How can one know the truth? Is it about the way the facts
are arranged, or is it the way someone wants you to see
those facts as arranged? News is news, or is it? When
you're surrounded by eager news-pups who are fighting by
any means necessary to step into your well-earned
reporter's shoes, you may need to consider what's ethical
and what's not.
Joe Wilcox, veteran crime reporter for the Washington
Tribune, finds himself digging deeper and working even
harder than before just to stay in the game. As the jaws of
retirement loom over him, murder leaves its shoe prints at
the Tribune's door when rookie reporter, Jean Kaporis, is
strangled to death. The evidence would suggest someone at
the Tribune may have blood on their hands. However
sensational that might be, it's not sensational enough.
When TV Producer Colleen McNamara, who has no ties to the
paper, is found strangled a month later, Joe convinces
himself it's a serial killer and pursues his theory with
zealous desperation.
Joe's troubles are not just with the paper though, his lost
brother of 40 years, Michael, is trying to reenter his
life. Michael just happens to have been let out of an
Illinois mental hospital around the same time as the first
murder took place. Michael wants to get to know the family
better, especially Joe's daughter, Roberta. Meanwhile, Joe
is having his own battle of journalistic pride with Roberta
who works as a news reporter for a rival news station. Joe
is very proud of his daughter's accomplishments, how could
he not be? Yet how can he just fade to the back pages of
the Tribune and stay the man who inspired his daughter to
her own form of greatness? Therefore, he uses any angle he
can think of for material, including his brother, as well
as his ex-lover and investigative cop, Edith Cargas-Swayze,
who still has a thing for him. Does Michael fit his serial
killer theory, or is Joe so desperate to stay on top he'll
make the facts fit the puzzle, no matter how hard he has to
push to lock them in?
Margaret Truman serves up a delicious dish of
suspense and morality with her latest literary entree.
Murder is the meat, seasoned liberally with pinches of
intrigue and dashes of conflicting emotions. While this
latest entry in her Capital Crimes series is more a look
into the moral aspects of journalism than an actual
mystery, it nevertheless serves up a satisfying and filling
portion. Watching Joe make his choices, Truman shows just
how fine the lines can be between ethics and immorality.
Also satisfying is how creepy Michael comes across, causing
the hairs on one's arm to stand on edge. Yet, at times you
want to believe, like Roberta, that he's been healed of his
madness. This story is a worthy recipe for thought in her
cookbook of crime.
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