Arriving home from a fund-raising dinner, senior Illinois senator Lyle Simmons discovers his wife’s brutally bludgeoned body. And like any savvy politician with presidential aspirations, his first move is to phone his attorney. In this case, it’s his old friend and college roommate, former DA Philip Rotondi, who gamely agrees to step out of quiet retirement and into the thick of a D.C.-style political, criminal, and public relations maelstrom from which no one will escape unscathed.

The crime scene is barely cold when the senator’s estranged daughter arrives hurling shocking allegations of murder at her father, despite a roomful of well-heeled witnesses who can provide Simmons with an alibi. Meanwhile, D.C.’s rumor mills and spin machines shift into high gear as speculation swirls around a tabloid- and TV-ready prime suspect: Jonell Marbury, a dashing lawyer turned lobbyist at a powerful K Street firm–and the last person to see the victim alive. But Rotondi harbors his own unsettling suspicions.

And after a second woman is killed, he discovers that a long-buried secret from his past may hold the key to cracking the case.

Aided by sleuthing ex-attorneys Mac and Annabel Smith, Rotondi reawakens the prosecutorial skills that served him so well in his gang-busting days, following the stench of dirty money and dirtier tricks across the country and across the thresholds of back rooms and front offices alike–where doing the right thing is for fools and taking on the system is a dead man’s gambit. ( )

A powerful senator and a shady lobbyist firm become embroiled in murders in Washington DC ( )

Review: Murder On K Street by Margaret Truman.

Margaret Truman is a great writer. She writes with clarity and packs her stories with prestige. This book places the reader right in the middle of politics. She focuses mainly on the lobbyists and explains that they are the fourth branch US Government because they have the ability to influence legislative decisions. Truman skillfully combines a number of disparate foundations that gives the story added significance. She uses flashbacks to provide insight into the personalities of the two main characters (who are best college buddies) and back when they were both in love with the same woman. This story shows the reader the ways in which unscrupulous public officials betray the people whom they are sworn to serve.

The story starts out introducing Senator Lyle Simmons of Illinois as a charismatic type of person who knows how to charm and manipulate a room full of powerful people (or just one person) that has him coming out on top and seducing the attention to get what and where he wants and he has the money to run for the Presidency. However, Senator Simmons plans are postponed temporarily because coming home from a fund raiser and entering his lavish home to find the body of his bludgeoned wife, Jeannette, curled up on the floor. Throughout the book Jeannette was described as a wonderful person but in the recent months before she was killed she was having an issue with alcohol.

When Senator Simmons found his wife he never even touched her or cried out, He first calls his son, Neil who is a Lobbyist for a large firm then next he calls his best friend former DA Philip Rotondi, who is willing to step out of retirement to go and help his friend through a grieving process. Plus, he wanted to look into the investigation and be just a sounding board for Lyle to talk too. Then Lyle finally calls 911. Philip is Lyle’s friend and a man with integrity and he can be very loyal and discreet. I loved his character and he really did put the past away and at this time he was there to find out who killed Jeannette. So, Philip was looking at the whole assessment from a different angle but he wasn’t assuming Lyle killed his wife but he had seen through Lyle years ago and knew he was conniving and charmed his way into Jeannette’s life even knowing she was Philip’s girl. Lyle always thought Philip was naïve but Philip was a good person and stepped away just to see Jeannette happy.

The Detective Chang did place Lyle at the top of the suspect list. Once Lyle’s estranged daughter, Polly got there she wasn’t very helpful for her father either or his case. Polly had already stated her father was behind the death of her mother. Plus, Neil and Polly didn’t have a sibling bond because she was some kind of advocate against what her brother and father stood for in the public eye. As the story unfolds Margaret Truman slips in some facts that go on behind close doors when it came to politics and lobbyists the fundamental issues put in place enhances the story as an adventure to the end. ( )

Murder of a senator's wife reveals secrets and coverups. Arrogant Senator has a wife who drinks. a weak son who works for a corrupt lobbying firm, and a hippie daughter. Wife confides in an old friend from college that the senator is having an affair and someone has sent her pictures to prove it. ( )

First time I've read a Philip Rotondi book. Decent, quick read, nothing exceptionally stimulating. ( )