Murder in the Chateau: An Eleanor Roosevelt Mystery - Hardcover

Roosevelt, Elliott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312143753 ISBN 13: 9780312143756

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1996

Synopsis

In 1941, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt undertakes a dangerous covert mission into Nazi-occupied France to prove the United States' opposition to Hitler by assisting a French/German resistance group plotting to assassinate Hitler

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

The flow of Roosevelt's posthumous novels (Murder in the Executive Mansion, 1995, etc.) continues unabated with this over- the-top excursion into surreal-absurdist plotting. It's June 1941, and Hitler is about to invade Russia, to the dismay of some of his highest officers. In the White House and elsewhere, a plan is being hatched, in deepest secrecy, to bring together for four days S.S. Colonel Artur Brandt; General Rousseau (of Vichy France); Eleanor Roosevelt--as proof of US good faith; Churchill's son Randolph--as the same for Britain; Kevin O'Neil, an Irish mercenary guarding Mrs. Roosevelt; Vicki Neustadt, Jewish and a member of the French Resistance; and General Erwin Rommel. They're all to gather at the chateau of Vivienne Duval in Vichy France--Mrs. Roosevelt and her group arriving by plane, submarine, and fishing boat. A protocol is to be drawn up formulating the boundaries and peace conditions that'll be activated once Hitler is either persuaded to agree--or assassinated. With everyone in place (Sarah Churchill substituting for her brother), there's not a dull moment, with walk-ons by Gertrude Stein and Josephine Baker; the murder of Brandt; the rape of Vicki and, as time is running out, the actual invasion of Russia rendering the whole mess null and void. With its endless rehashing of anti-Semitic horrors, unreal subplots, cardboard characters, and even intimations of romance for Eleanor, there's much more irritation than satisfaction here. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Although Elliott Roosevelt, son of Franklin and Eleanor, has passed away, his Eleanor Roosevelt mysteries continue posthumously?thanks, according to the publisher, to a legacy of several unpublished manuscripts. The newest release (after Murder in the Executive Mansion, 1995) features Eleanor in a secret mission during the early part of WWII. It's 1941, before Pearl Harbor. France has been occupied by the Nazis and President Roosevelt arranges for his wife to represent him at a clandestine conference involving several internationally known figures, including some high-ranking German officers, who are plotting to kill Hitler and end the war. Accompanying Eleanor to the Chateau Montrond in the French countryside are the intense Victoria Klein, a resistance fighter traveling as her maid, and Kevin O'Neil, an Irish mercenary. Their hostess, Vivienne Duval, introduces them to General Rommel and Colonel Artur Brandt, a Hitler aide, among others, but the conference is barely underway when Brandt is found murdered. With almost everyone a suspect, Eleanor is doubly challenged when a second body is discovered. The solution is almost secondary to the secret meeting itself. A surprise visit by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas provides an interesting twist to the quickly moving plot. Only the occasionally stilted conversation wrinkles the surface of this satisfying package.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0312143753
• ISBN 13: 9780312143756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200