The Imaginary Corpse

By: Tyler Hayes

Narrated by: James Fouhey

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.

©2019 Tyler Hayes (P)2019 Tantor

A charming mystery

Mysteries have a special place in my heart, and this one is both charming and fun

Delightful, Heart-Tugging, and Inventive!

The Imaginary Corpse is full to bursting with ideas, characters, sadness, unexpected humor, and love.
You know you’ve got a delicious book on hand when you realize you can’t say anything about it online or in person without spoiling the delight of discovery for someone else.
Tyler Hayes did an incredible job of inventing worlds within worlds, some slyly referencing things we already know, and some wholly new and gorgeous.
It’s my favorite of all the books I’ve listened to in the past year.
James Fouhey’s reading is the best I’ve ever heard. He’s amazingly versatile, capturing hard-boiled but cuddly Detective Tippy, the eagle Freedom Frieda, very young imaginary friends, and inscrutable ones.
(For another Fouhey fix, check out “Puffs” on Amazon.)

One of my favorite books of 2024!

This book was a random shot in the dark, and boy am I glad I gave it a shot! Unreasonably well written for a book about imaginary friends and where they go once we don't need them anymore, The Imaginary Corpse shot up to one of my favorite books ever. It covers challenging topics such as greif, depression, trauma, figuring out your sexuality and pronouns, and more in such an easily digestable way while not taking away from the main plot of the book: a murder mystery with a stuffed triceratops detective on the case. The way imagination and reality are blended together here is just beautiful. I'm so grateful to have stumbled upon this book and I can't wait to share it with everyone I know!

fantastic book

the book is enjoyable by both child and adult. it not only tells a great story but teaches you a lesson. I loved this book.

Completely original and fun

This book is fun, a bit sad in places and quite wholesome. It's about a very unlikely detective in an imaginary world. It is set in such a different and original world that I just kept wondering - how did the writer think this up? So I don't want to write too much as to not spoil the surprises. If you like Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series, or Discworld, this is definitely worth a listen.