Did Rufus Rorke Stage His Death? Is He Now a Killer?
At school, they were known as the Three Musketeers – James Taylor, Barnie Wallace, and Rufus Rorke. An odd trio since they were very different and definitely not friends. But school ties sometimes bind and through the years they kept in touch. James gives the eulogy at Rufus’ funeral and he does a bang up job. Eighteen months later, James sits in the pews during Barnie’s funeral. Six rows ahead he sees – but, it can’t be! Rufus! After the service, James hurries, but can’t find the man he suspects is Rufus. But the sighting haunts him. Is Rufus still alive? And why would he fake his death?
Turns out Rufus had few friends and most of the people who showed up at his funeral just wanted to make sure he was dead. That proved to be difficult since Rufus died after falling overboard from his yacht and his body was never found. There was no coffin at his funeral. Knowing how Rufus could be cutthroat and devious, James has no doubt that he staged his own death and is still alive.
Rufus, now called Lee Oswald or Paul Anthony, is very much alive and very much a killer. On the dark web he sells ghost guns, weapons made with a 3-D printer that are deadly and untraceable. His girlfriend, Shannon Kendall, manages that side of the business while Rufus finds clients willing to pay big money to have someone killed. Rufus’ skill is his ability to make these killings seem like accidents.
While Rufus doesn’t know most of the people he kills, he did know Barnie. But killing his old friend was an act of self preservation. Barnie had spotted Rufus in disguise and knew what he was doing. He followed Rufus to his home and asked for money to keep his silence. An amateur chef, Barnie often shopped at an organic shop in his neighborhood. Rufus managed to switch some edible mushrooms that were in Barnie’s basket with a package of the highly toxic death cap mushrooms.
A few days after eating the mushrooms, Barnie was dead. His death may have gone unnoticed, but when a woman died after consuming the toxic mushrooms, the police opened an investigation. While her death was ruled accidental – she found the poisonous mushrooms while foraging near her home – CCTV footage from the organic market showed Barnie’s death was murder. Brighton Superintendent Roy Grace puts together a team to look for the mysterious shopper who switched the mushrooms.
One of Us Is Dead is told from several points of view. Grace and his team soon figure out that someone is killing people and making these murders appear to be accidents. Besides Barnie, there’s a university professor, Bill Llewellyn, who dies from a wasp bite, and Dermot Bryson, a wealthy car collector who dies, along with his girlfriend, when his Ferrari goes out of control and is wrapped around a tree. James Taylor (and, yes, he was named after the singer), refuses to let sleeping (or dead) dogs lie and along with Barnie’s ex-wife Debbie, continues to look for evidence that Rufus isn’t dead. And Rufus keeps planning murders while staying one step ahead of the police. But knowing that Taylor is looking for him is the bigger threat and, over Shannon’s objections, he begins to plan his old friend’s murder, too.
Peter James has written 21 mysteries featuring Superintendent Grace. One of Us Is Dead is his latest and it doesn’t disappoint. Settling in with a James mystery is like settling in with a master storyteller. James’ books are about the murders, of course, but they are also about the people involved in committing the crimes and investigating them. The descriptions and interactions are not superficial. Rather, they are a study in what goes on in the criminal mind and what, on the other side, motivates those who must face the oftentimes horrific and gruesome task of investigating the evil deeds. Among Grace and his team there is respect, concern, camaraderie, and humor. Plan to spend time with a James novel even if it means staying up long into the night.
Superintendent Grace is a major BritBox drama now in its fourth season. Read our review of the first season. Between reading the books and watching the series, your next few months are planned!
One of Us Is Dead
Peter James
Top photo: Bigstock
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