From senators to summer interns, from all the president’s men to all-powerful women, Margaret Truman captures the fascinating, high-wire drama of Washington, D.C., like no other writer. Now this master of mystery fiction takes us into the capital’s chaotic fourth estate. At the big, aggressive newspaper The Washington Tribune, a young woman has been murdered. And the hunt for her killer is making sensational and lethal headlines.
The victim, fresh out of journalism school, hoped to make a splash at the Trib—and then a maintenance man found her in a supply closet, brutally strangled to death. The Trib’s journalists are at once horrified and anxious to solve the crime before the cops do, and put this scandal to rest. But the Metropolitan Police Department isn’t going to let byline-hungry reporters get in the way of its investigation, and soon enough the journalists and the cops have established warring task forces. Then a second woman is killed, in Franklin Square. Like the first, she was young, attractive, and worked in the media.
For veteran Trib reporter Joe Wilcox, whose career is mired in frustration and disappointment, the case strikes close to home. His daughter is a beautiful rising TV news star. As his relationship with a female MPD detective grows more intimate, Joe sees a chance to renew himself as a reporter and as a man. Spearheading the Trib’s investigation, he baits a trap for the killer with a secret from his own past.
Suddenly Joe is risking his career, his marriage, and even his daughter’s life by playing a dangerous game with a possible serial killer, while a police detective is bending rules for the reporter she likes and trusts but may not know as well as she thinks she does. As Joe’s daughter finds herself trapped at the heart of a frantic manhunt, the walls come down between family, friendship, ethics, and ambition—and a killer hides in plain sight.
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"Published in 2005, Murder at the Washington Tribune, is like Margaret Truman's other mysteries. Superb! There has been a murder in the fictional "Washington Tribune". (All other locals such as eateries, and other landmarks are authentic to D C ) The police are investigating, but the paper starts it's own investigation as well. Enter Joe Wilcox, a veteran crime reporter. He's married, has an adult daughter with a career in broadcast journalism. Joe is in full tilt midlife crisis. He's knocking on retirement's door and feels he hasn't accomplished his career goals. He's desperate to achieve something big before he's forced out by new journalist in a new climate for news. So, when another murder occurs in a park, and Joe is close to the scene, he takes the story. When he gets wind of the theory some might believe this murder was connected with the earlier murder, he starts a series for the paper about the possibility of a serial killer being responsible. Joe's boss loves how the papers start selling and encourages Joe to continue with that theme. But, the cops aren't on board with the theory. They think the two crimes are unrelated. But, the theme through out the novel, explains how down hill journalism has gone. They must compete with 24/7 cable channels, the internet, blogs, and their ability to film news as it's happening. Newspapers don't have that edge. They are less concerned with fact and more concerned with revenue and the bottom line. Whatever sells papers. Joe hate tabloid reporting, but he's getting pressure from upstairs to consider early retirement, so he goes along. On top of all his job pressures, Joe has been contacted by his long lost brother, who has been "away" for 40 years.Everything starts to take it's toll on Joe, who makes a terrible decision, which could cost him everything. The book ends on an uplifting note, showing how our society now responds to scandal. At the time of this publication, Truman couldn't have imagined what would come in the next 7 years, with social media etc. A good authentic, old fashioned murder mystery."
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Julie (4 out of 5 stars)