The Corpse that Walked Through the Door

Synopsis:
Former society wife Grace Cassidy is learning to live on the minimum wage she earns as a bed & breakfast inn-sitter. Grace finds her cat’s bloody paw prints leading away from a bathtub and wants to run for her life. But she can’t. Her 19-year-old son is accused of pushing his pregnant girlfriend down a flight of concrete steps and she won’t abandon him.

Read an excerpt:
Blood colored paw prints trailed from the white tile bathroom onto the faux Oriental rug in the bedroom where Grace stood. The cat-feet marks immobilized Grace. She closed her eyes and prayed that she had been claimed by stress-induced insanity, that there were no dark-red blots before her eyes, but a hallucination. A nice long rest in a mental hospital didn’t sound too bad. Anything except another dead body in this inn where she worked.

Author’s Bio: Jackie King loves books, writing tall tales, and murdering the people she dislikes on paper. Her latest mystery The Corpse Who Walked in the Door is available in ebook format. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Oklahoma Writers Federation, and Tulsa NightWriters.

The Corpse that Walked Through the Door: Jackie King

Walking into a room she hears a loud voice screaming. Wilbur Wimberley, her boss seems out of sorts and Grace Cassidy needs to find out why. Helping to run a bed and breakfast as a breakfast-inn sitter, it is her job to make sure that things run smoothly. So, why would someone want to take our Wimberley, find it hard not to want him dead and leave her to run things on her own. But, that is not the case today, as poor Grace has to deal with the rise from the dead. After her husband, deadbeat Charlie leaves and life resumed without worrying about him or giving him a second thought, what Grace is about to deal with is a living ghost?

Grace Cassidy is now earning minimum wage and living in an inn taking care of it. But, murder follows her wherever she goes and once again she finds herself tangled in a web of lies, deceit and mayhem. Imagine a murder that seems like one person is the victim when in reality it is another. Grace has a 19-year-old son that is accused of pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs. Added she claims to be pregnant and wants him to take care of her refuses to allow him near her. As someone is murdered and Grace hires a new maid, what about her is suspicious and why does she appear so helpful? Her son is the gardener and she is recovering form her husband leaving her yet not knowing he is not far away. Leaving her penniless so to speak and taking all of her money she has now found her way and spending time with her son is a plus.
A family reunion turns odd when the owner of the Bed and Breakfast enters a room and finds his long lost and dead brother front and center and very much alive. Faced with the fact that he did not die seven years again, Billy is now a guest at the inn and ownership comes into question. Wilbur, austere, cold and definitely not your friendly type is the opposite of Billy who is charming and funny. But, when Billy is found stabbed to death in his bathtub by Grace, things unravel, the past becomes the present and an interesting twist will surprise readers.

Grace needs more help and calls a temp agency that sends someone that appears to be more than just qualified. Since Sandy is not able to work and states that Grace’s son pushed her down the stairs, she and Theodora have been catering to her. In comes Harper, the detective working on the case and hoping to develop more of a relationship with Grace. But, Charlie is not far off and he would like nothing better than to reenter her life but not for the good. Just why are they being so nice to Sandy and just who is Jocasta and why would she take a job as a maid when she had other talents that would grant her fame? What relationship did she have to J.J. Wimberley and did Brand really push Sandy down the stairs?

Would Wilbur really kill his brother Billy? Why did Grace reflect on it and why would she care about how he felt? Wilbur thought that his brother was dead and when he resurfaced he was angry and did not want to accept that he was alive, back and wanted part of the Bed and Breakfast. Was what happened to Sandy connected to the murder if so how? Grace decided to assess all of the information about the murder: Billy’s murder was the second that took place there within the half year. How would that reflect on Grace? Sandy was pregnant with Brand’s child? How would she be able to deal with that and bond with this young girl whose brain was about a large as half a pea? Could she get another job? Was the Bread and Breakfast jinxed? Was the child really Brand’s? How would she deal with helping her son? But, Brand had a special bond with Jocasta and because of her art and his love of painting. Jocasta loved to cook and her presence was appreciated but why was she really there? Why take an interest in J.J or Brand?

Jasper Wimberley was not the happiest man in the world and always seemed to have the meanest look. He is the man who owns the mortgage on the house Bed and Breakfast letting Grace know that every step of the way. But, Jasper had a roving eye and met Vicky and bye bye Aunt Ethel. So, why did Ethel take a job working for Jasper? But, when all the facts and deceits come to light you won’t believe who was behind the murder and why? Will Grace remain at this Bed and Breakfast or is it time to move to someplace else?

When someone’s past comes out in the present things fall into place for Grace and a murderer just might be revealed. Lies, deceits, someone switched at birth and revealed to Grace but why? But when Grace tries to reveal this startling truth to her detective friend, why won’t he listen? Why does he accuse her of gossiping? A childish prank that cost someone his or her child, but was it a prank or was it malicious intent. An ending so powerful and a murderer revealed that the reader might wonder just who the real victim was? What is next for Grace? Will she remain at this bed and breakfast? What about Theodora? A powerful confession and a powerful ending. Read The Corpse Who Walked Through the Door and know that you won’t be disappointed when entering this Inn.

Fran Lewis: Reviewer