Murder at the Nessus Rally

by John Schlue

It is 1937 and ace First World War pilot Harry Falkner is flying oil field execs around Texas during the Great Depression. Harry is barely making ends meet. The few bucks he earns keep him in aviation fuel, and out of welfare and soup kitchen lines, but there is not enough left to keep his creditors at bay. When the county sheriff catches up with him and repossesses his airplane, he learns that his ex-squadron commander Amos Deeds has ratted him out to the banks, so he can blackmail Falkner into returning to Germany on an unauthorized spying mission. If that isn’t enough trouble to deal with, Deeds insists Falkner take the beautiful but over-educated and inexperienced Jill Elliot along to keep an eye on him and steer him clear of trouble. For American ex-pat Falkner, the mission will be a return to bad memories, new revelations about his past, and danger. After all he’s been through, dealing with the Nazis sounds like a vacation. What could possibly go wrong?

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 26, 2023

Reviews

[dkmura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery is set primarily in pre-WW2 Germany. The protagonist is a pilot who becomes involved in a mystery from his past. While I appreciated the historical details, the transitions in the storyline were somewhat abrupt and hard to believe. Also, while the plot was complex with many suspects, my Kindle had editing problems (mostly paragraph breaks) that disrupted the flow of the story. Overall, I enjoyed being transported back in time, yet this story reminded me of how similar the rise of Hitler and facism of that period has been to America from 2012-2023. Alarming!