Rebecca Cale Camhi’s gripping crime thriller, Copycat, has received the Literary Titan Book Award, recognizing the novel’s compelling blend of psychological suspense, police investigation, emotional depth, and richly detailed storytelling. Published in 2025, Copycat has also been nominated for the prestigious 2026 Eric Hoffer Award.
Set in Buffalo, New York, during the late summer of 2000, Copycat follows Amherst Police Detective Mickey Ryan and his partner, Joe Kowalski, as they investigate the grisly murder of a young woman. When another victim is discovered inside the conservatory of the renowned Darwin Martin House, the detectives join forces with Buffalo Police Detective Leo Rodney. The case soon attracts the attention of the FBI, and Special Agent Natalie Harmon reveals a disturbing pattern.
The killer has spent more than twenty years recreating the methods of history’s most infamous serial murderers, including Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, and Jeffrey Dahmer. The perpetrator has never left behind usable evidence, and investigators do not even know whether the killer is male or female. Now, the murderer has chosen to imitate the most notorious serial killer of all.
As fear spreads across a region already haunted by the unsolved Bike Path Killer case, the investigation becomes increasingly personal. The murderer appears to know intimate details about Mickey’s Irish heritage and the childhood tragedy that shaped his life. Using that knowledge to torment him, the killer draws Mickey into a calculated game of cat and mouse that leads back to Lockport, New York, and the Erie Canal.
Mickey is pulled deeper into the killer’s web when he discovers the identity of the intended final victim. With the lives of those closest to him at risk, he must confront the pain of his past while racing to stop a murderer who has evaded justice for decades.
In its review, Literary Titan praised Copycat as a crime thriller that combines police procedural elements, psychological suspense, and family drama. The review highlighted Camhi’s vivid portrayal of Buffalo, noting that the city’s streets, neighborhoods, historic buildings, restaurants, and weather give the novel a distinctive and authentic sense of place.
Readers can purchase Copycat through Amazon and discover the award-winning thriller that launches the Mickey Ryan detective series. After completing Copycat, readers can continue the story with the 2026 sequel, The Butcher of Auschwitz, available now on Amazon.
Literary Titan also recognized the emotional complexity of Detective Mickey Ryan, whose investigation forces him to confront family wounds, grief, faith, Irish identity, guilt, and memory. The review recommends Copycat to readers who enjoy gritty serial-killer suspense, character-driven police procedurals, and crime fiction that is emotional, personal, and rooted in its setting.
The Literary Titan Book Award further establishes Copycat as an absorbing addition to contemporary crime fiction and introduces readers to a detective series in which murder investigations are inseparable from the personal histories of the people pursuing justice.
The story continues in Camhi’s sequel, The Butcher of Auschwitz, released in 2026 and now available on Amazon. The novel is the second installment in the Mickey Ryan detective series. Camhi is currently writing the next book in the series, which will also be set in Buffalo, New York.
About the Author
Rebecca Cale Camhi is an award-winning author, retired school librarian, poet, educator, and visual artist. She grew up in Glen Ferris, West Virginia, and later moved to Marietta, Ohio, where she completed high school. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Marietta College and a Master of Library Science from the School of Information and Library Studies at SUNY Buffalo. For nearly thirty years, she worked as a school librarian in the Buffalo area. Her library program was featured in Carol A. Kearney’s Curriculum Partner: Redefining the Role of the Library Media Specialist, which was used as a textbook for graduate students pursuing school librarian certification. In 1989, she was inducted into Who’s Who in American Education. She was also a member of Beta Phi Mu and Phi Delta Kappa and served on the steering committee of the Western New York Writing Project at Canisius College.
Camhi began writing in the early 1980s, when her historical fiction story, “Me and Robert E. Lee,” was published in a young adult magazine. She later wrote Deepwater Mountain: A Novel of West Virginia and Deadly Legacy, which received an honorable mention in the Eric Hoffer Award competition. Her poetry has been published in the United States and Europe. Her 2025 crime thriller, Copycat, received the Literary Titan Book Award and was nominated for the 2026 Eric Hoffer Award. Its sequel, The Butcher of Auschwitz, was released in 2026 and is available on Amazon, and Camhi is currently writing the next novel in the Mickey Ryan detective series. An avid traveler and artist, she has visited numerous countries throughout Europe and the Middle East and has studied pastel, acrylic, collage, and watercolor techniques. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Jewish Community Center, the Audubon Senior Center, and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital. She also served as an artist in residence at the former River Art Gallery in North Tonawanda and is an active member of the Williamsville Art Society.
Media Contact
Company Name: Literary Titan
Contact Person: Rebecca Cale Camhi
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Country: United States
Website: https://rebeccacalecamhi.com/
