Murder at Hobcaw Barony

Mixing real people with fictional characters, Roosevelt assembles an impressive supporting cast for the latest mystery to feature his mother as amateur sleuth. Talullah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Darryl F. Zanuck and Humphrey Bogart are spending a week at Hobcaw Barony, the estate of Bernard Baruch. Eleanor arrives a few days before the President is due and just before another guest, a nasty movie producer, is killed in an explosion. To catch the murderer and keep the press at bay, the President's plans are not altered and Eleanor goes into high gear to uncover motives and access before he arrives. There's enough delightful material hereTalullah's uninhibited shenanigans are a fine exampleto overshadow the First Lady and her plodding efforts, but as a period piece, this third Eleanor Roosevelt mystery (after Murder and the First Lady and The Hyde Park Murder succeeds quite nicely. ( June 30)