Customer Reviews

Diary of a Confessions Queen

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Diary of a Confessions Queen has to be one of the best mysteries I have ever read. Most times when I am reading mysteries, I figure out "whodunit" very early in the book and just read on to verify I was right. That was not the case with Carmichael's mystery. It had me guessing to the very end. That combined with the laugh out loud humor made the book very hard to put down.

Definitely buy this book and buy copies for your friends as well!

P.S. I read HotFlash as well! Another great book worth buying!

Amy is an author who writes what are known as confessions. But Amy has bigger problems than mere deadlines: her inventor husband Dan disappeared seven years ago without a trace, and suspicions of his death linger in the air. With the income from Dan's inventions dwindling fast, her home is about to go into foreclosure, and Amy has no idea how to save it. Further complications arise when she finds an odd blackmail note stating Dan isn't dead, yet demanding only $2,000 for the secret of his whereabouts. With the note, the whole tragic question has come back to haunt her, and her surrounding support group doesn't quite know what to do with this, but for Brad, a cop, who wants to make sure Amy doesn't become the blackmailer's next victim. With his help, and that of her intrepid friend Sue Ann, Amy begins piecing together the clues, old and new, to the mystery of Dan's disappearance, and of his current state of mortality.

Then an amorous friend, Jerome, starts taking over Amy's life a bit more than she's comfortable with, and her quirky mother in law decides to hold a séance in order to contact Dan's spirit. Which is when things start to get really strange.

With article deadlines looming, and being knee deep in her own investigation into Dan's disappearance, it is all just more trouble than Amy can't deal with. And now, the killer has gotten bold, if the break-ins and ever more-disturbing incidences he targets at Amy are any clue.

Why is this happening, and who is doing all this? Is it Jerome, who has his own designs on Amy? Is Fred, Dan's rival in the inventor's market, to blame? Is Dan's mother to blame? With Brad's help, and Sue Ann's, Amy hopes to find out, before the killer comes calling again, with more in mind than just blackmailing, or scaring the beejesus out of the poor confessions author.

With Diary of a Confessions Queen, Kathy Carmichael has produced another quirky offering, while kicking the spook factor up a notch more than her readers expect. But the result is just another in her line of treats: a comical and entertaining mystery suitable for any lover of the genre. Picture something along the lines of Inspector Clouseuo, Steve Martin in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, with the spunk of Lisa Unger's heroine Isabel Raines (Die for You), rolled up into a lead character blessed with a wildly kooky imagination that adds fuel to her investigation.

Kathy Carmichael's book is a delight. I enjoy her story line, her humor, and her fresh voice. Here are two classic lines from "Diary of a Confessions Queen." "All I wanted was to be left alone so I could go hide in my bathroom and have the nervous breakdown I'd been delaying," and, "That was when I recalled that Gayla Mullen had always been the type of woman who talked in exclamation marks and italics."
I highly recommend this whodunit. I love a book that makes me feel like I've made a new friend, and this one fits the bill. I'm just sorry it's over! Lucky for me, I have Carmichael's "Hot Flash" to look forward to!

I have enjoyed all of Kathy's books and this one is no exception. "Diary of a Confessions Queen" is a mystery with wonderful humor! I loved the surprise of "who done it!" The seance scene is hysterical!

I hope Hollywood hears about Kathy Carmichael, all of her books would make wonderful movies.

Seven years ago in Kansas, Dan Crosby vanished without a trace. His wife Amy, who writes fictional "confessions" articles for True Lies magazine, has not heard a word from him since he disappeared. She prepares to file a legal motion declaring him dead so she can move on with her life and collect his life insurance before she loses their home

However, Amy receives a note from an extortionist demanding she gives him or her $2000 or the blackmailer will prove Dan is alive. Used to taking on the roles of the made-up characters whose confessions she writes about, Amy refuses to pay the blackmailer. Soon afterward, her home is broken into and vandalism begins. Police Detective Brad Tyler, who worked her husband's missing person's case to no avail and Dan's friend Jerome Keller try to help the almost widow. When someone murders Jerome, Amy becomes the prime suspect in his murder and under suspicion for doing away with her husband; though his corpse was never found.

Filled with an eccentric cast especially the lead female, whose opening commentary of "My husband took out the garbage and never came back", sets the tone for a fun wacky suspense thriller. Although the killer is over the top of Mount Sunflower, fans will enjoy the antics of a heroine who plays the roles of her true confession characters and the cop fixated on her.

Harriet Klausner