Residue

A longtime Wisconsin sheriff faces his first-ever homicide: “[Fuses] murder and mortuary science in a novel of the humorously macabre” (Derek Davis, author of Gifts of a Dead Man).   In the nearly twenty years that Leonard Koznowski has been sheriff of Beaver Rapids, Wisconsin, he’s never encountered a homicide. When the local mortician and his assistant are brutally gunned down, Leonard is thrust into a tumultuous investigation linking religion, high school athletics, the black market of body parts, unwholesome sexual proclivities, and a sinister secret society. And with deer season fast approaching, the timing could’ve been a hell of a lot better. Inspired by actual events, Jim Knipfel gives a hilariously dark, satirical twist to the American pastoral.   “In Sheriff Koznowski, Knipfel creates a straightforward man of the law with more smarts than he can admit to, while surrounded by deputies incapable of the simplest of procedures?like thinking. You’ll find yourself saying ‘yah’ and ‘okeydokey’ for at least a week after you’ve finished tearing through this delightful, engaging paean to the rural absurd.” ?Derek Davis, author of Gifts of a Dead Man   “A gifted stylist.” —The New York Times Book Review