Murder in Georgetown

Like its predecessors (Murder in the Map Room, etc.), this latest (and posthumously published) mystery by the son of Eleanor and Franklin portrays the First Lady engaged in D.C. crime fighting while carrying out her White House duties. When Sargent Peavy, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, is found murdered in his Georgetown home, police detective Lt. Edward Kennelly arrests Peavy's lover, Jessica, a staff member in Louisiana Senator Huey Long's office. The First Lady, who placed Jessica in Long's office, doubts the girl's guilt. She works with Kennelly to find out if Jessica really did shoot the man. After learning that Peavy had broken off with Jessica because his wife strongly objected to the affair, they hear rumors that he had taken up with a stunning, mysterious woman who has caught the eye of even Joe Kennedy. When a hitman is killed with the same pistol that shot Peavy, the mob connection adds a new element to the puzzle. While publicly entertaining celebrities such as H.L. Mencken, W.C. Fields and the Marx Brothers, Eleanor goes undercover to interrogate suspects and does her own brand of cerebral sleuthing with the help of a chalkboard listing of possible motives. Fans who enjoy constant name-dropping and tidbits about the famous and infamous won't mind the cardboard characters or thin plot, as long as FDR and Missy end up in bed together and Eleanor and Lorena Hickock exchange at least one steamy note. (Oct.)