capitol Hill client. And what's in the book he helped write? Enough already - Go read the book. You can be sure that the waves from the murder will reach strange places in the halls of Government, the intelligence agencies, the White House and more. After all, this is the mark of Ms. Truman's books, and she does them very well indeed.

Writer Richard Marienthal's first book is a true crime exposé that made it to press only because former hitman Louis Russo, now a government informant hidden within the witness protection program, gave him the information he needs; the book is almost a biography of Russo only. Russo has agreed to return from hiding in Tel Aviv to promote Marienthal's debut effort. However besides Marienthal waiting to meet Russo at DC's historical Union Station, someone else looks forward to greeting the aging retired mobster. That other greeter kills Russo. As the FBI, CIA, and local police investigate, Marienthal wonders whether this was a mob hit or something more devious as Russo had exposed an overseas operation he took care of for capital higher ups. The writer's musings turn personal with the epiphany that his book places in peril his fiancée Kathryn Jalick and those helping him bring it to publication, but also feels trapped as it is too late to turn back the hands of time as his beloved desperately wanted to happen as she saw the ruthless publishing world abduct him with money, adulation, and fame. MURDER AT UNION STATION is a strong Capital Crimes who-done-it with conspiratorial elements that make for quite a tale as Richard finds his life spinning out of control just when he is on the brink of success. He makes the tale work as he goes from euphoric to concern to panic in a realistic manner. The support cast either spotlights Richard's conversion from Lady Macbeth level of ambition to dread of what he wrought onto loved ones and friends or furbish a deep look at the city. Margaret Truman does Washington like no one else. Harriet Klausner