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Murder At The President's Door
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Plot Summary of Murder At The President's Door
"

St. Martin's, Dec 2001, 23.95, 240 pp.
ISBN: 0312274998

    When President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor moved into the White House, it was a shabby place to live. The furniture and curtains were old with most needing replacement, but with the country deep into the Depression, Congress refuses to authorize funds to redecorate the President's home. Thus the Roosevelts do the best they can with what they have.

    While the President is a movie with an aide, someone tries to assassinate him, but kills a police officer instead. The First lady theorizes that the killer ran away when he heard voices in her husband's bedroom, not realizing that the sound came from the movie. Obviously, White House security is lax and anyone who knows the layout of the place can easily enter and leave without detection. Eleanor, DC police Lieutenant Edward Kennelly, and the White House police join forces to ferret out the identity of the perpetrators.

    MURDER AT THE PRESIDENT'S DOOR is the latest Eleanor Roosevelt mystery in this long running series that provides a fascinating look at the 1930s White House. In this age of terrorism and Pennsylvania Avenue cordoned off it is difficult to fathom the Presidential home lacking security measures, and containing broken down furniture and torn curtains. Though the who-done-it is short on action, history buffs will enjoy the late Elliot Roosevelt's latest homage to his parents early years in the White House.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Murder At The President's Door
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - main char. spying/sabotage - preventing/finding assassin - stopping a saboteur/spy - preventing bomb/biohazard/disaster
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Kind of investigator - police procedural, American
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - wealthy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - almost none
Motive of antagonist - jealousy
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Murder At The President's Door
White Jazz by James Ellroy
Beaulah Hill by William Heffernan
The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
Clandestine by James Ellroy


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Elliott Roosevelt Resident Scholar Profiles

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