Review: "Bad Moon" by Todd Ritter

 

Bad Moon by Todd Ritter Minotaur Books, 2011   Bad Moon—which is the second of three mysteries featuring Perry Hollow, Pennsylvania, police chief, Kat Campbell—is a white-knuckle ride loaded with twists and thrills and unsuspected revelations. When Nick Donnelly, a homicide investigator for the State Police before being drummed out after an injury, calls Kat hoping for her help on a cold case his Foundation was hired to solve. On July 20, 1969, the same day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, ten-year-old Charlie Olmstead went missing from his home. Charlie’s bicycle was found in the water just above Sunset Falls and the police, led by Kat’s father, Jim, ruled his death an accident. But Charlie’s body was never found and his mother, Maggie, believed her son was kidnapped and may still be alive. While on her death bed, Maggie made her only other child, the bestselling novelist Eric Olmstead, promise to find Charlie. So Eric, back in Perry Hollow to bury his mother, hired Nick and with Kat’s unofficial help—after all, the case was closed more than 40-years ago—the trio follow the scant clues into a shocking web of murder. Bad Moon is lightning paced and teeters on the edge of psychological thriller; which makes sense because Todd Ritter has since gained fame for the twisty psychological thrillers he writes as Riley Sager. Ritter litters, in a good way, the narrative with conflicting personal motivations and shades of character compromise. Kat is compromised by her deceased father’s involvement in the case and a relationship she had with Eric as a teenager. Nick’s conflict is with his injury and a grudge he holds against the State Police for his ignominious termination. And Eric is crippled with guilt for leaving his mother alone for so many decades. But it is the plot that matters most because everything else is subterfuge to keep the climactic reveals hidden until they pop onto the page. And oh boy, does it work.

Bad Moon is currently out-of-print, which is a shame because I had a really good time reading it—and if you enjoy an occasional twisted and surprising thriller, where the plot surpasses everything, you likely will too. And don’t worry about reading the series in order because I didn’t have any trouble following Bad Moon, which was my first experience with Kat Campbell and Todd Ritter.