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Title details for The Cross Kisses Back by C. R. Corwin - Available

The Cross Kisses Back

#1 in series

by C. R. Corwin
ebook
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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 unchallenged queen of her ink-stained domain. Reporters call her Morgue Mama—but 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 television—and the evidence does seem overwhelming—but the ambitious young reporter doesn't believe Sissy did it. Why, then, does Sissy embrace guilt? Aubrey enlists Morgue Mama's help and together they begin a harrowing search for the truth. Digging into the morgue's file, they soon—dangerously—uncover enough suspects to fill a church with those who do the devil's work....

  • Creators

  • Series

    Morgue Mama Mystery

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 13, 2013

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781615950317

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781615950317
      • File size: 400 KB

    • Open EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781615950317
      • File size: 312 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 15, 2003
      In Corwin's witty and engaging caper, the start of a new series, newspaper archivist Dolly Madison Sprowls (called Morgue Mama "behind her back") and a determined cub reporter, 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. Part satire and part social commentary, the story is far from a standard whodunit, since Aubrey, rather than finding the culprit, seems bent only on clearing the name of convict Sissy James, the badly abused ex-girlfriend of a rival preacher. The irrepressible, 67-year-old Maddy (as she prefers to be called), a lonely divorcée clinging to her post as manager of the Hannawa Herald-Union's morgue, helps Aubrey search the newspaper'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 everyone except poor Maddy, whose existence before now has revolved around filing news articles in steel cabinets for brash reporters to paw through. Her matchup with Aubrey brings her and the reader genuine excitement right through the stunning conclusion to this lively adventure. (Oct. 1)FYI:A former newspaper reporter, Corwin is the pseudonym of Rob Levandoski, author most recently of the satirical novel Fresh Eggs.

    • Library Journal

      August 1, 2003
      Retirement-aged but still formidable newspaper librarian Dolly Madison Sprowls teams up with youthful police reporter Aubrey McGinty to investigate a recent murder case. The woman convicted of poisoning a local televangelist appears to have been framed, even though she confessed to the crime. After digging through the newspaper morgue, Dolly and Aubrey question staff at the evangelist's church, reconstruct the crime, and come up with plenty of other suspects. Meanwhile, Aubrey looks into police corruption and the murder of a prostitute. Serviceable prose, knotty characters, and major unexpected plot twists should endear this first novel to most readers.

      Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook
  • Open EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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