A stagnant case suddenly comes back to life when Robert Armlin's cell phone shows up on the body of a Portland vagrant. Armlin, the missing Oregon Sentinel opinion page editor who was presumed to have met a bad end, becomes once again one of detective Galen Young's primary assignments. The appearance of a ransom note only serves to increase the Portland Police Bureau's suspicions that Armlin may still be alive but in danger.

At the same time, Galen becomes enmeshed in complications arising from a routine missing persons case. Erin Roberts was reported missing but returned home to her husband after a brief but failed affair. The news a short time later of her death from a rainy night hit-and-run comes as an unexpected shock to the detective. Nothing strikes him as suspicious about her death, however, until Galen happens to read her obituary. A single out-of-place sentence leads the detective on a search for Erin's suspected killer - along a twisted and increasingly perilous trail.

His approaching mandatory retirement age from the Bureau, his own health, and caring for his incarcerated daughter's sons are difficult enough, but Portland's street demonstrations over George Floyd's death, the global pandemic, and the detective's unravelling home life only serve to further exacerbate problems for detective Galen Young.

Be advised: The Obituary Page is a standalone sequel to The Opinion Page but contains spoilers to that earlier mystery.