Kathy Carmichael

"My Favorite Corpse" by Kathy Carmichael is a great "cozy" murder mystery, complete with mysterious strangers, disappearing corpses, incompetent local police, and a blossoming love story in the background. It is one of the "Skullduggery Inn Short Stories", which takes place at the Bed & Breakfast owned and operated by Ashley and her younger sister, Kiki. The Inn is themed around various favorite mystery books which Ashley has tried to reproduce in each room. She also hosts weekend mystery show more events in which the guests are the participants.

Unfortunately for Ashley, the corpse she finds on the beach is not part of a pretend-mystery. It is a real, genuine, actually dead person. A corpse. On her beach. Just when she's expecting her weekend guests to begin arriving. She confides in her sister, then calls in the police. Only there's a slight problem: the "corpse" is now a piece of driftwood. The policeman leaves. Ashley sees a man on a bench, and goes over to ask if he saw anything. But this man won't be seeing anything ever again; he's her missing corpse!

How did he get to the bench? Will he still be there if she calls the police again? Just what is going on, anyway?

This story is not at all "scary" or graphic or gross or disgusting. It IS fun. Personally, I plan to look up more of the "Skullduggery Inn" stories! This one was good entertainment; I expect the others will be, too. show less

I have often said that that I don’t know what God says to others so I can’t say they didn’t hear something specific from Him. This applies to this book. I had a difficult time agreeing with many points the author makes. Forgive me for saying this, but I felt like she rambled and sometimes repeated herself. It frustrated me when she said that because she had over one thousand prayers that she was given a choice whether to remain earthbound or not. Hmm.. I always was taught that God show more decides our fate, we don’t get to choose at all. I didn’t like that she referred to God and Jesus as They. God is God and I have never heard the term ‘they” in anything I have read. She continues to emphasize because of all the prayers she had received They were giving her a choice to stay or go. Oh how my heart grieves as I read this book. I tried so hard to have an open heart and mind, but when I see things that go against the Word of God, I cannot agree with them at all. One prayer can be just as powerful as many. God doesn’t say “Well since more people are praying for this person, I will save them.”

I do know about signs and wonders and believe that God gives us visions. So to be fair I can’t say that what the author says about this subject is wrong. Again I don’t know what God says to other people. Now comes the hard part for me; I have never heard “Near -Heaven” in the Bible. What is that? I was confused so much during this book and yes I was upset. One thing really struck me as odd. The author describes Near -Heaven in vivid details yet I didn’t know something like that exists. Maybe I’m wrong but where in the Bible does it talk about Near-Heaven? The scripture she references about this subject can be found in John 14:2-3. I suppose this is her interpretation of the scripture. For me I can’t agree that there is a Near-Heaven.

As I end my review I will say that I appreciated the author giving us a glimpse into her journey to become healthy again. It is evident that she trusts God , has faith and turns to Him for help and encouragement.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion. show less

This is a funny book with a tiny bit of seriousness thrown in. Jill is desperate to find a way to pay for her son's college education, so she decides the best way to do that is to marry someone who can afford the tuition. But he has to be someone who is rarely home, or the marriage will never survive. In the meantime, her son's former teacher keeps showing up, and she's determined NOT to fall for him, because he most definitely can not afford college tuition. It's funny reading about her show more dealings with her crazy boss, her skillet-stealing ex, and her dating misadventures, but there is also some self-discovery going on in this book. show less

I knew I had to read this book when I learned the setting for the story was my hometown. How cool is that!

Ashley, the owner of the Skullduggery Inn, is a girl after my own heart. She’s a huge book fan and named the rooms in her inn after her favorite authors. My mother stayed at The Marriott Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Her favorite movie is Somewhere In Time and she got to stay in the room they used for the movie. There are references to books and movies laced throughout the story.

The show more story takes place in Fairhope, Alabama, on Mobile Bay. Ashley hurries down to the bay when she hears there’s a Jubilee. A Jubilee is when the small fish, crabs, shrimp and such swarm to shallow waters due to low oxygen in the bay. This only happens in two places in the world. Here and in Japan. I’ve been to several and you can literally wade in and scoop up some good eats.

That is Ashley’s plan until her excitement is shattered when she reaches down and stops just short of grabbing a human foot, which is still attached to a body. Panicked, she looks around for someone to help her when one of her guests,Trevor Stone, happens along. She sends him to notify the authorities and waits for his return. And she waits. And waits.

Finally she gives up and returns to the inn, where she finds Trevor sound asleep. He says he never saw the body so maybe she was mistaken.

When the police arrive she leads them to the spot where she found the body and all that’s there is a piece of driftwood. The officer is convinced that’s what she saw and mistook for a dead person in the dark. But Ashley knows better.

With nothing else she can do about it, she hurries to get her fresh catch ready to serve up to her guests later that night. Opening a pantry door she discovers come kittens. The mother cat slips outside and she rushes to catch her. Stumbling through the woods she steps through to the beach and what does she find. Sitting on a bench is the dead guy from the night before. He’s still dead and starting to smell ripe.

I really enjoyed the scenes with the kittens. It made me think of the restaurant owners on the causeway that takes you across Mobile Bay. They work with the local veterinarians to capture, vaccinate, and spay or neuter the cats before setting them loose again. This keeps them healthy and the population under control.

The cat coalition and restaurant owners work together to feed the cats. There are many dangers for them on the causeway. Snakes and alligators. They are not your friendly house cats. They’re feral and wise. I’m sure some slip through those traps and surprise the owners with their kittens.

Back to the scene of the crime. There’s no cell service so she has to return to the inn to call the police and once again, when they arrive, the body is gone. Ashley is in the middle of something strange and will get to the bottom of it one way or another.

This was such a good mystery, funny with a hint of romance. It was made more fun as I recognized a lot of the places described in the book. I knew the location of The Skullduggery Inn and the place where Ashley first saw the body in the bay. I often went fishing there with my brother.

Now, when I go there, I’ll be thinking of this book and looking for dead bodies. LOL

I should tell you, this is a short story, a teaser for more books to come. You are left hanging out to dry, but the ending is still a good one. I’ll be diving into more of this series. show less