The Ladies' Lunch

Ladies lunches have gone on for centuries - in crossroads towns and metropoles, in kitchenettes and country clubs - but, few presage the excitement found in this Washington based tale of intrigue and power. The four leading characters are strong women, firm in their friendship and, of course, firm of chin and cheekbone. They meet for a monthly lunch at Galileo's, an in Italian restaurant known as much for its politics as its pasta. Sara Marino, a Supreme Court nominee, who tilts with the President's Chief of Staff, is the group's moral and ethical compass. Journalist Maggie Stedman, a widowed mother, has left her Washington Post job in protest of what she believes. A Congresswoman and a celebrity caterer who is unhappily wed to a wolf in power broker's clothing round out the foursome. When a fifth friend, Faith, is found drowned in the Potomac, her death is called a suicide. The ladies refuse to accept this explanation, and they band together to solve the mystery of their friend's demise. Set this mystery in our nation's corridors of power, add a few ancillary counterplots, and you have a riveting Capitol crime story. - Gail Cooke