by Karl Kurtz
My posting two years ago, "The Fly on the Wall and Other Novels," about mysteries that are set in state capitols generated a number of contributions from readers. In that story I referred to correspondence that I had had many years ago with two fellow legislative junkies in California and Hawaii about this subject but could no longer find. Rummaging through some old files recently, I found their letters and am delighted that they add substantially to the list of detective novels set in state capitols.
From a 1994 letter from the late Yen Lew, then the ombudsman for the Hawaii Legislature (hyperlinks added):
Two recent books to include in the listing are Running Mates by John Feinstein [who covered the Maryland Statehouse for the Washington Post for two years before becoming a sports reporter] and The Texas Capitol Murders by Bill Crider.
The Sean Hanlon book I would include is Deep Freeze where the hero works for the speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. This book is part of a series. I haven't read all the others, but I think this is the only one with a legislative backdrop.
Long out of print is Legislative Body by Joe L. Hensley. Here, the hero--newly elected to the House of Representatives--investigates the death of a fellow legislator. This book is of particular interest because the hero is a legislator and also because the author once served as a legislator in Indiana. [When Yen wrote this, another former-legislator-turned-novelist, John Grisham, was not yet famous.] Moreover, it has some nostalgic value in its description of legislative life back in the early 1970s.
A book from Canada, Deadly Appearances by Gail Bowen, about the murder of a Saskatchewan legislator I think qualifies as a foreign entry.
And in the same year Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento contributed:
The novel about an ambitious governor of California seceding from the Union is The Great Divide by Frank M. Robinson and John Lewis (1982). ...It is an intriguing idea but a generally disappointing effort. The background of a federal constitutional revision convention is interesting, though.
A rose from The Thicket to Yen and Tim. More reader contributions of novels set in state capitols are welcome.
One of Barbara D'Amato's Cat Marsala mysteries - I'm pretty sure it's Hard Luck - is set in Springfield, IL, centered around the murder of a state lottery employee. I recommend it highly, as a mystery and for its insights on politics and all that lovely money just waiting to be siphoned off.
Posted by: Marylaine Block | June 08, 2008 at 05:30 PM