The Root of the Matter is the second novel in Roberta Rogow's Pettigrew & Roth Mystery Series set in 1870 New York. The sudden entrance of a dying seaman disrupts a quiet supper party, and Uncle Ephraim Pettigrew, his partner Joshua Roth, and his niece Peggy, find themselves embroiled in a case involving rare plants, a ferocious alley cat, and a few family skeletons. Attorney Michael Riley joins Joshua and Peggy as they spend a hot summer day chasing a killer from the Hudson River waterfront to the mansions lining Madison Avenue. Glimpses of Commodore Vanderbilt and Boss Tweed enliven this tale of greed and secret passion in Old New York.