Death and Douglas by J.W. Ocker

My name is Douglas, and I've lived with death all of my life; my parents own a funeral home. However, my thoughts about dying have drastically changed since the monster struck for the first time. The victims of the serial killer have had letters cut into their cheeks, apparently to show the days of the week they were killed. My best friend Lowell and I are determined to discover the identity of the Day Killer; kids are easily able to listen in on conversations and sneak around the town collecting clues. I didn't expect to become the target of the murderer. I haven't gotten a good look, but I know someone has been hiding in the shadows, waiting to get me. My dad says I know more about death than other kids, probably more than most adults. I hope Lowell and I can help the police catch the serial killer before I become his next victim.

I've got to admit that I thought a middle grade book with a focus on death and a graveyard had to be in the fantasy genre. Nope. As I've described above, the plot's all about the kids searching for the murderer stalking the town, and Douglas trying to understand this new type of death. He's grown up understanding that death is a natural part of life, but murder is unnatural. He also tries to understand how his family's business fits into death and grieving, and he wonders about his own feelings. Does he want to go into funeral services when he grows up? These questions seem to be the actual focus of the book, as there are some questions left unanswered. The killer's no longer a problem in the end, but the author chooses to not reveal much about his identity or past. The character had no identification on him, and no one knew for sure why he committed the crimes. Also, there were two women who expressed concern about Douglas's living situation; they felt it wasn't healthy for him to grow up around death every day. They hinted that they might contact children's services, but nothing ever came of it. Douglas and his dad seemed to come to the conclusion that Douglas was okay, but there wasn't any information that the women had accepted it. There was an indication on the book's cover that this it included humor, but I didn't find much of it.