Written by Margaret Truman
SUMMARY:
Ballantine Books / Fawcett Crest first published this stand-alone whodunnit in 1985; its sixteenth printing occurred in 1992. At Washington D.C.’s J. Edgar Hoover Building, in front of two hundred shocked tourists, a routine FBI target range demonstration reveals the perforated corpse of Special Agent George Pritchard. It appears that Pritchard had been murdered sometime overnight and was then left hung on an overhead trolley behind the range’s paper target.
Seeking to quickly end this ultra-embarrassing PR scandal inside its own headquarters, the Bureau’s upper command assigns Pritchard’s immediate subordinate, Special Agent Ross Lizenby, to find answers. Reluctantly heading up the investigative team, a slick Lizenby understands what murky rules his superiors want him to play by.
Assigned to Lizenby’s squad, Special Agent Christine Saksis finds their discreet romance compromised by a necessary yet increasingly intense probe into a hive of sordid Bureau secrets. The deadly conundrum Saksis & Lizenby soon face is whether or not the unsavory truth behind Pritchard’s death supersedes protecting the Bureau’s reputation.
REVIEW:
Even if Murder at the FBI is a formulaic potboiler, author Margaret Truman still devises a taut read. Awaiting patient fans are some well-played twists that spell out why this storyline doesn’t need sequels. Headlined by the intriguing Saksis-Lizenby duo, Truman’s plot exudes welcome potential for a film adaptation. As a sampler for other titles in Truman’s repertoire of Washington, D.C. whodunnits, Murder at the FBI is a solid find for adult mystery afficionados.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
A brief author bio is included.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
