Murder in the CIA

Capital Crimes #8

by Margaret Truman

“She invades the turf of John le Carré. . . . It is very good.”— Los Angeles Times Book Review

Barrie Mayer, a beautiful Washington literary agent, arrives at London’s Heathrow Airport with plenty of time to make her flight to Budapest, where she’s planning to meet an author. The airport is crowded, but it’s not a scheduling problem that keeps Barrie from getting off the ground.

The doctors call her death a heart attack, but her best friend, Collette Cahill, has her doubts. A CIA agent herself, Collette knows that Barrie was carrying more than just contracts to Hungary. Then Collette gets the order from Find out what happened to Barrie. And, more important, what happened to her briefcase.

So Collette sets off on a search that will take her from London to Washington to the Caribbean, from restaurants to psychiatrists’ offices to bedrooms. After all—even CIA agents lose their hearts every now and then. But Collette may lose her life. . . . 

“Her most far-ranging and, arguably, her best.”— New Woman 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Suspense, Cozy Mystery

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Mary Margaret Truman Daniel was an American classical soprano, actress, journalist, radio and television personality, writer, and New York socialite. She was the only child of President Harry Truman and First Lady Bess Truman. While her father was president during the years 1945 to 1953, Margaret regularly accompanied him on campaign trips, such as the 1948 countrywide whistle-stop campaign lasting several weeks. She also appeared at important White House and political events during those years, being a favorite with the media.
After graduating from George Washington University in 1946, she embarked on a career as a coloratura soprano, beginning with a concert appearance with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1947. She appeared in concerts with orchestras throughout the United States and in recitals throughout the U.S. through 1956. She made recordings for RCA Victor, and made television appearances on programs like What's My Line? and The Bell Telephone Hour.
In 1957, one year after her marriage, Truman abandoned her singing career to pursue a career as a journalist and radio personality, when she became the co-host of the program Weekday with Mike Wallace. She also wrote articles as an independent journalist, for a variety of publications in the 1960s and 1970s. She later became the successful author of a series of murder mysteries, and a number of works on U.S. First Ladies and First Families, including well-received biographies of her father, President Harry S. Truman and mother Bess Truman.
She was married to journalist Clifton Daniel, managing editor of The New York Times. The couple had four sons, and were prominent New York socialites who often hosted events for the New York elite.

Reviews

[Geri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy all the (Murder In) Books
Margaret Truman has written.

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐4.75

[Danielle Gonzalez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ick...I think this is my least favorite of the books by Margaret Truman. A female book publisher dies in Heathrow airport in London. It is ruled a heart attack, but one of her friends who works for the CIA thinks otherwise. The publisher was apparently carrying something to Hungary for the CIA. The friend, Colette, begins her own investigation. I think the story would have been okay if the characters weren't so stupid. Colette has been with the CIA for a long time and works in the clandestine operations section based in Hungary. She is a handler for a source that the CIA uses for information about Russia. So, if she's been doing this for years, why, throughout the whole book, does she have a hard time keeping her mouth shut when she's talking to other people. There are numerous times where she says something, or begins to say something, and later realizes she shouldn't have given out that information. It doesn't seem realistic, and I would seriously hope that the CIA isn't hiring people who are as stupid as she is. It's a miracle she survived through the whole book.

[Cybercrone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so completely different from all the rest of the series I've read, both older and newer books, that it took my head a while to get into it because I was expecting Mac and Annabelle as usual.
It was a decent thriller though and surprising because of the way the story questions the ethics and MO of the CIA, especially since it was her father that started the organisation when he was president.

[Charlotte Vitale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret Truman is a good mystery writer and knows her way around both Washington DC and the departments within. As well she should. This books spans Washington, Budapest, and BVI. Fast paced and neatly done

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the previous few in the series, but (in this and the previous few books in the series) she certainly keeps trying to hit you over the head with a great distrust of government institutions.

[Jennice Mckillop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical spy thriller. Who’s the double agent? Who killed the courier? What was she carrying in the briefcase? Lots of twists and turns and red herrings.

At times the author used the first name of the speaker then in the same paragraph she used the surname. I found this practice annoying.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eighth book in the Capital Crimes series. I enjoyed this book more than the previous book in the series. So far I have liked the series immensely and intend on reading even more. Problem at the moment is tracking down the ninth book in the series. Harder to find that I thought it would be but I will track it down.

Collette works for the Pickle Factory. Translation is she works for the CIA. Not an easy feat in the 1980's when woman are definitely not considered equal to men especially in the business of politics and spying. She is currently based in Hungary working at the embassy. In other words, she gets people with knowledge of Soviet politics, research and other important fields to provide information to benefit her govern,ment. Actually a pleasant job, she meets her contacts every so often in a safe house, spends the evening gathering as much detailed information she can about the informants certain area of expertise, pays the contact and then writes up a report for her superiors. She gets to live in another country and experience another culture. Not a bad job at all. Than Collette's good friend dies. Strange part is that her friend has become a courier for the CIA in the last few years while actually being a literary agent. Her friend has a client who lives in Hungary and she often brings information in a briefcase to a handler when she visits her client the author in Hungary. This has nothing to do with Collette's job but she knew her friend did this occasionally. So when the friend dies of a heart attack in London on her way to Hungary, Collette does not believe her death is natural. How does a perfectly healthy, young lady drop dead of a heart attack? Why can't Collette get any information on her autopsy that was done by doctors brought in for just that occasion? What was her friend carrying with her to Hungary? Collette can not let this go and soon even the company she works for are asking her to dig into her friend's life. The more she digs, the more questions she has. The more people she talks to the less she seems to know or understand. Collette does not know who is telling the truth, who is lying, who is on her side or who is out to get her. All she knows it that someone killed her friend and that working for the CIA is not always as straight forward as it seems and she does not like it.

Not to make fun of the CIA but spies and politics make strange bedfellows. This story shows with perfect precision that there are always some people who care about money more than anything--even their country. As an American, anything to do with Communism seems so wrong and it is considered proper and patriotic to fight against the spread of Communism. That is why spies and gathering information is important until someone who is greedy for money gets involved. This story shows the CIA and some of its employees accurately. So once again the author creates a believable story by sticking to the truth of the situation while still being entertaining. Thriller, suspense and mystery served up perfectly.

[Barry Fulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

CIA agent Collette Cahill, working at the American Embassy in Budapest, is assigned to investigate the suspicious death of her friend Barrie Mayer. Thus begins travel to London, Washington, and the British Virgin Isles where she meets an assortment of characters (including former friends and acquaintances), most of whom MAY be double-agents. She soon learns not to trust anyone including the CIA, which has undermined its original charter introduced by the author's father Harry Truman.

Interesting premise, BUT the story loses credibility as soon as the protagonist (who is running a foreign recruit) is assigned to kill one of the suspects. The paragraph below sums up the weakness of the story.

"She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Why was she bothering trying to make sense out of a system that depended, to a great extent, upon being nonsensical. Too many things in the gray world of intelligence were inscrutable, begging answers, defying the common man's logic. Friends. Enemies. You need a scorecard to tell the players on opposing teams."

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes series I was thoroughly impressed and delighted! The action and intrigue was superb -- every page made you want to turn to the next -- I have lost many hours of sleep since starting the series. This book was not in that same level of interest for me. The pace of the story did not hold my interest as well. Two other minor issues, for me, I am not against nudity, but I felt I was reading a "made for TV" script -- the visual would be greatly enhanced and appealing on screen. Some mentions were appropriate, but it did not need a number of the situations. The repeated sexual episodes with any available man was also very unappealing for me.

Many will read the book and be delighted. For me, it was somewhat lackluster from this author.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just never roped me in. It started out so slowly and then became more and more convoluted. Maybe that's par for the course with a mystery involving spies and the CIA. Everything cloak and dagger, smoke and mirrors. I like a good twist -- and this one contained what had the potential to be a good twist -- but i just couldn't get engaged enough to be properly smacked upside the head with it when "all was revealed." I still feel like there was too much going on, to the point where nothing got enough attention to make it feel totally necessary. Not at all unreadable, just not very consuming, even at the end, when the tensions ran highest.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get into it, but it finished with a fury! The main character, Collette Cahill, developed her voice and her inner strength. At the start, she was milk toast, but I like how her convictions and sense of justice prevailed. The author, being the daughter of former President Harry Truman, understands the inner workings of government and she doesn’t have rose colored glasses on! The plot had all sorts of turns and twists, and I did not know whodunit until the very end! Exciting book!

[Kathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of the spy genre. I expected a murder-mystery tale (it's part of the Capital Crimes series after all), and this book started out that way, but it quickly devolved into spy-vs-spy where you don't know whom to trust. Parts of the book were confusing (who is this guy again?) and other parts boring.

Was she really Barrie's close friend? She didn't seem to know a whole lot about her ...

Ms. Truman did get a chance to toot her father's horn here, though. Harry S Truman was the president in office when the CIA was "born", and she makes sure to mention this.

[Janet Balliet]

Collette reels from the death of her friend, Barrie. C works for the CIA in Budapest at the Embassy. After B's death she finds out B was working as a CIA courier. She takes a leave & then is ordered to investigate B's death. She starts by returning to DC by way of London. She tries to recreate B's last few days. Then the second in command at B's literary agency is murdered. C travels to British Virgin Islands to visit a close friend of B's. Both are almost killed by a bomb on board the yacht they were swimming from. C is ordered to kill this friend. C must decide who is friend & who is foe.

[Rachel Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really 1.5 stars but i rounded up out of sheer kindness. What an imbecilic book. Seriously without question the dumbest main character who makes the women cia agents written by men that run around in heels looks inspired. She’s supposed to be this professional but she makes the stupidest decision at every turn, and trust’s absolutely anyone who looks at her or calls her pretty. Margaret Truman does a man’a job of writing horrible female characters and it grinds my gears. A woman gets madonna-whore complexed by enough men, she doesn’t need it by her so called best friend either.

[Virginia Boylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this was an interesting story and very well written with loads of excellent details about foreign locations, I was never drawn in to care about the characters. Calling the heroine often by her last name, often by her first name, was confusing and off-putting. There were several secondary characters I wanted to like, but one turned out to be the bad guy while the others remained enigmatic. Truman does a good job keeping the reader guessing along with the heroine and the last quarter of the book climaxed beautifully. Only then did I become interested in picking up the book to read more.

[Helen Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 8th book written by Truman, but it is incredibly immature in its development and execution. With the amount of geographical "info-dumping" in the book I almost got the feeling that it was written to justify vacations to Budapest and the British Virgin Islands as tax write-offs. Truman's later books are much better - as they should be since they were ghost-written by the very capable, and versatile, writer, Donald Bain.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this randomly at the library, and picked it up because I have enjoyed other mysteries by Margaret Truman. I think they walk a decent line between realistic and action packed.
I was a little flummoxed by the end of this one, and i'm still not 100% sure about the resolution.

I'd say, though, I wouldn't mind going back and reading more by this author. Its a reliable good time.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well crafted late cold war thriller. Truman has some things to say about the CIA and how it has become corrupted from what her father intended. Most of the characters are ambiguous, and several are despicable. As usual, Truman provides food and fashion details to establish staging and place.

[Bobbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+ I just needed a decent no-frills mystery, and this one did it. It kept me guessing up until the end--who were the good guys and who were the bad guys? It was a bit challenging keeping all of the characters straight, but this is a good book if you just want to lose yourself in a governmental mystery.

[Sue Landes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Margaret Truman, this story less than her other simpler murder mysteries. However, Truman did weave a very intricate story and it's sad to say that this is probably way too close to the truth about the CIA.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start but the last 30 pages were interesting! Did not see the ending coming.

Fun to hear Margaret Truman discuss her father's creation of the CIA. Not everything is good about The Pickle Factory.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Margaret Truman's books

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was suspenseful and philosophical about espionage. I genuinely cared about the heroine's welfare. I could not tell who was a good guy and who was a bad guy. They all seemed like bad guys.

[Marjorie Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. But surprised at the preachy points where she talks about the CIA not being what Truman envisioned.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many suspects in the 'double agent' category for me. It meant the plot dragged a lot towards the end.

[Mim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different from her other books in the series.

[LeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read nearly all of her books. Loved most of them. This one was not the best and not the worst. A young CIA agent who was not ready for what she signed up for.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of her best. More of an espionage story which she was good doing. A courier for the CIA dies and her friend also in the CIA investigates from DC to Budapest to London to Tortola in the BVI.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just running through the Margaret Truman books I have. I usually enjoy reading her. I think I have 2 more, but they may have to wait. I need to read up on arthritis and inflammation.