With retirement looming on the horizon, Detective Hicks is going through the motions of investigating yet another murder case. But hell breaks loose and procedure breaks down when Hicks realizes the killer is impersonating him. In the unreal world of celebrity, power brokers, and decadence, the good detective spends the home stretch of his career tracking a twisted murderer and clearing his name. Like Michael Tolkin's "The Player, " "Dead Rite" both embraces and satirizes the pulp tradition, reviving it for a younger audience while turning an unsparing noir eye toward an older generation of classic works.