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Murder in the Lincoln Bedroom    by Elliott Roosevelt Amazon.com order for
Murder in the Lincoln Bedroom
by Elliott Roosevelt
Order:  USA  Can
St. Martin's, 2002 (2000)
Hardcover, Paperback

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* *   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

If you've never read any of Elliott Roosevelt's accounts of his parents' lives in the White House, you're in for a real treat. Reading Murder in the Lincoln Bedroom is like relishing a juicy gossip column, with a mystery thrown in for good measure.

The author peppers all his books with tidbits about famous personalities of the times. This one is no exception. I liked Roosevelt's account of how Humphrey Bogart acquired his well-known sneer. There is the revelation about the famous gossip columnist Hedda Hopper's drinking peccadilloes. And Winston Churchill's bathing habits are unusual to say the least.

When a body is found in a part of the White House that is declared off limits (the Lincoln Bedroom) Eleanor Roosevelt polishes her detecting skills. With the backdrop of a top secret war conference involving heads of state, she quickly puts her fine mind to uncovering a plot to assassinate F.D.R..

I think I would have liked Eleanor. She comes across as a very sensible woman who has a keen sense of right and wrong but also a gentle sense of humor. She was caring and compassionate and I admire the woman I meet in her son's books. The machinations of WWII are fascinating when seen from hindsight. This is a real delight of a book, and a fast read.

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