On December 15, 1895, Theodore

Roosevelt, future Governor of New

York State, Bough Rider in

the Spanish-American War, and

twenty-sixth President of the

United States, had been Police Com-

missioner, the City of New York,

President of the Police Depart-

ment s Board, seven months, nine

days. Readers of the city s twenty-

eight dailies, yellow and otherwise,

could hardly wait to find out what

was going to happen next.

When The Big Stick, Lawrence

Alexander s first Theodore Roosevelt

Mystery, debuted in 1986, Alfred

Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

praised it as "a lot of fun and a jolly

good idea. " Now, in this newest in-

stallment, we return once again to

Gay Nineties New York to meet up

with our supersleuth hero, T.R. This

time out, Teddy s called in to inves-

tigate a series of signature murders

linked to organized crime and nar-

cotics smuggling--a colorful case

that turns into an intriguing but

deadly family affair.

When young cousin Franklin Del-

ano Roosevelt receives a warning

from the sinister "Black Hand" kill-

ers tying him to the crimes, the

swashbuckling Police Commis-

sioner springs into action. He dis-