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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A fine second effort! Aug 05, 2004
By Midwest Book Review
Chester D. Campbell is a consummate writer, and has spent his life penning pieces for newspapers, magazines, politicians, and the trades. His second career has been the military, where he served in two wars and retired from the Air Force Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is married, and has four children and eight grandchildren to dote upon.
Greg and Jill McKenzie are just recuperating from their first murder case. This is Greg's first case since he retired from his career as an OSI investigator and former lawman. Jill was kidnaped, and a resultant torn rotator cuff required the well known painful surgery and subsequent recuperation and physical therapy. But when their best friends' son, Tim Gannon, is found dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound the McKenzies spring into action. It seems that Tim's newly constructed condominium called "The Sand Castle"suffered a collapsed balcony and two hapless people plunged to their deaths. Tim is an architect whose plans for a beachfront condo called for reinforced rebar, but his plans have been stolen, and apparently the collapsed balcony failed. Greg and Jill gear up for what promises to be an extended investigation. Little do they know that they may become the hunted as they uncover shady dealings by almost everyone involved in the construction of the condo:
"'Tim had a copy with him down here. It's missing, too. He also had a laptop computer, which we found in our condo. The Sand Castle file had been erased from it. But Walt took the laptop back to Nashville and had a software recovery firm work with the machine. They recovered the file, so there's a copy of Tim's original specs available now. They show the larger rebars and the higher p.s.i. concrete, like Walt remembered.'"
Chester D. Campbell has done it again! That is, he's written a thoroughly entertaining whodunit which incorporates his military knowledge and, in this case, architectural design. He manages to hang the specter of the wrongfully murdered young architect over a plot that moves along at a rapid clip with plenty of cliffhangers and well-defined characters. Greg McKenzie and his wife Jill are likeable characters who manage to transform retirement into a series of exciting adventures, all the while dealing with aging bodies and minds. A fine second effort!
Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Murder and skullduggery... Apr 26, 2004
By Ingrid Taylor
"Author, Book Reviewer"
"With the darkness and the music, all the laughter and chatter, no one noticed the crack in the concrete."If that opening line of the Prologue doesn't capture your attention and arouse your curiosity nothing will. What a portent to disaster. And it happens - the 15th floor balcony holding celebrants of the opening of The Sand Castle condominiums collapses. Unfortunately two of the revelers are plunged to their deaths, but a few people are saved. The local authorities decide the collapse was no accident and treat the area as a crime scene, much to the consternation of Tim Gannon, an Architect/Engineer who worked on the design of the building. He is stunned by the balcony collapse, but before Tim can look into the problem his body is found on a private beach area shot to death and the same authorities list his death as suicide. Tim's parents are Sam and Wilma Gannon who have known Greg and Jill McKenzie for years. Being a father, Sam cannot accept the verdict of Suicide handed down about Tim. Remembering that Greg is an ex-agent of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Sam requests that Greg find out the truth behind the events that happened. But since a security tape of the parking area of the club shows Tim's car and no one else, how did someone approach his car to shoot him? Greg really has his work cut out for him. Greg and his helpful wife Jill embark on their own private investigation that leads them into danger to themselves. But Greg still has his sharp investigative talents and starts uncovering clues one by one. Some clues are dead ends, or Red Herrings we might call them, but apparently other leads are close enough for someone to hire two hefty goons-for-hire to beat-up Greg severely and leave him with the admonition to stop nosing around. Of course this just clinches the fact that he and Jill are on the right track and are getting very close to the answer someone doesn't want known. Wait until they discover there are several people that don't want a lot of things uncovered. Mr. Campbell has written another page-turner. It was real hard not to peek into the last chapter to see who-done-it. He has filled the story with such convincing characters that are so fleshed-out as to appear alive. There are stolen plans, murder, love gone astray, back stabbing, mean goons and all kinds of skullduggery. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next Greg and Jill McKenzie adventure. But I sincerely suggest that you don't miss this one. -Shirley Truax
Designed To Kill Delivers May 11, 2006
By Ben F. Small
When a close friend's son, an architect, is found dead in a seaside park shortly after a balcony he designed collapsed, killing two people, the police assume it's suicide. But the dead man's parents and Greg and Jill McKenzie don't buy it. He was staying in Greg and Jill's Florida condo at the time of his death. When they go to investigate his death, they discover his original plans are missing: the hard copies stolen and the digital form deleted from his hard drive. But the "copies" in the hands of the developer and the general contractor show inferior materials and structure supports. Is this what the deceased designed? Were the plans altered to save costs? If so, by whom? Questions abound: Why did the inspector approve the inferior rebar and the defective concrete pour? What was a woman's jacket doing in Greg and Jill's condo, when the deceased was married and his wife was back in Tennessee? Why is the New Orleans mob trying to kill Greg?
Jill is Greg's ace in the hole in this fast-moving mystery. But he's got only his Beretta when the chips are down.
Chester D Campbell's DESIGNED TO KILL is one of the better mysteries I've read this year.
Great mystery with lots of twists and turns May 25, 2005
By Dawn Dowdle
"Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer"
Greg McKenzie and his wife Jill are asked by friends to go to Perdido Key, Florida, to investigate who killed their friends' son Tim Gannon. The police believe it was suicide.
Tim was an Architect/Engineer in charge of construction of a beachfront condo complex called "The Sand Castle." At a recent party, the balcony of the penthouse unit on the fifteenth floor collapsed killing and injuring people. He tried to help rescue people, but the police feel he was depressed from the collapse.
Greg is not a private investigator, but he was an agent with OSI (the Air Force office of Special Investigations) and an investigator with the DA's office in Nashville. So he has experience.
As Greg starts investigating, he soon finds out there are missing plan, an obstinate contractor, an inspector who is angry over a disrupted love affair, and a very slick developer. Plus Greg is worked over by two thugs. Greg realizes Jill is in danger and that he'd better determine if this is murder and if so, get it solved quickly. But can he do it without either being hurt further or Jill being harmed?
I really enjoyed this book. It was the first in the series that I have read. Jill and Greg are terrific characters, and I would love to read more about them. The Florida setting was very enjoyable as well.
I liked all the twists and turns that the plot takes. It keeps you guessing right up to the end. He does a great job of tying up all the loose ends as well.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more in this series.
Partners Sublime Jan 17, 2005
By Sue M. Byham
"Sue Marra Byham"
Campbell's story is a seamless fabrication deftly enhanced by fact. The plot, unlikely to inspire copycat crimes, is perfectly feasible, and well unfolded. The dialogue that drives the story rings true in every detail; if anything could be added here, I think readers would enjoy longer conversations between the McKenzies, some of whose remarks are definitely collectible.
It can be said of most literary sleuths that they'd be great to have around in a crisis; these characters, should they step off the page, would be welcome visitors anywhere, any time. I finished the book wanting to know more about them.
The author's subtle humor put me in mind of Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime," but Tommy and Tuppence were contrived as mannequins for parody. There's nothing contrived or imitative about Greg and Jill. Campbell has obviously wrought them from observation and experience, nor has he stinted on the research necessary to guide their footsteps convincingly. I look forward to the next in the series!
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