The Fly on the Wall and Other Novels

by Karl Kurtz

There are very few good political novels and even fewer political novels that are set in state capitols.  Years ago two friends of mine--Yen Lew, then ombudsman for the Hawaii Legislature, and Tim Hodson of the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State University--and I set out on an even narrower quest: to find mystery novels set in state capitols.

Our plan was to collect every such novel that we could and publish an article about them in State Legislatures magazine.  After a great start, we never finished the project.  Yen was to be the principal author, but he soon after became ill and died prematurely. And now neither Tim nor I can find the correspondence.  So I thought I would dredge up what I could remember and invite our readers to contribute their own favorites.

Of course, there are some famous novels set in or around the statehouse.  Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, a fictionalized version of Huey Long's career as governor of Louisiana is probably the Holy Grail  of novels of state politics.  And there's also Edwin O'Connor's classic tale of Boston machine politics, The Last Hurrah, but it's more city hall than statehouse. And as good as these books are, they're not our genre of detective novels set in state capitols.

Long before he became famous for his fascinating detective novels set in the tribal lands of the desert southwest, Tony Hillerman was a statehouse reporter, first in Oklahoma City and then in Santa Fe.  His first novel, The Fly on the Wall, published in the 1950's, is a cynical tale of murder, corruption and venality in the governor's office of a fictional midwestern state capitol.

Speaking of friends who died prematurely, David Everson, a political scientist at (then-named) Sangamon State University in Springfield, wrote a series of novels about Bobby Miles, a former big league baseball player turned central Illinois sleuth who frequently works for the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.  Everson's books have names like Suicide Squeeze or Rebound, which link together David's fascination with sports, mystery, and statehouse politics.

Dana Stabenow writes books about Kate Shugak, an Alaskan detective (not unlike Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn or Jim Chee) who solves crimes in America's last frontier.  Kate also just happens to be a member of the Alaska Legislature.  But in the novels I've read, the legislative connection is only incidental and doesn't have much to do with life at the capitol in Juneau.

What can you add to this collection?  If together we can create a good list, we'll publish it in State Legislatures magazine.

June 2008 update: See "More Detective Novels Set in State Capitols" for more listings of books in this genre.

October 2009 update: See also Book Review: Fair, Balanced...and Dead.

Comments

[Alfred Speer]

Karl:

I have not read this one; received as a gift from the author: "Capitol Offense" by Hill Kemp; Best of East Texas Publishers, 2003;
ISBN # 1-978096-70-2

Butch

[Courtney]

Karl,

I don't think we've ever met, but Yen Lew was my uncle. Your little story about him brings a smile to my face--my uncle was a voracious reader, and I think he really would have enjoyed that.

-Courtney

[Graig]

I'm just catching up on some of the blogging, but here is a book that was published recently abouta murder/mystery in the Indiana General Assembly: The description is taken from: http://www.ingrouponline.com/indiana_daily_insight.htm

Mike Abrams, a former legislative staffer and lobbyist for the Indiana State Medical Association, has written Lethal Remedy, a book set in the Indiana General Assembly. A quick look at the plot: "The brutal slaying of state representative Roger Steppe looks like the boilerplate handiwork of the drug thugs that work the seedy neighborhood he lives in during the Indiana legislative session. When Elizabeth Ralston, a young attorney from a Southern Indiana town along the Ohio River, is elected to take his place, she learns the horrifying truth: legislation pending before the House of Representatives appears to have been the motive for Steppe’s murder. Ralston befriends a rookie lobbyist and, together, they become the object of the stalker’s attention. Indiana state police investigators work to solve the crime, but the killer’s obsession with the legislation transforms into an obsession with Elizabeth. She fights to maintain her honor, her objectivity, and her life, as the killer becomes increasingly determined to use his newfound ability to murder to resolve his own demons."

[Karl Kurtz]

Thanks for that contribution, Graig. I'll order the book.

[Laura Bauman]

Hi Karl - As I was just getting ready to inform you about Mike Abram's book "Lethal Remedy" I see that somebody beat me to it. Mike was a good friend who worked for the Indiana House of Reps back in the 80's, and then left to lobby for the Indiana State Medical Association. He now lives in Des Moines. He always wanted to write a murder mystery and his many years here at the statehouse made him think it would be the perfect setting. The murders that take place revolve around medical malpractice legislation. I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival.