The First Lady Murders

by Nancy Pickard

Nineteen of today's finest mystery writers--including Anne Perry, P. M. Carlson, John Lutz, Judith Kelman, Gillian Roberts, and Sarah Shankman--offer an entertaining selection of original mystery stories centered around America's First Ladies. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Anthologies

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Nancy Pickard is an American crime novelist. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35.

She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[Laura Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most short story collections, some you like and some you don't. There were fewer good here than mediocre. Two that stood out were "Alice Holds the Cards" by Carole Nelson Douglas and Jennifer Waddell and "Blood in Buzzard's Bay (Or Sweets to the Sweet)" by P.M. Carlson. The first wasn't even about a first lady, but about Teddy Roosevelt's daughter, Alice, set after his tenure in the White House. And the second dealt more with a would-be kidnapper than with Frances Cleveland. Most of the other stories were too slow-moving or the plot too simplistic (not surprising with a short-story mystery) or dull. And three of the twenty stories not only featured Edith Wilson, but all were set at the same point in time, shortly after Woodrow Wilson's stroke as Edith tried to keep the truth from outsiders. This created a bit of redundancy in an already lumbering tome. The one good point about these stories were the brief and interesting glimpses of some of the country's First Ladies. What I'd really like to read now is a history book on all of the U.S.'s First Ladies, be they wives or daughters or sisters of the President. "The First Lady Murders" was an interesting premise, but I just don't think enough of the writers involved created a successful and interesting short mystery for each woman.

[Barbara Cryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent, some not. Always a toss up with short story collections.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of nineteen short stories that feature the First Lady in some fashion. There are three stories that feature Edith Wilson, who kept the country at bay when her husband suffered a debilitating stroke; two that feature Mary Todd Lincoln, as well as two that feature Dolley Madison. There are tales of murder, intrigue, kidnapping, forgery, espionage and theft. There are stories featuring Jackie Kennedy, Pat Nixon, Martha Washington, Julia Grant and many others. There is also an excellent array of authors: Nancy Pickard, Anne Perry, Gillian Roberts, and Sarah Shankman to name a few. I am not a huge fan of short stories but this book was very compelling.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had quite a few short stories featuring various first ladies. While I liked that each author was able to pick whichever lady they felt drawn to, I didn't necessarily like that there were multiple stories about the same lady (even though they were all completely different). Overall an enjoyable book and I got to read many new authors.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories were pretty good. I enjoyed the book.