Overview
Perry Hollow, Pennsylvania, has never had a murder. At least not as long as Kat Campbell has been police chief. And the first is brutal. George Winnick, a farmer in his sixties, is found in a homemade coffin on the side of the highway with his lips sewn shut and his veins and arteries drained of blood and filled with embalming fluid. Chilling as that is, it becomes even more so when Kat finds that the Perry Hollow Gazette obituary writer, Henry Goll, received a death notice for Winnick before he was killed.
Soon after, the task force from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Investigation shows up and everything takes an irreversible turn for the worse. Nick Donnelly, head of the task force, has been chasing the “Betsy Ross Killer,” so named because he’s handy with a needle and thread, for more than a year. Winnick seems to be his fourth victim. Or is he?
Kat has never handled a murder case before, but she’s not about to sit by while someone terrorizes her sleepy little town or her own son. But will her efforts be enough to stop a killer and bring calm to Perry Hollow?
A portrait of a small town in turmoil, where residents fear for their lives, Todd Ritter’s Death Notice is a gripping debut from a terrific new talent in crime fiction.
Synopsis
Perry Hollow, Pennsylvania, has never had a murder. At least not as long as Kat Campbell has been police chief. And the first is brutal. George Winnick, a farmer in his sixties, is found in a homemade coffin on the side of the highway with his lips sewn shut and his veins and arteries drained of blood and filled with embalming fluid. Chilling as that is, it becomes even more so when Kat finds that the Perry Hollow Gazette obituary writer, Henry Goll, received a death notice for Winnick before he was killed.
Soon after, the task force from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Investigation shows up and everything takes an irreversible turn for the worse. Nick Donnelly, head of the task force, has been chasing the “Betsy Ross Killer,” so named because he’s handy with a needle and thread, for more than a year. Winnick seems to be his fourth victim. Or is he?
Kat has never handled a murder case before, but she’s not about to sit by while someone terrorizes her sleepy little town or her own son. But will her efforts be enough to stop a killer and bring calm to Perry Hollow.
A portrait of a small town in turmoil, where residents fear for their lives, Todd Ritter’s Death Notice is a gripping debut from a terrific new talent in crime fiction.
Publishers Weekly
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. (Oct.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
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. (Oct.)From the Publisher
Advance Praise for Death Notice
“With Death Notice, talented newcomer Todd Ritter takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of thrills and chills. Set in the small Pennsylvania town of Perry Hollow, the book captures the essence of small-town life. The characters, particularly Chief of Police Kat Campbell, are memorable and shine in their roles. The crimes are brutal with vivid details readers of crime fiction will happily devour—and beg for more. Ritter has conceived a mystery that will remain in your memory long after you finish the book. Just don’t read it when you’re alone.”
--Linda Castillo, New York Times bestselling author of Pray for Silence.
“Death Notice is a tense and twisty whodunit from a fresh new voice in fiction. With well-drawn characters and spare, unflinching prose, Todd Ritter offers an atmospheric and emotionally rich debut. Mystery fans will love their visit to Ritter’s Perry Hollow.”
—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Fragile
Library Journal
The small Pennsylvania town of Perry Hallow is rocked when farmer George Winnick, partially embalmed with his mouth sewn together, is found in a coffin on a rural road. Worse, the local obituary writer got advance notice of George's death. Police Chief Kat Campbell, out of her league, invites the state police team to help her investigation. VERDICT Combining a complex plot, sick violence, and sex, this debut mystery by a journalist is not for the squeamish. [Minotaur First Edition selection; library marketing.]Kirkus Reviews
A small-town sheriff has her hands full with a vicious serial killer.
Perry Hollow, Pa., has never had a murder of its own until a corpse is discovered in a coffin on the side of the road. George Winnick was a farmer with no enemies. Nor did he need any. When a state police team arrive, they announce that he is just one more victim of the Betsy Ross Killer. The team is led by Nick Donnelly, a man driven to hunt down murderers by the unsolved death of his sister. Once the autopsy is completed, significant differences from the past killings come to light, from the sewing together of the victim's lips to the surgical precision of the cut to his neck where the artery was used to remove all his blood and replace it with embalming fluid. In addition, Henry Goll, the enigmatic writer of obits for the local paper, was faxed a death notice before the actual time of Winnick's decease. When a second, similar murder follows, Donnelly's team is responsible for the case. But Sheriff Kat Campbell, realizing that the killer is a Perry Hollow local, can't help but be involved. When Henry rushes to her with a third pre-mortem fax, they manage to rescue the intended victim but still don't have enough clues to uncover a ruthless killer before he strikes again.
Journalist Ritter has enough experience with both crime and obituaries to pen a convincingly blood-soaked debut novel.