Synopses & Reviews
The morgue is that cold and sterile facility where medical examiners do their necessary but, to many of us, dreadful work. Less familiar is its dry and dusty version, usually housed in the bowels of newspaper buildings, where old story clippings are filed away. Dolly Madison Sprowls has been in charge of the Hannawa Herald-Union’s morgue for more than 40 years. She is gruff and salty, well past the age of retirement, the unchalleneged queen of her ink-stained domain. Reporters call her Morgue Mamabut only behind her back.
Maddy Sprowls’ well-ordered world gets turned upside-down when the paper hires 24-year-old Aubrey McGinty for its police beat. Aubrey loses no time in questioning the conviction of Sissy James for the murder of TV evangelist Buddy Wing. Yes, Sissy had quickly confessed to poisoning the famous preacher live on televisionand the evidence does seem overwhelmingbut the ambitious young reporter doesn’t believe Sissy is guilty. Why, then, her claim? Aubrey enlists Morgue Mama’s help and together they begin a harrowing search for the truth. Digging into the morgue’s file, they soon, and dangerously, uncover enough suspects to fill a church with those who do the devil’s work....
Review
"An ambitious young Ohio crime reporter teams up with the wise old curmudgeon heading up the newspaper's morgue. Dolly Madison Sprowls, 67, thinks she'll be teaching newcomer Aubrey McGinty, 24, a thing or two about proper Hannawa Herald-Union procedure when she comes looking for file clips on the Buddy Wing murder. But Aubrey immediately convinces the acerbic Morgue Mama to help her prove the televangelist wasn't poisoned by Sissy James, even though she confessed. High on their list of new suspects are Tom Bandicoot, Sissy's lover and the former assistant pastor at the Heaven Bound Cathedral until Buddy cast him out, forcing him to start up the rival New Day Epiphany Temple; his wife, Annie, desperate to have him reclaim his former eminence; Guthrie Gates, the new golden boy at Heaven Bound; disgruntled parishioner Wayne F. Dillow, whose wife died despite healing sessions with Buddy; several Kent State students working at the Cathedral as part-time interns; and Elaine Albert, who's responsible for getting the reverend's sermons on the air. Verbally abrasive Dolly and seductively manipulative Aubrey are soon offending town nabobs, cops, managing editors, rival reporters, and each other before newcomer Corwin throws in a couple of twists.... That's unfortunate, because the wry handling of the irrepressible Dolly, and her takes on aging, youth in heat, and diner specials, are very appealing indeed." --Kirkus Reviews
Review
"While many mysteries feature crusty newspaper librarians who hinder as much as help detectives, C.R. Corwin's debut novel places its archivist in the limelight. The resulting story is a refreshing and welcome entry to this genre." --January Magazine
Synopsis
In the world of newspapers, the morgue is the place - usually somewhere in the bowels of the building - where old story clippings are filed away. Dolly Madison Sprowls has been in charge of The Hannawa Herald-Union's morgue for more than 40 years. She is gruff and salty, well past the age of retirement, and the unchallenged queen of her ink-stained domain. Reporters call her Morgue Mama - but only behind her back.
Maddy's well-ordered world is turned upside-down when the paper hires 24-year-old Aubrey McGinty for its police beat. Aubrey loses no time in questioning the conviction of Sissy James for the murder of TV evangelist Buddy Wing. Sissy had confessed live on television, and the evidence seems overwhelming, but the ambitious young reporter doesn't believe she did it. But why did Sissy embrace guilt? Aubrey enlists Maddy's help and together they begin a harrowing search for the truth. Digging into the files, they soon - dangerously - uncover enough suspects to fill a studio with those who do the devil's work.
Synopsis
""In Corwin's witty and engaging caper, the start of a new series, newspaper archivist Dol-Iy Madison Sprowls, called Morgue Mama 'behind her back, ' and a determined cub re-porter, Aubrey McGinty, team up to investigate the poisoning of TV evangelist Buddy Wing at the Heaven Bound Cathedral in 'the Hallelujah city' of Hannawa, Ohio.... The irrepressible, 67-year-old Maddy (as she prefers to be called), a lonely divorcie clinging to her post as manager of the Hannawa Herald-Union's morgue, helps Aubrey search the newspa-per's records, which yield a multitude of suspects, some amusing and some tragic, but each adding an intriguing dimension to the ever more complex case. Smalltown politics and office love affairs entangle almost every-one except Maddy, whose existence be-fore now has revolved around filing news ar-ticles in steel cabinets for brash reporters to paw through. Her matchup with Aubrey brings her and the reader genuine excite-ment right through the stunning conclusion to this lively adventure.""
Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
This ""witty and engaging caper"" (""Publishers Weekly"") is the first entry of a new series featuring newspaper archivist Dolly Madison Sprowls (called ""Morgue Mama"" behind her back).
About the Author
C.R. Corwin lived in Akron, Ohio. A former newspaperman, he taught a “Writing That Novel” course at the University of Akron. He died in 2010.