Murder At The Library Of Congress

Margaret Truman looks inside one of D.C.'s great institutions, the Library of Congress, the place where much of the wisdom of the nation is collected, and finds blood on the floor. Was there a second diary, beyond the one Columbus kept, describing his voyage to the New World? Leading scholars at the Library of Congress think so, and Annabel Smith, with her pre-Columbian interests, has been commissioned by the library's magazine, Civilization, to write about it. She is not the only person interested. Word comes through the rare-books black market that a wealthy bibliophile has been offered the second diary: He'd not only pay, he'd almost kill to possess it. Starting her search in the library itself, Annabel soon finds herself competing with an ambitious TV journalist. As both women come closer to finding the hidden documents, other questions creep up. Was the murder of the library's most prominent Hispanic scholar connected to the missing diary? Further research leads them deeper into barely explored corners of the library and closer to having to face their own mortality. Murder in familiar yet surprising surroundings- a great library- leads to a surprising conclusion in this latest Capital Crime novel.

When the prompter falls dead during the second act of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre during a matinee performance at the Metropolitan Opera, as one can imagine, it causes quite a stir, especially when it is discovered that the deceased, a one time world famous Heldentenor has been poisoned. The detective assigned to the case, Lt. Quentin, finds himself immersed in the back stage drama of professional opera. His task is made more difficult when he decides that it had really been the star soprano who had been the intended victim, and not the prompter. Will he be able to solve the case before there is another Metropolitan Opera Murder?

This first book in an irresistible new series introduces librarian and reluctant sleuth Raymond Ambler, a doggedly curious fellow who uncovers murderous secrets hidden behind the majestic marble façade of New York City’s landmark 42nd Street Library. Murder at the 42nd Street Library follows Ambler and his partners in crime-solving as they track down a killer, shining a light on the dark deeds and secret relationships that are hidden deep inside the famous flagship building at the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. In their search for the reasons behind the murder, Ambler and his crew uncover sinister, and profoundly disturbing, relationships among the scholars studying in the iconic library. Included among the players are a celebrated mystery writer who has donated his papers to the library’s crime fiction collection; that writer’s long-missing daughter, a prominent New York society woman with a hidden past, and more than one of Ambler’s colleagues at the library. Shocking revelations lead inexorably to the traumatic events that follow—the reading room will never be the same.

While a gifted con artist plots against the most ruthless businessman in the world, the Camel Club must stop a renegade CIA agent from selling American secrets to the highest bidder in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller. The assassination of the speaker of the House has rocked the nation. And the Camel Club has found a chilling connection with another death: that of the director of the Library of Congress's Rare Books and Special Collections Division. The club's unofficial leader, a man who calls himself Oliver Stone, discovers that someone is selling America to its enemies one secret at a time. Then Annabelle Conroy, the greatest con artist of her generation, comes to town and joins forces with the Camel Club for her own reasons. And Stone will need all the help she can give, because the two murders are hurtling the Camel Club into a world of espionage that is bringing America to its knees.

"It's history that reads like a race-against-the-clock thriller." —Harlan Coben Daniel Stashower, the two-time Edgar award–winning author of The Beautiful Cigar Girl, uncovers the riveting true story of the "Baltimore Plot," an audacious conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War in THE HOUR OF PERIL. In February of 1861, just days before he assumed the presidency, Abraham Lincoln faced a "clear and fully-matured" threat of assassination as he traveled by train from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration. Over a period of thirteen days the legendary detective Allan Pinkerton worked feverishly to detect and thwart the plot, assisted by a captivating young widow named Kate Warne, America's first female private eye. As Lincoln's train rolled inexorably toward "the seat of danger," Pinkerton struggled to unravel the ever-changing details of the murder plot, even as he contended with the intractability of Lincoln and his advisors, who refused to believe that the danger was real. With time running out Pinkerton took a desperate gamble, staking Lincoln's life—and the future of the nation—on a "perilous feint" that seemed to offer the only chance that Lincoln would survive to become president. Shrouded in secrecy—and, later, mired in controversy—the story of the "Baltimore Plot" is one of the great untold tales of the Civil War era, and Stashower has crafted this spellbinding historical narrative with the pace and urgency of a race-against-the-clock thriller. A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2013 Winner of the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Winner of the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction Winner of the 2014 Anthony Award for Best Critical or Non-fiction Work Winner of the 2014 Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction

After a high-profile theft and murder at the Library of Congress, congressional staffer and amateur sleuth Kit Marshall swings into high gear to solve the crimes and clear her husband's name as a prime suspect.

Congressman Latham has maintained an impeccable record in Washington, and so he seems the logical choice when nominated by his friend, President Scott, to become the next secretary of state. His confirmation hearings appear to be a formality until rumors emerge of sexual misconduct and influence peddling. Then, early one morning, he is found shot to death, an apparent suicide. Nobody close to Paul Latham believes his demise a suicide; there are just too many questions left unanswered. Why would he kill himself, and why would he do it in a public place? Why was there no suicide note? Where did he get the gun? Where is Latham's appointment secretary, Marge Edwards? So Latham's close friend lawyer-professor Mackensie Smith goes about uncovering the truth. In the process he unearths connections to the CIA, businessman Warren Brazier, Russian communists, and a shady private detective. Eventually Smith's own life is threatened, leading him to a dramatic and shocking truth. Murder in the House is a story about the webs of influence people weave to protect their interests, and about those innocent people who, by accident or design, get caught in these webs. It is the story of the abuse of power for personal gain, and of the increasing influence that the global economy has on the way our nation is being run. Margaret Truman, with her intricate know-ledge of the political, social, and practical workings of Washington, masterfully explores these connections in this highly suspenseful tale of intrigue, deception, and murderous intent.

In July 1861, just months after the Battle of Fort Sumter plunges the young nation into civil war, President Lincoln’s top priority is to unite the country, while Adam Quinn finds himself on the trail of a murderer . . . On Independence Day, the citizens of Washington, DC, are celebrating as if there isn’t a war. But the city is teeming with green Union recruits while President Lincoln and his War Department are focused on military strategy to take Richmond in Secessionist Virginia in order to bring the conflict to a swift end. Manassas, Virginia, near Bull Run Creek, is in their sights. The very next morning, as Congress convenes once more, a dead body is found hanging from the crane beneath the unfinished dome of the Capitol. Lincoln’s close confidant, Adam Speed Quinn, is called upon to determine whether the man had taken his own life, or if someone had helped him. With the assistance of Dr. George Hilton and journalist Sophie Gates, Quinn investigates what turns out to be murder. But the former scout is about to be blindsided, for a Southern sympathizer in the city is running a female spy network reporting to the Confederacy, and she has an insidious plot to foil the Union Army’s march to Manassas by employing the charms of one Constance Lemagne to get as close to Adam as possible . . .