Book Review: Death Notice

 Death Notice is Todd Ritter’s debut mystery. Here’s the press release blurb:

 … Death Notice opens with a grisly roadside discovery in the quiet town of Perry Hollow, Pennsylvania: George Winnick, a farmer in his sixties, is found in a homemade coffin by the side of the highway with his lips sewn shut and his veins and arteries drained of blood and filled with embalming fluid. In a strange twist, Sheriff Kat Campbell soon learns that the Perry Hollow Gazette obituary writer, Henry Goll, got advance notice of Winnick’s death.

Soon the Pennsylvania Bureau of Investigation task force shows up to confirm the worst. Nick Donnelly, head of the task force, is convinced that the murder was committed by the “Betsy Ross Killer,” so-called because he’s handy with a needle and thread -- and someone that Nick’s been pursuing for a long time.

Though Kat has never handled a murder case before, she’s not going to sit by while someone terrorizes her sleepy little town, and threats against her only son are the very last straw.

If the way people are being killed doesn’t make you turn on the lights, then you’re a lot less squeamish than I am. I couldn’t have written this ‘cause I would have scared myself silly. Death Notice starts off with the killing of Winnick, then ratchets up the intensity by giving you just enough time between victims to catch your breath.

You get to know the people in the town and come to like Sheriff Campbell’s commitment to stopping the murderer. Your heart will race when the killer decides to make the chase personal for her. You’ll also be trying to figure out who in this small town could be the killer.

And, if you’re like me, you won’t forget Death Notice, no matter how you try. Todd Ritter puts you right into the victim’s head. Even if you’ve never met the victim before, you really want the good guys to get there and stop it. But you won’t stop reading because you want to know who the killer is.

Death Notice
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I give Death Notice a rating of Hel-of-a-Story

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FTC Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Dana Kaye with Kaye Publicity, but that did not influence my review. Death Notice is labeled on the cover as “A Mystery.” I probably would have called it a Thriller. It makes your heart race and if it had been a movie, I would have covered my eyes through the scary parts. Todd Ritter has been a journalist for fifteen years. He’s even written obituaries. This experience and expertise comes through in the book. The title, Death Notice, comes from the obituaries, which arrive at the newspaper before the victim is dead.