One of the things people appreciate about books, bookstores and libraries is that they provide a reprieve from the day’s news.

Mostly.

Although I can barely recall the tense, five-week election recount in 2000 as the country waited in limbo to find out whether George W. Bush or Al Gore would be the next president, I do distinctly remember this: In an effort to distract myself from staring at a screen – I was so ahead of my time – I went to Mitchell Books, a now-departed mystery bookstore in Pasadena, to paw through the boxes of vintage crime, detective fiction and thrillers.

And while there, I found a copy of Edwin Lanham’s “Politics Is Murder,” which seemed, you know, totally appropriate to the moment.

Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and more

So imagine

See Full Page