Bad Moon by Todd Ritter

In Bad Moon, Eric Olmstead, now a famous writer, comes back to Perry Hollow to bury his mother and honour her last request...find his long lost brother, Charlie. Charlie disappeared the night Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and hasn't been seen since. At the time, everyone assumed that Charlie went over the falls and drowned. However, his mother wasn't so sure. Now that Eric's come back to wrap things up, he finds out that his mother may have uncovered a string of disappearances that were related to Charlie's in some way. After all this time, finding witnesses and evidence isn't going to be easy for Police Chief Kat Campbell, but she's determined to help her old flame, Eric, find out what happened to his brother.

I loved this book! It was so good and had everything a great mystery needs: a great setting, great characters and plenty of suspense. The story was exquisitely crafted and carefully laid out to examine everyone and everything from every angle until the case was solved. Even though there were plenty of suspects and lots of evidence pointing in different directions, the twists and turns didn't leave my head spinning. I loved that.

All of the characters in the book were pretty good. I really liked them all. The main characters: Kat, Eric, Nick, the mysterious Glenn Stewart and the Santangelos, all added substance to the story. While characters like Louella, Kat's son, James, as well as a host of other more minor characters rounded out the story nicely.

This is a fantastic follow-up to Ritter's first book, Death Notice (my review). I'd be hard pressed to pick which one I liked better. Both are equally good. Even though it's part of a series, this book can definitely be read as a standalone book. There's some information about the first case/book, but nothing excessive. Just enough details to remind those who've read the previous book of the facts, but not so much so as to confuse or alienate new readers.

New word: stultifying (page 62): diminishing interest - to dull somebody's interest by being repetitive, tedious and boring.

Highly recommended. I couldn't have started the new year with a better book! Look for it on my "Best of 2012" list. I hope to read many more books by this author.

For more information about this book or to browse inside, please visit MacMillian's website.

For more information about the author and his other book, please visit Todd Ritter's website.

Thanks to Dana Kaye from Kaye Publicity for this review copy.

Bad Moon by Todd Ritter, Minotaur Books, ©2011. ISBN 9780312622817(Hardcover), 356p.