The Murder Farm is a place where any villain, serial killer, terrorist, or outlaw can go to seek asylum or conduct any business of their choosing. The price of such a service is, of course, exorbitant. Run by a family of three – Pop, Mum, and Betty – the Murder Farm is infamous in the underworld for its discreet and hospitable caretakers. One evening, however, the villain Doctor Talky and his band of miscreants arrive, and things start to go haywire.

In his moving debut collection, Matt Rasmussen faces the tragedy of his brother's suicide, refusing to focus on the expected pathos, blurring the edge between grief and humor. In "Outgoing," the speaker erases his brother's answering machine message to save his family from "the shame of dead you / answering calls." In other poems, once-ordinary objects become dreamlike. A buried light bulb blooms downward, "a flower / of smoldering filaments." A refrigerator holds an evening landscape, "a ...