The Body in the Ballroom
An Alice Roosevelt Mystery
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
President Teddy Roosevelt’s daring daughter, Alice, leaps into action to exonerate a friend accused of poisoning a man just about everyone hated.
Alice Roosevelt, the brilliant, danger-loving daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, has already risked an assassin’s bullet to solve one murder. She never expected to have to sleuth another, but she’d never pass up the opportunity, either. Anything to stave off boredom.
And such an opportunity presents itself when Alice is invited to a lavish ball. The high-society guests are in high spirits as they imbibe the finest wines. But one man, detested by nearly all the partygoers, quaffs a decidedly deadlier cocktail. An African-American mechanic, who also happens to be a good friend of former Rough Rider-turned-Secret Service Agent Joseph St. Clair, is suspected of the murder-by-poison, but Alice is sure he’s innocent and is back on the scene to clear his name.
From downtown betting parlors to uptown mansions, Alice and Agent St. Clair uncover forbidden romances and a financial deal that just might change the world. But neither Alice nor her would-be protector may survive the case at hand in The Body in the Ballroom, R. J. Koreto's gripping second Alice Roosevelt mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Koreto's mediocre sequel to 2017's Alice and the Assassin takes teenage Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, from Washington, D.C., to New York City for the spring social season. Her first event is a ball at the home of the prominent Rutledge family. While her personal bodyguard, Secret Service agent Joseph St. Clair, plays cards with the servants below stairs, Alice dances and gossips in the ballroom. When universally despised businessman Lynley Brackton, another party guest, sickens and dies after drinking a cup of the Rutledge punch, Alice is certain that he was poisoned. She immediately sends for St. Clair and insists that they solve the crime. Soon they are investigating a secret society, foreign business dealings, and marital infidelities. The resolution is unlikely to come as a surprise to any seasoned mystery reader. In contrast to the real Alice, who was witty, unorthodox, and scandalous, the fictional Alice often seems merely supremely self-centered. The lack of chemistry between Alice and St. Clair is another minus. Still, some historical fans may enjoy Koreto's view of early-20th-century Manhattan society.
