The Imaginary Corpse
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
A dinosaur detective in the land of unwanted ideas battles trauma, anxiety, and the first serial killer of imaginary friends.
Most ideas fade away when we’re done with them. Some we love enough to become Real. But what about the ones we love, and walk away from?
Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl’s imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they’re too Real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas – until Tippy runs into The Man in the Coat, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there’s nothing left but imaginary corpses.
File Unders: Fantasy [ Fuzzy Fiends | Death to Imagination | Hardboiled but Sweet | Not Barney ]
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hayes puts a fanciful spin on classic mysteries, inviting readers to the Stillreal, a land where imaginary Friends, Nightmares, and cast-off Ideas go when their creators no longer need them. The Man in the Coat, a terrifying Nightmare, murders Friends something thought impossible until now and Tippy, a plush triceratops with a knack for solving mysteries, is on the case. As Tippy and his allies including superhero Miss Mighty, an octopus named Breaker, and information broker Big Business pursue their enemy, they discover the truth about the Man in the Coat's origin. To end the killings, they'll have to risk their own existences. Hayes's debut is an affectionate, lightly mocking homage to noir tales. Tippy is an unexpected hardboiled detective, one who asks new acquaintances for their pronouns and resolves matters with hugs as often as with violence. A strong psychological thread weaves through the story as characters confront the trauma of being imaginary and forgotten, adding depth to what at first may seem a silly concept. Readers will revel in this strange, fully realized world.
Customer Reviews
Part cosy mystery, part urban fantasy, part trippy-cheese-dream
Detective Tippy and his friends live in the Stillreal, where ideas go when they’re no longer needed. While solving a case about screaming corn, Tippy meets a new arrival — and soon finds himself sucked into a case big enough to change life in the Stillreal forever.
Part cosy mystery, part urban fantasy, part trippy-cheese-dream. But I feel like that sells this wonderful, unique story short.
I read another review that described this as the Dresden Files if Dresden were a stuffed triceratops. Which is fairly apt — except without the the sexism that underpins Butcher’s writing style.
Highly recommended.