Murder in Foggy Bottom

written by Margaret Truman

It's appalling that I haven't blogged a book in so long. No excuses, except that I just haven't been reading a lot of fiction in the last few months. Actually, I haven't been reading a lot of anything — unless you count the newsletters from the kids' schools, and benchmarking stuff for work. Fact, lately I've been feeling like it's a good week if I can sneak into a corner for a few minutes to read a magazine article here or there. It's a bad sign when you start looking forward to your kid's orthodontist appointments because it could mean a solid 20 minutes of uninterrupted reading time!

Murder in Foggy Bottom caught my eye in early January as I was perusing the shelves at the library, waiting for Joe to pick out a book about trains. I noticed a spate of books by this author, all titled with the same theme (Murder on the Potomac, Murder in the White House, Murder at the Kennedy Center, etc.) Closer inspection revealed that all the novels are set in the D.C. area, which is a little familiar to me. It's always kind of fun to read fiction that's set in a real place that you've been before.

The novel follows two intertwining story lines: the unexplained murder of a Canadian embassy worker, and the sudden and simultaneous bombing of three civilian planes in three different parts of the country. An investigative reporter (Joe Potamos) ends up uncovering the connection between these two crimes.

Of Note:

• It was a little spooky to me that this novel was written in 2000, prior to the September 11th attacks. There are some eerie similarities (terrorists downing three civilian planes) that made me swallow hard.
• The author, I found out after the fact, is the daughter of President Truman. No wonder so much of her fiction centers on the goings-on in Washington, D.C.!
• I love authors who can quietly and casually inject incredibly cool but little-known words into their story line, driving me to http://dictionary.reference.com/! Betcha don't know what "imbroglio" means. And if you do, try using it in a sentence as seamlessly as Truman does on p.264 — I dare you!
• The book's a little annoying in the first 150 pages or so, because there are just too many seemingly unrelated people and relationships to keep track of. Or maybe that's just my impression and is indicative of my inability to devote more than 20 consecutive minutes of attention to any one piece of writing at a time. Never mind that I started the book in January and it took me over six weeks to complete it...
• There's nothing super-complex or controversial here... just a decent, simple read with some interesting twists and a minimum of offensive language. A good book to take on vacation with you.