Murder victims speak from the grave, imploring a down and out detective to solve their killings.
It was a simple job, babysitting really; keep surveillance on the minister's wife until she went safely to bed. Then all hell broke loose.
The death of Katherine Delp, wife of Chicago's most beloved televangelist is only the beginning. Someone is homiciding their way through the congregation of the Temple of Majesty Church and, thanks to his eager and awkward young secretary, private eye Nod Blake, an aging throwback to a by-gone era of detecting on the mean streets, a dinosaur who never got the memo he was extinct, who sometimes thinks he's Bogart, George Raft, and Lee Marvin rolled into one, has been dumped in the middle of it all, on his head. The resulting injuries have somehow opened the door to the here-after. Dead people, Blake believes, are talking to him. Are the victims really begging the last gumshoe for help from the other side of the grave? Is he hallucinating? Or has he lost his friggin' mind? When his nemesis, Detective Lieutenant Wenders finds evidence Blake is the murderer, the private dick's life becomes a great big soup sandwich.
Corpses Say the Darndest Things is a paranormal murder mystery with a sly sense of humor, set in 1979 Chicago where a maniacal killer on the loose in The Windy City... is the good news.
Excerpt
I admit I was careless and foolish. But Gina was out there, unmoving, alone. I hurried down the moonlit aisle between the shadowy gauntlet of bins bookending the door, as quickly as my limp allowed, and peered out at the church secretary face down at the far end. She was still as death and I can't describe the bottomless feeling that overwhelmed me. With no further thought, I started out after her.
The beauty of some mistakes is you find out so quickly you've made them. I was still ten feet away from her when I discovered mine.
Professional Reviews
Impact on-Line Review - Corpses Say,,,
Nod “Just Blake” Blake is a private detective. He is an older man, a private dick whose better days are behind him. He lives in Chicago, Illinois and the story is set in 1979. His secretary accepts what appears, on the surface, to be a simple job; Blake is to keep an eye on the wife of an out-of-town televangelist (one Reverend Delp of the Temple of Majesty Church) until she goes to sleep. He uncovers an affair between the reverend’s wife Katherine and a former employee. Murder and mayhem ensue. For whatever reason, probably too many knocks on his noggin, Blake begins to experience visions. At first, the victims ask for help. These “psychic” experiences grow in intensity; Blake finds himself experiencing the pain felt by the victims. Can he solve the case before it kills him?
The character of Nod Blake is reminiscent of Nero Wolfe’s sidekick Archie Goodwin. While Blake isn’t nearly as girl-crazy in general, the two characters share a wise guy sense of humor that do not amuse law enforcement. Being a fan of the Nero Wolfe novels, I enjoyed the character of Blake very much. I can imagine that Goodwin would be very similar to Blake at Blake’s age. Don’t get me wrong; they are two vastly different characters, but author Lamoreux has captured the essence of a detective from that era.
We didn’t learn a lot about Blake’s secretary other than her name and that she eats all the time. I’d like to see her character more fully developed in any upcoming novels; it’s quite obvious that Blake would fall apart without her. Secondly, the running joke of “Who do you think you are... (insert celebrity name)' was overused. I like reappearing gags; they do help tie a book together. But in this case, it could have been used a bit more sparingly. The sudden induction of visions in a non-psychic didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but once I accepted that they just “were” I enjoyed the book much more.
I was quite taken with the book; the pacing was pretty even and as I have stated, I like the main character. Lamoreux is a clever writer and quite funny. He manages to combine humor with a very grisly murder mystery in an engaging manner. Considering the nature of the crimes, the combination shouldn’t have worked but it did. I’d be happy to read more Nod Blake mysteries - I’d have liked this one to be a bit longer. I believe the author has found his genre. - JM McDole, author
Intriguing mix of horror and mystery!
Doug Lamoreux is fast becoming one of my favorite horror authors. He already had me well hooked with his three previous novels: The Devil’s Bed, The Melting Dead and Dracula’s Demeter. I read each of these three in less than two days. If life hadn’t stepped in the way I probably would have raced through in less than one. As soon as I learned there was something new out by Lamoreux, I raced over to Amazon, intrigued by the title ‘Corpses Say the Darndest Things’. This story definitely has elements of horror, but it’s different from the other three in that it has a lighter, almost comedic, side that I found refreshing.
Katherine Delp is the wife of Chicago’s biggest, most popular, televangelist. Nod Blake is a private investigator who is hired—against his wishes through his over-eager secretary—to keep an eye on the soon-to-be-dead Mrs Delp. But her death is only the beginning, and the person who stands at the top of the police suspect list is Blake himself. This is only the beginning of Blake’s problems however. A nasty bump on the head seems to have opened a door for murdered victims to communicate with him, and they do so by forcing Blake to live through their murders as if he is the one being killed, feeling every second of their pain as they died.
I chuckled through some parts, enjoying the sharp wit of this old style detective story, while flinching through others. The plot remained complex, the characters 3D and fun to follow, as we watch Blake try to get to the truth of what’s taking place. The scenes where he experienced the murders personally were well-written, realistic and definitely able to make me cringe. Every time I thought I knew who the killer was, another bump was placed in the road, tossing everything back up into the air again. I enjoy trying to play the ‘who did it’ game with mystery detective stories, but I admit the twists and turns in this one kept me guessing right up until the end. A fast and fun read that I think fans of horror and mystery will both enjoy. - Denna Holm, author
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