Who Killed Callaway?: A Murder Mystery

John Rhodes
iUniverse (2007)
ISBN 9780595437771
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (1/08)


“Who Killed Callaway?” is murder mystery at its best.  I have to admit that as a murder mystery junkie I love nothing better than finding a great murder mystery to hole up with; this book meets that criteria.  I was drawn in from the first page until the very surprising ending.
   
“Who Killed Callaway?” is set in England in the early 20th Century.  The country is still recovering from the WWI and the class system is still very much in evidence.  The main character, Chief Inspector Thomas Ford, is still recovering from injuries that he received as a soldier during the war.  Ford is not very happy when he is called up by his alma mater, King’s School, an exclusive private school, to investigate a murder.

His unpleasant memories come rushing back as he begins the investigation of Michael Callaway’s murder.  Throughout the investigation he is met with resistance and an obvious cover-up.  His job is made doubly difficult because all the potential evidence in the murder has been removed by the effort to make the incident look like an accident.  Ford’s excellent investigative skills not only uncover clues to the murder but long-buried secrets.  As he gets closer to the answer another student falls to his death.  The school officials try to make it look like the second student, Trumpington, killed Callaway and committed suicide afterwards.  Ford does not buy that theory and continues uncovering the many ugly secrets that King’s School has to hide.
 
I thought that the author, John Rhodes, did an excellent job with character development.  His characters were definitely colorful and I often felt like I was there solving the mystery with them.  But beware, Mrs. Croft, wife of the local police sergeant, serves up so many incredible dishes that you will be constantly hungry while reading the book.
  
Ford does a great job getting the locals to open up in following all the leads in the story.  He even surprises himself by finding love along the way.  Usually I can figure out who done it in a mystery story, but I was surprised at not only who committed the murder but why they did it.  I would highly recommend “Who Killed Callaway?” to mystery buffs.  They will be left with wanting to read more mysteries with Chief Inspector Thomas Ford.

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