The Good and the Dead — Seymour Shubin

True crime writer Ben Newman has a talent for re-creating murder, though until now he's viewed homicide only as an outsider looking in. But suddenly bodies are turning up in his suburban Philadelphia hometown. And he knows each and every one of them: they were all classmates at the same elementary school.

A grown-up third-grader harboring a secret grudge? A teacher gone berserk? Ben's ability to get inside the mind of a killer has yet to lead him to the motive. What secrets lie behind the innocent facade of childhood in this small, tight-knit community? As corpses and old memories come to light, he's reconnecting with the past ... and getting worried about his own future. Especially when it comes to thwarting a killer intent on making Ben his next victim.