Murder in the Blue Room

Eleanor Roosevelt #8

by Elliott Roosevelt

The game's afoot in another in the popular and critically acclaimed First Lady mysteries, Elliott Roosevelt's affectionate fictional portrait of his mother. Here again is Eleanor Roosevelt, detective, trying to untie the complex knots of a murder puzzle while at the same time serving as First Lady in the unique, lively style for which she is so well remembered.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery

215 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Elliott Roosevelt (September 23, 1910 – October 27, 1990) was an United States Army Air Forces officer and an author. Roosevelt was a son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Reviews

[Sierra]

talked about eleanor roosevelt’s outfits more than expected

[Karen GoatKeeper]

WWII is ongoing. Germany has invaded Russia. Stalin sends Molotov to the White House to plead for opening a second front with Franklin Roosevelt. As the company sits eating dinner, a murder of a young woman is committed down the hall.
The woman did work in the White House, but why was she there in the Blue Room so late? Was the murderer a member of staff? The Russian staff? An outsider?
Then the woman's best friend and roommate is murdered. Are the murders related?
Eleanor Roosevelt is on the case fitting sleuthing in between her many and varied social and political responsibilities.
The mystery is engaging. The inside views of the FDR White House make it more interesting. This is a fast,easy read.

[Sherry]

#8 In June 1942, a young woman is murdered in the White House while the Soviet Foreign minister and his party are there begging for Allied diversion of the Germans and while the US is worried about the whereabouts of the Japanese fleets in the Pacific. Eleanor, D. C. Chief police detective, Captain Kennelly and Secret Services Agent Dom Deconcini work together trying to discover the murderer/s in a scandalous name dropping set of two murders as the stage is set for the Battle of Midway young Nelson Rockefeller is among the suspects.

[Maria]

In 1942 the US is having problems in the Pacific front, not knowing where the Japanese fleet is or where it is heading. It was very interesting to see these events unfold as Eleanor steps daintily through an investigation into the deaths of two young women while FDR tries to decide whether he has made a correct decision in agreeing to most of our forces concentrating on Midway rather than Hawaii or the Aleutian Islands. The mystery was not as compelling as some have been, but the war stories are.

[Lyndon]

Found this at a garage sale, had never heard of Elliott Roosevelt's books about his mother, Eleanor, in her fictional role as a detective. Interesting interspersing of historical events (1942'ish) into a murder mystery that takes place in the White House. A bit grim, but overall fairly clean (not quite a cozy as there is some gruesomeness). Not bad but won't go out of my way to find the other books in this series.

[Jo]

These are such excellent mysteries. Remind of the old time mysteries where you had to have a brain. Would have loved to have met Eleanor Roosevelt. I really like that what is going on at period of time is included--like the Battle of Midway, the public service announcements/press events. It was especially interesting about the War Stamps and the Victory Gardens. A really great read!!

[Helenk]

Another enjoyable book in this series. Eleanor is in the thick of a murder investigation in the White House. The war is moving on to the battle of Midway. Once again historical figures are involved.

[Barb Czz]

I did enjoy this book. I've not read any of the Eleanor Roosevelt mysteries.
I especially liked the look back to the time when everything was done in person by talking, calling or just showing up.

[Dawean]

Loved seeing detective Eleanor at work.

[Helene]

Eleanor Roosevelt as a detective, fictional. The inner workings of the White House, the people, the war, insightful.

[Nd]

I don't think I've read any of Elliott Roosevelt's mysteries before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Picked it up at the library's buy-a-bag sale on a whim and out of curiosity. A week ago, I began the non-fiction book, "A President in Our Midst," dealing with FDR and his years spent in Georgia trying to recuperate from polio; and I ended the week with a group tour to Warm Springs, GA. On this bus trip, I took along some light reading, and Murder in the Blue Room is it. I found it to be a very well crafted and well written mystery in which a murder occurred in the White House Blue Room in 1941/42 while the Soviet Foreign Minister and his entourage were at the White House for meetings with with President Roosevelt, trying to extract promises from Roosevelt for troop support during World War II, and while FDR was dealing with the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor in the time leading up to the Battle of Midway. Eleanor Roosevelt worked behind the scene with the investigators to help clear up the murder as she systematically, logically, and with a cool head helped untangle lies, half-facts, and partial truths regarding the Blue Room murder of Emily Ryan, a young "modern" woman who was not even supposed to be in the White House, and the subsequent murder of her roommate, the equally modern Peggy Shearson.

[Jenny]

I thought reading a mystery where a real person was the sleuth would be weird but it starts to flow after the first few pages. The historical setting is pretty interesting, especially since the author is the First Lady's son and would probably have been familiar with how all of this was handled by the White House in 1942 (in particular, the issue of the Second Front). I was surprised at how wrapped up in the story I got.

I also got a kick out of the short skirts, the issue of women wearing pants, and the fact that the girls who were killed were called "modern" as a way of describing the fact that they slept around.

[Ellen Moore]

This was another interesting book in the Eleanor Roosevelt First Lady mystery series written by her son Elliott. While Russian dignitaries are visiting the President, the battered body of a young woman is discovered in the Blue Room. The First Lady joins the Secret Service and Captain of the DC Police to investigate the murder while keeping its occurrence a secret from the Russian delegation. As usual, the book contains references to historical events of that time and also well known persons. The orderly methods used by the First Lady in the investigation are instrumental in solving the murder.

[Kathie]

One in a series of fictional Murder Mysteries written by Elliott Roosevelt. This one takes place in 1942 in the White House. Eleanor Roosevelt is part of the investigation team. The story involves such real life characters such as Everett Dirksen, Nelson Rockefeller, Harry Truman, and Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. It seemed obvious who the murder was but Elliott managed to string it out for a couple hundred pages and threw in some historical facts along the way.

[pearl_seeker]

A good whodunnit set in the White House. Having real-life individuals populate the book made it different and interesting. There was just enough history to set the scene and give an inspired backdrop to the proceedings without so much history that it turned into a tome on American History. (Kathy Reichs should take note on not turning her books into tomes on forensics!) I would definitely pick up another Elliott Roosevelt mystery!

[Deena]

Not great, but ok. Much character material seems to have been taken from reviewing old newsreel footage. And how many of Eleanor's outfits do I need to hear about? I'll probably read the couple of others that I got for free, but I don't think I'd actually pay for one.

[Clare]

What I like about Elliott Roosevelt's books is the real-life historical situations that are woven throughout the murder mystery. This one included, among other things, mentions of rationing, women beginning to wear slacks and shorter skirts, blackout drapes and victory gardens, for example.

[Jim]

I enjoy these little stories about Eleanor as detective. She's been a role model to many, and her character and personality shine through these novels. Never mind that these weren't actually written by her son, but by another man. They are still enjoyable.

[Linda]

Nice little mystery set in the White House with Eleanor Roosevelt playing a sleuth. Liked the period setting but I figured out how the murder could be committed well before the characters in the book.

[Partridge Public]

Roosevelt, Elliott

[Cindy]

This was another great read. I am planning a trip to visit the Campabello Cottage in the next couple of weeks. This is a great series filled with my two favorite things....mystery and history.

[Jack Dunigan]

I gravitate towards historial mysteries, especially those of the 30's and 40's. Not suspenseful, but I like cozies like this one. I did solve the mystery before the end, but it is entertaining.

[Patreesha]

A nice combination of history and mystery. That Eleanor's son is the author adds to the enjoyment. Parts of the plot took it down one star for me.

[Laura Powell]

This mysteries are not deep reading, it entertaining. I always like people and events in history introduced to n the story. Eleanor Roosevelt enjoys helping the police solve mysteries. This one starts off in the Blue Room of the White House about the time of the battle for Midway. Even Everett Dirksen is involved in the investigation. I couldn't figure this one out.