Denise Burke has reached the pinnacle of the successful DC woman. She is married to Nick, an individual who is ClintonĘs domestic affairs advisor (allegedly the word affair in his title means the entire country and is not just limited to young females), making him a member of the inner sanctum. Denise is having an affair of her own with Congressman Owen Hall. On top of the success of her personal life, Denise is the best selling author of true crime books.

It is the latter two items that got Congressman Hall to ask Denise to investigate the triple murder in his hometown of New Caxton, Rhode Island so that she could ultimately write the true accounting. However, before she can begin her inquiries, Hall is found dead at a hookerĘs place with a Chinese cord sticking up his butt. Denise begins to receive pressure to drop her New England research and the subsequent book it should produce or become the next victim of an individual who prefers that Eddie Baines remain the convicted felon.

AN AMERICAN KILLING is a witty look into high political society and its link to small town New England. The first person account moves briskly forward due to the cynical quips of Denise (that sounds like most voters today). The who-done-it is an interesting puzzle, but the novel gets its freshness from the interrelationships of the well designed characters. Though the conclusion is a grand canyon of a stretch, readers will enjoy this amateur sleuth cum political thriller, which humorously brings America into a nineties perspective.