MORGUE MAMA: THE CROSS KISSES BACK

Morgue Mama: The Cross Kisses Back
by C. R. Corwin
327 pages
ISBN:1-59058-974-5 (Large print)
or 1-59058-074-5(Hardback)
or 1-59058-045-1 (Paperback)
Poisoned Pen Press
2003
$24.95 hardback $22.95 paperback

Have you ever enjoyed a character in a book so much that you wished that particular character was real? In Morgue Mama: The Cross Kisses Back the character of Dolly Madison Sprowls, nicknamed Maddy, and behind her back called Morgue Mama, is so believable, so lovable, and so real.

One of those delightful evangelical ministers is poisoned while being televised. There are actually two types of poison given to him to be certain he is dead. First there is a drug laced into the gold paint on the cross of his Bible which he kisses during his services and then his water is poisoned from the lily-of-the-valley flower being in this water. His wife admits that she is the murderer and is imprisoned.

To new ace reporter, Aubrey McGinty, who is dying (sorry for the pun) for a winning story in her new position, something doesn’t seem to quite fit. Could it be that the minister had an assistant minister that he kicked out of his congregation and this man was also having an affair with the victim’s wife? Could it be the wife of the present assistant minister who wanted her husband to be more successful really was a murderer? Could the body guard for the minister carry a secret grudge? Could someone else who happens to drive a red Taurus station wagon and is constantly following the reporter in this investigation really trying to kill the reporter?

Maddy is the experienced voice at the newspaper in that her job is the morgue. The morgue involved the filing of former stories for the newspaper. Although much of this work is now easily kept through computer files, much of the older articles needed by reporters are still kept and still need someone to file, find, keep, and value the information.

In Maddy’s own words, “Let me explain a few things for those of you who don’t know diddly about the newspaper business. Newspapers report what’s new, what’s happening right now, history on the hoof as they say. Buy news is meaningless unless it’s put into some sort of perspective… In the newspaper business we call these libraries the morgue. And it’s a fitting name. Just like they tag and store bodies in the city morgue, stories are tagged and stored in the newspaper’s morgue. But unlike the city morgue, the stuff we tag and store is never buried and never forgotten. It’s always there, waiting to be resurrected by some ambitious reporter. Waiting to give perspective to some current story…So every newspaper has a morgue and every morgue has a crusty old pain-in-the-ass librarian like me, Dolly Madison Sprowls, whom, as you’ve already learned, the reporters call Morgue Mama… But only behind my back.”

The pacing is fast with wit and humor racing the plot along and the ending is tricky in that it almost attacks the reader. I found myself rereading sections once I was at the end to be certain that the author was correct with the ending. I know that I have discovered a new, very gifted author if I reread anything. That’s the sign of someone that forces you to think a little differently and is good brain activity for everyone.

Morgue Mama is a delightful character that I think C.R. Corwin will continue to use in future novels. Of course, usually when there are initials, there are pseudonyms. This particular author has written three non-mystery books Fresh Eggs, Serendipity Green, and Going to Chicago and is the recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council. Supposedly those books are considered to be general fiction and I plan to read them now. I’m definitely looking forward to the next Morgue Mama Mystery book which is to be published by Poisoned Pen Press. C.R. Corwin is a pseudonym for Rob Levandoski who seems to be one of those few elusive and extremely talented authors who are definitely worth searching out.