World of Hurt

For the sake of a peculiar corpse, Harvey ventures into suburbia

During a long-overdue phone call with his beloved older brother, Norm, Harvey Blissberg learns of a mysterious homicide in a Chicago suburb. A friend of Norm’s was found shot in the face, but with no sign of struggle and no clues left behind. The local police are dumbfounded, so as a favor to his brother, Blissberg tries to untangle a bitter tale of real estate, bad taste, and sexual abuse.

While struggling with his own fears of marriage and mortality, Blissberg soon finds himself up to his neck in overheated housewives, predatory parents, toxic psychotherapists, and the seamier side of a sleepy suburb. He’ll have to retrace the dead man’s steps, all the way to the scene of the crime: a luxury housing development, with a Colt .45 aimed at his own head.