Waco, Texas. 1895.
Madelyn Vanderhoef, an enchanting young actress and the wife of a Galveston shipping magnate, stands charged with murdering her alleged lover during a frolic at Tonkawa Falls. Catfish Calloway rises to her defense. The team at Calloway & Calloway face damning circumstantial evidence, a hostile judge, a relentless prosecutor, and a crusading newspaper, but the greatest threat is Mrs. Vanderhoef herself. Indifferent to her own peril, heedless of advice, reckless in her conduct, she lies about the circumstances even to Catfish. She boards a train for the coast, her husband's steamship, and a faraway land. Is she foolish or is she hiding something? What really happened at Tonkawa Falls? Catfish must find the answer to save his most beguiling client from the gallows. Strangely, he must work side-by-side with his archrival, railroad detective Thaddeus Schoolcraft. Before it's over, Catfish's reputation and even his life are in jeopardy. The Tonkawa Falls Affair is the final book in the gripping Catfish Calloway for the Defense legal thriller trilogy. The first book, The Sporting House Killing, was a 2022 finalist for the American Bar Association's prestigious Silver Gavel Awards.