Morgue Mama
The Cross Kisses Back

Most people think of the morgue as that cold and sterilefacility where medical examiners do their necessary, albeit dreadful, work. Less familiar is the other type of morgue, the dry and dusty version, the newspaper morgue, usually housed in the basements and backrooms of newspaper buildings, where old news clippings are filed away. Dolly Madison Sprowls has been in charge of theHannawa Herald-Unions morgue for more than forty 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 Sprowls well-ordered world gets turned upside down when the paper hires twenty-four-year-old Aubrey McGinty for its police beat. Aubrey loses no time in questioning the conviction of Sissy James for the murder of televangelist Buddy Wing. Its true that Sissy had quickly confessedlive on televisionto poisoning the famous preacher, and the evidence does seem overwhelming. But the ambitious young reporter doesnt believe Sissy is guilty. Aubrey enlists the help of Morgue Mama to dig into the morgues files. Their search for the truth soon becomes harrowingand dangerousas they uncover enough suspects to fill a church with those who do the devils work