Deadly Illusions

Author: Chester D. Campbell
Genre: Mystery
Reviewed by: Kevin Tipple

Durban House

This soon to be released third book in the series finds Greg and Jill making things official by having opened their own private detective agency, McKenzie Investigations. While their office in a strip shopping center on the east side of Nashville, Tennessee is modest, it suits their purposes fine. It is there where they meet a walk-in client by the name of Molly Saint.

Molly has a problem with her husband, Damon Saint. She does not really know the man, even after several years of marriage. He never told her much about his past beyond the fact that he was a Vietnam vet and that he claimed to have done some sort of covert operations on behalf of the Government. Then there is the shadowy group he says he belongs to that consists of a number of former vets who occasionally need his help. While there were a lot of things she didn't know about him, or why he forbade her to go into the basement of their home for any reason, what has her concerned now is that his behavior has changed in recent weeks. While nothing has actually happened, she feels threatened by him. Greg does not really feel anything is going on but since Jill is concerned, they take the case.

Molly soon vanishes and as the McKenzies dig into Damon Saint's background while they look for her, it begins to look like she was right and her disappearance might have been foul play. At the same time, they are working a case of financial fraud at a local restaurant and Greg might have figured out who fired the fatal shot that took down the Federal Reserve Chairman at a local hotel. In short, the McKenzies have their hands full before Damon begins to get seriously annoyed with their snooping.

Picking up a short period after the very enjoyable Designed To Kill, this book continues the author's track record of strong writing, realistic characters and complex mysteries that makes this series so good. Greg and Jill are a very realistic pairing, especially to those readers that have been married quite a few years. The mysteries are always complex and twisting, and this one is no exception.

While this novel could be read as a stand alone, due to the frequent allusions and explanations of the earlier books in the series, it would be best to read them in order. Therefore, start with Secret Of The Scroll which introduces the McKenzies and others and then follow it with Designed to Kill, which will lead you right up to this novel. Regardless of what you do, enjoy these, as this is one author a reader can count on.

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