The Marathon Murders (Greg McKenzie Mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

by Chester D. Campbell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Greg and Jill McKenzie don t know what to expect when an old friend shows up with a mysterious woman in tow. Seems the woman disappeared some time ago, and has now re-appeared under a different name. And she s got a request for Greg: help her solve the ninety year old murder of her great great-grandfather, an accountant for the now defunct Marathon Motor Works. Seems her ancestor had been accused of embezzling the firm s funds. The woman claims newly discovered documents could clear the family s name, but now the documents have gone missing, along with the man whose carpenter found them stashed behind paneling in the plant s decaying walls. This is a bigger pie than one woman's slice. As Greg and Jill investigate, they learn the woman herself has killed a man. Then, as bodies pile up, the woman disappears again, and the term Marathon Murders enters the local lexicon. Worst of all, these murders are likely to continue. And Greg and Jill may be the next victims. With his fourth entry into the Mystery Sweepstakes, Chester Campbell's Marathon Murders may sweep the prize list. Chester's long been blending surprise and suspense into his mystery puzzles like a fine vintner blends fermented grapes. A Greg and Jill McKenzie Mystery is like a fine wine: balanced, tasty, smooth, satisfying and with a pleasant lingering aftertaste. Bravo! Chester. Keep them coming. --Ben F. Small, author of Alibi on Ice and The Olive Horseshoe

This fourth mystery by the author is especially entertaining for those of us in the silver/no hair set. Retired Air Force OSI investigator Greg McKenzie and his partner/wife Jill become involved in a case that spans a current mysterious disappearance of old evidence in a cold case stretching back to the turn of the 1900s. Hired by a woman working for a clandestine government agency and an Air Force Colonel working for the Defense Intelligence Agency who have gone to bat for her grandfather whose ancestor was falsely accused of stealing money from the Marathon Car Company. Exonerating papers are found in a wall of the plant while it goes under refurbishment and the man who contacts the grandfather turns up dead. Greg McKenzie's inner dialogue and the interactions with Jill give the reader the thoughts of seasoned professional senior citizens. The story is fun to follow and the dialogue is realistic. We rated this mystery four hearts. --Bob Spear, Heartland Reviews

When Warren Jarvis comes with a case, there isn t anything Greg and Jill McKenzie won t do for him. He brings with him a friend who goes by various names due to the nature of her work with the Air Force s Office of Special Investigations. She has a family link to a ninety year old murder case involving the Marathon Motor Works located near downtown Nashville. Though the plant isn t operating anymore, a bunch of old records have been found hidden in a wall and they seem to indicate that a former employee suspected of embezzlement was actually innocent. At least, that is what they believe and the family involved would like to see the records themselves but the man who had them is now missing. She wants to hire them to find the missing man and the records. Greg and Jill agree and begin to work the case by starting at the most obvious point. They start with the construction company and easily find out where the man lives and what he drives. That angle, and working the familial connection, sends them off into a case that eludes nearly ever attempt they make. While the fourth in a series, this novel could easily be read as an enjoyable stand alone cozy mystery. Greg and Jill do make the occasional reference to earlier events but for the most part are constantly working the current case. Character development is nil as these are characters that series readers have long since become accustomed to and don t expect major changes. Instead the focus is on the mystery and it is not one easily solved with numerous twists and turns along the way. The result is another excellent cozy style mystery from Chester Campbell and another enjoyable read. --Kevin R. Tipple, Blogger News Network

Product Description

Did Sydney Liggett, assistant treasurer of Marathon Motor Works in Nashville, skip town in 1914 with embezzled funds, or was he framed and murdered? That's the question PI's Greg and Jill McKenzie are hired to answer when 90-year-old documents found during restoration of the company’s buildings disappear. They discover the contractor who had them has been murdered. As they follow the twisting path, more bodies are found and they fear their client, Liggett’s great-great-granddaughter, may be next.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 280 KB
• Print Length: 228 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Night Shadows Press; First edition (February 12, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001OQCKZ2
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,268 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old cars and murder, March 24, 2008

By	Dawn Dowdle "mysteryloverscorner.com reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Marathon Murders (A Greg McKenzie Mystery) (Hardcover)

Greg and Jill McKenzie, owners of McKenzie Investigations, feel obligated to help when Colonel Warren Jarvis asks them to take on the case of his good friend Kelli Kane. Kelli needs the McKenzies to help clear the name of her great-great-grandfather Sydney Liggett. Back in 1914 he was accused of embezzling funds from Marathon Motor Works.

Pierce Bradley, a construction supervisor at the former Marathon Motors building, found papers belonging to Sydney Liggett which would have exonerated him, but he disappeared before the papers could be turned over to the DA. Bradley called Kelli's grandfather and set up a meeting to hand over the papers. Unfortunately Bradley can't be located now.

Not long after the McKenzies being to investigate, Bradley's body is found submerged in a lake. The papers he claimed he found are still missing. To make matters worse, more people connected to the investigate end up dead. There aren't many clues to go on, but the McKenzies are committed to do everything they can to find those papers. Can they find them before more people die? Can they find them without putting themselves in danger?

I love this series. Jill and Greg are such lovable characters. The plot is well constructed, and the setting is terrific. Such a great cozy mystery series. The author has done a fabulous job of setting up the story and creating characters that are believable. I enjoyed learning about the Marathon cars as well.

I highly recommend this book and series. I found myself having trouble putting it down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Midwest Book Review, March 3, 2008

By	Christy Tillery French "reviewer/writer" (Powell, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Marathon Murders (A Greg McKenzie Mystery) (Hardcover)

When Colonel Warren Jarvis asks Greg and Jill McKenzie, owners of McKenzie Investigations, to take on the case of his good friend Kelli Kane, they readily agree. Jarvis was instrumental in one of their former cases and the McKenzies feel indebted to him. Kelli needs the McKenzies' help in clearing the name of her great-great-grandfather Sydney Liggett, accused of embezzling funds from Marathon Motor Works in 1914. Kelli's grandfather recently received a phone call from Pierce Bradley, a construction supervisor at the former Marathon Motors building, who found papers belonging to Sydney Liggett which would have exonerated Liggett had he not disappeared before he could turn them over to the DA. And now Bradley is nowhere to be found. The McKenzies have barely begun their investigation when Bradley's body is discovered submerged in a lake, but the papers he claimed to have come across are missing. The McKenzies hope to recover the papers, but nothing seems to jell and, to make matters worse, people connected to the investigation are ending up dead. The only clue: a Russian cigarette stub found at each crime scene.

This fourth installment of the Greg McKenzie Mysteries is proof positive the series remains strong and fresh and is a major contender in the mystery venue. Greg and Jill McKenzie are a nice pairing, an amiable blend against the shady backdrop of murder and deceit. This well-plotted cozy is sure to please its fans and lure even more into its fold, the not-so-easily-guessed mystery one readers will enjoy trying to solve.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 90-year-old mystery, March 18, 2008

By	Gloria Feit (Long Beach, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Marathon Murders (A Greg McKenzie Mystery) (Hardcover)

Greg McKenzie, retired Lieutenant Colonel where he was an agent with the OSI [Office of Special Investigations], is contacted by a former colleague from the Air Force and asked to investigate a matter for his girlfriend, one Kelli Kane. Greg and his wife, Jill, live in Nashville, TN, where they opened a p.i. agency about seventh months ago. Kelli herself has a background that includes working undercover for some Federal Agency, whether CIA or otherwise is unclear. It seems that her great-great-grandfather had been accused of embezzlement when a large sum of money went missing from the company for which he worked as assistant treasurer, Marathon Motor Works, ultimately resulting in its declaring bankruptcy. Her grandfather, now 84 and in a nursing home, has been contacted by the job foreman for a company renovating the building which had housed that company ninety years ago, telling him that some papers had been found, hidden in a wall, attached to which was a handwritten note indicating that the papers were to be turned over to the District Attorney's office. The job foreman, a man named Bradley, was to have brought the papers to Kelli's grandfather, but never kept his appointment. Greg and his wife are asked to find Bradley and the papers which they believe will exonerate her relative and clear the family name.

It is not long before Bradley's body is found, and his house is discovered to have been ransacked, as is Kelli's grandfather's house. And of course the papers that might solve the mystery of the missing money are nowhere to be found. Complicating matters is the fact that as the investigation progresses it appears that the old man had a propensity for alienating a wide range of people, as had Bradley himself, and his being targeted may have had nothing to do with the Marathon investigation, but simply a matter of vandalism. But then another body is discovered.

Marathon Motor Works was a real company, and in fact it produced the only car completely built in the South. Nashville and its environs are lovingly described by the author, who has given us a very good mystery, well-written and suspenseful, and one I enjoyed a great deal.