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The Obituarist
What happens to your Facebook account when you die?
Kendall Barber calls himself an obituarist – a social media undertaker who settles accounts for the dead. If you need your loved one’s Twitter account closed down or one last blog post to be made, he’ll take care of it, while also making sure that identity thieves can’t access forgotten personal data. It’s his way of making amends for his past, a path that has seen him return to the seedy city of Port Virtue after years in exile.
What if cleaning up your accounts could get you killed?
But now Kendall’s past is reaching out to drag him back into the world of identity theft, just as he gets in over his head with a beautiful new client whose dead brother may have been murdered – if he’s even dead at all. Chased by bikers, slapped around by Samoans and hassled by the police, all Kendall wants to do is close the case and impress his client without winding up just as deceased as the usual subjects of his work.
Will the obituarist have to write his own death notice?
Or can Kendall turn the tables and put this body to rest?
The Obituarist is a crime novella about death, identity and redemption. It’s very serious, except for when it’s not.
Kendall Barber calls himself an obituarist – a social media undertaker who settles accounts for the dead. If you need your loved one’s Twitter account closed down or one last blog post to be made, he’ll take care of it, while also making sure that identity thieves can’t access forgotten personal data. It’s his way of making amends for his past, a path that has seen him return to the seedy city of Port Virtue after years in exile.
What if cleaning up your accounts could get you killed?
But now Kendall’s past is reaching out to drag him back into the world of identity theft, just as he gets in over his head with a beautiful new client whose dead brother may have been murdered – if he’s even dead at all. Chased by bikers, slapped around by Samoans and hassled by the police, all Kendall wants to do is close the case and impress his client without winding up just as deceased as the usual subjects of his work.
Will the obituarist have to write his own death notice?
Or can Kendall turn the tables and put this body to rest?
The Obituarist is a crime novella about death, identity and redemption. It’s very serious, except for when it’s not.
- GenresCrime
ebook
First published April 30, 2012
2 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Patrick O'Duffy
24 books23 followersI write stories about weird stuff.
I'm very tall.
I swear more than is really necessary.
I'm very tall.
I swear more than is really necessary.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 4, 2012
Patrick O'Duffy's latest work is a swift, sharp crime story characterised by the well-placed combination of deadpan humour and self-awareness. Part homage to Raymond Chandler, part techno-satire, The Obituarist is narrated by Kendall Barber, a former criminal who now makes an honest living tidying up the online detritus of the recently deceased. Yet when his professional association with a mysterious client sees him mistaken for a detective, the world he thought he'd escaped comes rising back up to claim him.
The Obituarist is a quick read, but no less powerful for it, as stripped-down and sleek as a greyhound. O'Duffy has a real skill for writing compact stories, which is why the ebook format suits him so well: though much shorter than the usual crime/thriller fare, The Obituarist is nonetheless a complex, well-rounded story whose climax and resolution both managed to take me by surprise (and which, I don't hesitate to add, would probably make for an excellent film). Though it loses points for failing the Bechdel test (there's only one female character) and for a particular exchange in the closing dialogue that rubbed me the wrong way, these are really my only complaints: otherwise, the premise is original and compelling, the plot engaging, the writing taut, the whole well-structured and the characterisation solid, especially given its length.
Particularly when it comes to the coherency of the motive and execution of the actual mystery, plenty of full-length crime novels have failed to do half so well - often, I suspect, because the authors have resorted to padding their material with idiot plots in order to reach the minimum acceptable length for a trade paperback. The Obituarist, however, is exactly as long as it needs to be, and not a sentence more. If you're a fan of films like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and books like Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein, I highly recommend The Obituarist - and even if you're not, it's definitely worth a look-in.
The Obituarist is a quick read, but no less powerful for it, as stripped-down and sleek as a greyhound. O'Duffy has a real skill for writing compact stories, which is why the ebook format suits him so well: though much shorter than the usual crime/thriller fare, The Obituarist is nonetheless a complex, well-rounded story whose climax and resolution both managed to take me by surprise (and which, I don't hesitate to add, would probably make for an excellent film). Though it loses points for failing the Bechdel test (there's only one female character) and for a particular exchange in the closing dialogue that rubbed me the wrong way, these are really my only complaints: otherwise, the premise is original and compelling, the plot engaging, the writing taut, the whole well-structured and the characterisation solid, especially given its length.
Particularly when it comes to the coherency of the motive and execution of the actual mystery, plenty of full-length crime novels have failed to do half so well - often, I suspect, because the authors have resorted to padding their material with idiot plots in order to reach the minimum acceptable length for a trade paperback. The Obituarist, however, is exactly as long as it needs to be, and not a sentence more. If you're a fan of films like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and books like Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein, I highly recommend The Obituarist - and even if you're not, it's definitely worth a look-in.
February 22, 2013
Kendall Barber is an Obituarist, a social media undertaker who cleans up the electronic trails of the deceased. Kendall’s day doesn’t start well. First he’s beaten up by a Hell’s Angel and told to stay away from Tonya Clemmens. The trouble is he’s never heard of her. Then Tonya herself arrives at his office – she wants Kendall to find her missing brother. Against his better judgement Kendall agrees and it’s then that things really start to go wrong as local maniac, D-Block and, worse, the police, all show an interest in the case as well.
I really enjoyed The Obituarist. It’s clever, sharp and funny. The dialogue is great and the characters well described, from the grubby policeman, Grayson, who uses Barber to get what he wants, through to the maniac bikers, Kowalski and Ploog, who are trying to permanently silence him, they’re vivid and full of life. The location for the story, Port Virtue, is as grimy as its residents. The pace clips along with the action starting at almost the first page and doesn’t let up to the last, helped by The Obituarist being written in the first person. I really appreciated the sense of humour and the direct style in which O’Duffy tells the tale - there isn’t a wasted word, the sign of a well written novella.
However, just when I thought I had the story figured out (and so did the characters!) The Obituarist delivered a couple of wrenching twists and surprises that were very cleverly done…I’d love to say more but I don’t want to give anything away.
At just over 20,000 words it’s a quick read and could be taken in one bite (you’ll want to once you start). In fact, I did read it all over again, even though I knew what was going to happen, just to look at how everything unfolded from a different perspective.
In the near future I’ll be tracking down Patrick O’Duffy’s other works. If they’re as good as The Obituarist I’ll be a happy man.
Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
I really enjoyed The Obituarist. It’s clever, sharp and funny. The dialogue is great and the characters well described, from the grubby policeman, Grayson, who uses Barber to get what he wants, through to the maniac bikers, Kowalski and Ploog, who are trying to permanently silence him, they’re vivid and full of life. The location for the story, Port Virtue, is as grimy as its residents. The pace clips along with the action starting at almost the first page and doesn’t let up to the last, helped by The Obituarist being written in the first person. I really appreciated the sense of humour and the direct style in which O’Duffy tells the tale - there isn’t a wasted word, the sign of a well written novella.
However, just when I thought I had the story figured out (and so did the characters!) The Obituarist delivered a couple of wrenching twists and surprises that were very cleverly done…I’d love to say more but I don’t want to give anything away.
At just over 20,000 words it’s a quick read and could be taken in one bite (you’ll want to once you start). In fact, I did read it all over again, even though I knew what was going to happen, just to look at how everything unfolded from a different perspective.
In the near future I’ll be tracking down Patrick O’Duffy’s other works. If they’re as good as The Obituarist I’ll be a happy man.
Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
May 11, 2012
A proper detective novel grips you from the opening, drags you through the mud and rain-slick streets and makes you want to scream "Who did it? Which of these bastards did it?! What happened to that guy???!!!"
The Obituarist does all that and more. A brilliant piece in voice, structure, wit and mystery, every chapter ends with a punch in the gut moment - literally, in one case. The lead character isn't a detective - he's the titular obituarist, a specialist in cleaning up the online detritus left behind when someone dies - but he has an office in Port Virtue, a scummy little town full of low-lifes; he lives an isolated, hand-to-mouth existence, has a client who walks in the door and turns his life upside down, and a dodgy relationship with the fuzz. He also has a unique voice, an irreverence, worldview and sense of humour that belongs very much in the 21st century, even as he flawlessly evokes a genre with roots eighty years old.
That's another thing about The Obituarist: this book isn't just a gripping detective story, defining a new sub-genre I have coined "Facebook Noir". No: it's also really funny. The situations are serious, but the prose and our protagonist are both whip-smart and funny as hell.
This is different in tone and structure from O'Duffy's other work, like the brilliant Hotel Flamingo, but his voice still shines through and leaves you both satisfied and wanting more. I hope he returns to Port Virtue for another dose, 'cos I'm hooked and I'm gonna need another fix.
The Obituarist does all that and more. A brilliant piece in voice, structure, wit and mystery, every chapter ends with a punch in the gut moment - literally, in one case. The lead character isn't a detective - he's the titular obituarist, a specialist in cleaning up the online detritus left behind when someone dies - but he has an office in Port Virtue, a scummy little town full of low-lifes; he lives an isolated, hand-to-mouth existence, has a client who walks in the door and turns his life upside down, and a dodgy relationship with the fuzz. He also has a unique voice, an irreverence, worldview and sense of humour that belongs very much in the 21st century, even as he flawlessly evokes a genre with roots eighty years old.
That's another thing about The Obituarist: this book isn't just a gripping detective story, defining a new sub-genre I have coined "Facebook Noir". No: it's also really funny. The situations are serious, but the prose and our protagonist are both whip-smart and funny as hell.
This is different in tone and structure from O'Duffy's other work, like the brilliant Hotel Flamingo, but his voice still shines through and leaves you both satisfied and wanting more. I hope he returns to Port Virtue for another dose, 'cos I'm hooked and I'm gonna need another fix.
May 1, 2012
Patrick O'Duffy's novella the Obituarist is a great read that goes down smooth. His writing is delicately balanced - he writes in a style that evokes a time and place, without getting bogged down in details. He clearly understands the ins and outs of social media without fetishizing it, and has a knack for the choice of genre without feeling hackneyed.
I've been struggling for a good piece of fiction to read recently, but as soon as the Obituarist landed on the iPad, I devoured it from start to finish.
Highly recommended, especially as a compliment/contrast to his fantastic previous works like Hotel Flamingo.
I've been struggling for a good piece of fiction to read recently, but as soon as the Obituarist landed on the iPad, I devoured it from start to finish.
Highly recommended, especially as a compliment/contrast to his fantastic previous works like Hotel Flamingo.
May 9, 2012
It's so nice to encounter a nerdist crime story. A joy to read and a difficult one to put down.
June 13, 2012
The Obituarist is Patrick O’Duffy’s first crime novella. He’s a multitalented chap though, so check out his website.
The Tale
Kendall Barber is a social media undertaker with a shady past who's returned to the equally shady city of Port Virtue.
Now a new client brings with her a host of dangers, just as Kendall's past begins to catch up with him. Can he get to the bottom of things before it's too late, or will he end up as dead as his usual subjects?
What I liked
The idea of a social media undertaker in itself is quite refreshing. I have heard of companies that will offer a service to repair your online reputation but not one that will, post death notices and remove you digital traces to prevent identity theft. So bonus points for the original concept.
Now Patrick dedicates the novella to his wife Nicole and Raymond Chandler. Its style is a bit of homage to hardboiled detective fiction, I’d say Chandler-esque but then I have never read Chandler. You can read for yourself below:
I like Patrick’s style and “A life well lived. Well, a life. Lived.” I thought was the single best line in the book.
The humour which is largely self deprecating or at Kendall’s expense endeared the character to me. This guy ain’t no muscle bound hero, he has computer smarts, not street smarts - a fact that is well played to in this novella.
The one’s you don’t see coming
There was only one thing that impacted my enjoyment of the novella and that was the resolution of the subplot(I won’t go into specifics as it would spoil the novella). It was, in my opinion, simply resolved too quickly and stretched my suspension of disbelief too far.
When I have been led to belief that Kendall is largely a reluctant detective (at least in a physical sense) and prone to having his butt kicked, the resolution felt a little out of character. Perhaps I missed some early clues but I was blindsided by this resolution.
The main plot resolution was brilliant though and I only just caught on before the reveal. Very clever Mr O’Duffy very clever.
The Verdict Your Honour
This is funny, and fast paced detective fiction with a modern concept and an Aussie setting. A good couple of hours entertainment. I’ll be watching for more of O’Duffy’s work.
The Tale
Kendall Barber is a social media undertaker with a shady past who's returned to the equally shady city of Port Virtue.
Now a new client brings with her a host of dangers, just as Kendall's past begins to catch up with him. Can he get to the bottom of things before it's too late, or will he end up as dead as his usual subjects?
What I liked
The idea of a social media undertaker in itself is quite refreshing. I have heard of companies that will offer a service to repair your online reputation but not one that will, post death notices and remove you digital traces to prevent identity theft. So bonus points for the original concept.
Now Patrick dedicates the novella to his wife Nicole and Raymond Chandler. Its style is a bit of homage to hardboiled detective fiction, I’d say Chandler-esque but then I have never read Chandler. You can read for yourself below:
Jay Moledacker was far more handsome in death than he ever had been in life. Okay, not true, but at least his Facebook profile picture was now a lot more dignified. Not difficult, since his profile picture while alive had been a photo of him drunk and vomiting onto a horse during a racing carnival.
Now that he was dead – of an embolism, rather than being kicked to death – he looked regal, elegant and a good six years younger. That's because I had to use his graduation photo; everything after that point seemed to involve Jay throwing up, getting punched in nightclubs or out cold with FUCKWIT written on his chest in mustard.
A life well lived. Well, a life. Lived.
And it had fallen to me to close it all down.
Which didn't stop my clients – his parents – from dicking me about on the invoice.
I like Patrick’s style and “A life well lived. Well, a life. Lived.” I thought was the single best line in the book.
The humour which is largely self deprecating or at Kendall’s expense endeared the character to me. This guy ain’t no muscle bound hero, he has computer smarts, not street smarts - a fact that is well played to in this novella.
The one’s you don’t see coming
There was only one thing that impacted my enjoyment of the novella and that was the resolution of the subplot(I won’t go into specifics as it would spoil the novella). It was, in my opinion, simply resolved too quickly and stretched my suspension of disbelief too far.
When I have been led to belief that Kendall is largely a reluctant detective (at least in a physical sense) and prone to having his butt kicked, the resolution felt a little out of character. Perhaps I missed some early clues but I was blindsided by this resolution.
The main plot resolution was brilliant though and I only just caught on before the reveal. Very clever Mr O’Duffy very clever.
The Verdict Your Honour
This is funny, and fast paced detective fiction with a modern concept and an Aussie setting. A good couple of hours entertainment. I’ll be watching for more of O’Duffy’s work.
May 17, 2012
"We're all double and triple agents, and the only way to uncover everything is to wait until someone's too dead to keep hiding."
This novella covers something very dear to my heart: the very modern problem of handling a recently deceased person's "digital legacy" -- Facebook page, Twitter account, blogs, all the little straws that different services have poked into his online financial stream, etc. The titular character here specializes in that, a new employment niche for the 21st century.
This topic is of great interest to me personally -- Google the name of "Mac Tonnies" and you'll get an idea of why -- but might not in and of itself make much of a story. Hard to find an excuse for an action scene, for instance, in sorting through megabytes of data to find a dead man's Tumblr password. Fortunately, O'Duffy, known to many as a writer of kick-ass modules for White Wolf and other pen-and-paper role-playing-games, knows how to spin an exciting and absorbing story out of such stuff: just add a murder. Or suspected murder. Or a conspiracy. Or all of the above.
Now, my mentioning of Mac Tonnies may have led some of my readers into a certain set of expectations; Mac wrote a lot about the paranormal when he was alive. I feel obliged then, to disclose, that there are no such elements in The Obituarist unless you think cell phone apps and the ubiquity of online porn are paranormal. What there is, is a cool little mystery story in the classic noir sense (if perhaps a little soft-boiled; our hero is a computer geek), with a scary villain, a femme fatale, and secrets only our hero can uncover. All written with a punchy, jaded charm that forces one to read along with a rueful half-smile, and loaded with surprises that this reader, at least, really didn't see coming.
Nifty!
This novella covers something very dear to my heart: the very modern problem of handling a recently deceased person's "digital legacy" -- Facebook page, Twitter account, blogs, all the little straws that different services have poked into his online financial stream, etc. The titular character here specializes in that, a new employment niche for the 21st century.
This topic is of great interest to me personally -- Google the name of "Mac Tonnies" and you'll get an idea of why -- but might not in and of itself make much of a story. Hard to find an excuse for an action scene, for instance, in sorting through megabytes of data to find a dead man's Tumblr password. Fortunately, O'Duffy, known to many as a writer of kick-ass modules for White Wolf and other pen-and-paper role-playing-games, knows how to spin an exciting and absorbing story out of such stuff: just add a murder. Or suspected murder. Or a conspiracy. Or all of the above.
Now, my mentioning of Mac Tonnies may have led some of my readers into a certain set of expectations; Mac wrote a lot about the paranormal when he was alive. I feel obliged then, to disclose, that there are no such elements in The Obituarist unless you think cell phone apps and the ubiquity of online porn are paranormal. What there is, is a cool little mystery story in the classic noir sense (if perhaps a little soft-boiled; our hero is a computer geek), with a scary villain, a femme fatale, and secrets only our hero can uncover. All written with a punchy, jaded charm that forces one to read along with a rueful half-smile, and loaded with surprises that this reader, at least, really didn't see coming.
Nifty!
June 25, 2012
More homage than pastiche, The Obituarist is a fast-paced and skillfully executed novella which draws on the golden age of crime fiction to strong effect.
There are a number of obvious dangers when following in these gilded footsepts – as O'Duffy concedes at the start of the book - but rather than clinging too closely to these well-worn conventions, The Obituarist co-opts the dynamics of the genre instead of relying on its tired old props.Yes there are bikers, hoodlums, wiseacre cops, secretive dames, and an articulate punchbag for a leading man, but along with these familar figures we have a contemporary plotline which serves them all very well indeed.
O'Duffy achieves this, in large part, by dint of an energising premise which brings the story bang up to date: rather than being an out and out gumshoe, our hero retrieves the online data of the recently deceased and then gives it a decent burial. This smart idea, and the authority which which it's handled, enables the novella to stake out its own fictional turf, and makes for a revamp which quickly clicks into gear.
The action does not let up from start to finish, includes some well calculated misdirection, and then closes out with a left-field ending which this schumck – at least – did not see coming.
A really enjoyable read then, and I'd like very much to see another outing for this beleagured soul – The Obituarist.
There are a number of obvious dangers when following in these gilded footsepts – as O'Duffy concedes at the start of the book - but rather than clinging too closely to these well-worn conventions, The Obituarist co-opts the dynamics of the genre instead of relying on its tired old props.Yes there are bikers, hoodlums, wiseacre cops, secretive dames, and an articulate punchbag for a leading man, but along with these familar figures we have a contemporary plotline which serves them all very well indeed.
O'Duffy achieves this, in large part, by dint of an energising premise which brings the story bang up to date: rather than being an out and out gumshoe, our hero retrieves the online data of the recently deceased and then gives it a decent burial. This smart idea, and the authority which which it's handled, enables the novella to stake out its own fictional turf, and makes for a revamp which quickly clicks into gear.
The action does not let up from start to finish, includes some well calculated misdirection, and then closes out with a left-field ending which this schumck – at least – did not see coming.
A really enjoyable read then, and I'd like very much to see another outing for this beleagured soul – The Obituarist.
May 3, 2012
Patrick O'Duffy's smart little crime novella 'The Obituarist' started from a cool character idea: someone who makes a living from methodically closing down the online presence of the recently deceased on behalf of their technologically-challenged bereaved, setting up memorials on their social media sites, removing their personal information and subscriptions and shutting down opportunities for the theft of their identities. O'Duffy could have gone almost anywhere with so solid a concept. He plumped for a tight yarn of a week or so in the life of Kendall Barber, the obituarist in question, whose attempts to unravel the fate of his client's dead brother run afoul of violent bikers, slovenly cops and ambitious gangsters.
This is a wise-cracking, confident story that twists like a cracking whip and runs hot on a fuel of lies, secrets and hammer beatings. It's not too long that the pace starts to stretch believability, and at 20K words it's all too easy to inhale in a sitting. In a way that's good though, because I got to the end and immediately wanted to start it again. It's a different meal the second time through, but it tastes just as good.
This is a wise-cracking, confident story that twists like a cracking whip and runs hot on a fuel of lies, secrets and hammer beatings. It's not too long that the pace starts to stretch believability, and at 20K words it's all too easy to inhale in a sitting. In a way that's good though, because I got to the end and immediately wanted to start it again. It's a different meal the second time through, but it tastes just as good.
Read
June 2, 2020Smart, witty and well written. Loved this book from start to finish. Hope we see more stories with Kendall Barber and Port Virtue.
May 14, 2012
Great wit and a punchy, sharp writing style.
October 7, 2012
The tale of a social media undertaker who gets involved with a number of circumstances is a great read and takes a neat turn into noir territory at the end.
February 24, 2013
I liked the story, it just finished too swiftly for me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews