NATIONAL BESTSELLER MARGARET TRUMAN Bestselling author of MURDER AT THE PENTAGON MURDER ON THE POTOMAC "A first-rate mystery writer." --Los Angeles Times Book Review First time in paperback! "Harry's daughter knows her milieu; better still, she knows how to portray it convincingly." --The San Diego Union Law professor Mac has unflagging passion for two things in his life: his wife Annabel and the majestic Potomac River. When Mac discovers a weed-shrouded body in the latter, the former gets edgy. Lovely Annabel, owner of a flourishing Georgetown art gallery, must not only endure her husband's obsession with another killing, but she must believe Mac when he says that a stunning female former student is one of the only people who can help him. They discover that the corpse was once the confidante' of a wealthy Washingtonian, which leads to the Scarlet Sin Society, a theatrical group that--perilously--reenacts historical murders. And soon, the only thing that matters more to Mac than solving this serpentine case is preventing Annabel's untimely death (. "Truman 'knows the forks' in the nation's capital and how to pitchfork her readers into a web of murder and detection." --The Christian Science Monitor "Margaret Truman has settled firmly into a career of writing murder mysteries, all evoking brilliantly the Washington she knows so well." --The Houston Post

Mary-Jane Deeb holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University. She has taught at American University in Washington for almost a decade, and now holds the position of Arab world Area Specialist at the Library of Congress. In addition to her teaching career, Deeb has published three academic books and over sixty articles, book chapters and book reviews on Middle East politics. Between 1995 and 1998 she was the Editor-in-chief of The Middle East Journal and as such travelled widely in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. She is fluent in French and Arabic and can read a number of other languages. Deeb brings her own personal knowledge of the Washington social scene to bear on the murder-mystery plot of Cocktails and Murder on the Potomac her first novel.

Luke, an oysterman, is tangled up in the fight over the Potomac River rights in 1956 Virginia. He loves his wife, but they clash over his illegal dredging of oyster beds. His life is under threat from Maryland's notorious Oyster Police. Yelena, the once pretty, popular girl, struggles to rise above her dull existence as Luke's wife. She defies her husband and takes a job in a used bookstore. A mysterious older man is interested in her, or is he simply after her husband for his unlawful activities as he inspects the murders out on the river? She's tempted to plunge into intrigue and perhaps more. Can Luke and Yelena rekindle their love or drown in the hurricane of their actions? Will the crew-killers be found before Luke becomes their next victim?

“A vigorous tale of twists and turns . . . An authentic thriller.”—The Washington Post Book World Murder didn't stop Mac Smith or Annabel Reed from falling in love, or from getting married at the glorious church on the hill in Washington, D.C., the National Cathedral. But the brutal murder of a friend drags them from their newlywed bliss into an unholy web of intrigue and danger. The body is found in the cathedral. There are scant clues and no suspects. And to further complicate matters, a parallel crime is committed at a church in England's Cotswolds, where the honeymooners have recently been visitors. Across the sea go the Smiths again, and straight into the center of an ungodly plot of secret agents, a playboy priest, a frustrated lover, a choleric cleric . . . and a murder so perfect it's a sin. Praise for Murder at the National Cathedral “One of her most enjoyable books.”—Associated Press “Margaret Truman has become a first-rate mystery writer.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

Murder and Thwarted Love - the Potomac River Oyster Wars Luke, an oysterman, is tangled up in the fight over the Potomac River rights in 1956 Virginia. He loves his wife, but they clash over his illegal dredging of oyster beds. His life is under threat from Maryland's notorious Oyster Police. Yelena, the once pretty, popular girl, struggles to rise above her dull existence as Luke's wife. She defies her husband and takes a job in a used bookstore. A mysterious older man is interested in her, or is he simply after her husband for his unlawful activities as he inspects the murders out on the river? She's tempted to plunge into intrigue and perhaps more. Can Luke and Yelena rekindle their love or drown in the hurricane of their actions? Will the crew-killers be found before Luke becomes their next victim?

He died beneath the Statue of Freedom, clutching a 9-mm pistol in his hand. But as dawn rose, the politician would die again--in a hail of rumor and character assassination. Now one man suspects the shattering truth: that the congressman's suicide was a carefully planned murder. In the heart of the free world, a furious struggle begins: to reclaim a man's innocence, expose a woman's lie, and stop a chilling conspiracy of murder that reaches halfway around the world. . . .

“Powerful . . . Fascinating . . . Truman absolutely amazes.”—Atlanta Journal & Constitution When the senior curator at Washington's famed National Gallery finds a missing painting by the Renaissance master Caravaggio, he mounts a world-class exhibition—and plots a brilliant forgery scheme that will stun the art world. “A thrilling chase.”—Publishers Weekly But an artful deception suddenly becomes a portrait of blackmail and murder—as gallery owner and part-time sleuth Annabel Reed-Smith and her husband go searching for clues in the heady arena of international art and uncover a rare collection of unscrupulous characters that leads all the way to Italy. “Highly recommended . . . One of [Margaret] Truman's best.”—Booklist