Death Notice

August 16, 2010
Unusually interesting people encounter unusually ghastly murders in New Jersey journalist Ritter’s engaging debut. Single-mom police chief Kat Campbell of peaceful Perry Hollow, Pa., is shocked to find a local farmer’s corpse left by the side of the road in a homemade coffin, his lips sewn together and his veins pumped full of formaldehyde. Meanwhile, Henry Goll, reclusive obituary writer for the Perry Hollow Gazette, is startled to realize that the man’s death notice was faxed to him before the murder. Evidently, one of the townsfolk is a clever homicidal maniac who enjoys playing mind games. The murderer keeps nimbly ahead of his pursuers, even after Nick Donnelly, a state cop obsessed with serial killers, arrives on the scene. The action verges on pulp fiction melodrama, until a fiery conclusion that fully lives up—or down—to that standard. Even then, however, Ritter treats his main characters—sympathetic, believably vulnerable people—with respect.