Morgue Mama: The Cross Kisses Back
A Morgue Mama Mystery
By C.R. Corwin

      Looks like another church scandal…two warring congregations produced by a schism over speaking in tongues, a beloved television preacher murdered, and Mary Magdalene-type Sissy James (who was having an affair with "I don't speak in tongues" Tim Bandicoot, one of the murder suspects) confessing to the crime…and all this happens before we meet the crusty Morgue Mama---don't call her that to her face unless you're the Hannawa Herald-Union's hottest, most ambitious young crime reporter, Aubrey McGinty, survivor of childhood abuse. Dolly Madison "Maddy" Sprowls, who tends the "morgue," the archives of the Hannawa Herald-Union, hates being called Morgue Mama…but this doesn't stop the bold Aubrey from crawling into Morgue Mama's heart with the words, "Maddy, I don't think Sissy James did it."

     The details of Sissy’s guilt or innocence, as well as the murder of Jim Bakker-type preacher Buddy Wing, pale next to the timeless clash of crusty but soft-as-meatloaf and mashed potatoes Maddy and young dynamo Aubrey, who seems indifferent to the fate of Dale Marabout, her competition in the crime beat reporter stakes. Yep, youth and great legs in trousers always win over seniority and sagacity…or do they?

      Motherly Maddy takes a liking to Aubrey, but smartly sees the limitations as well as the attractions of a Jane-come-lately. Previously married Maddy had a tender love affair with Dale Marabout and has a flirtation/friendship going with the wise African-American owner of her favorite coffee shop. Aubrey’s no slouch in the romance department either. Her talent for uncovering crime, secret smokers in a “No Smoking” chapel, and lily water poison is equaled only by her fatal attraction with computer geek Eric Chen, who Maddy adores as she adores Aubrey. Aubrey and Eric together, however, are, in Maddy’s opinion, less enduring than J.Lo and Ben. Aubrey’s the walking wounded, and unlike Maddy, she hasn’t gotten past the pain. Corwin has a gift, however, for shedding likeable lights on shady characters. Maddy, like the reader, can’t avoid Aubrey’s allure. The two women newshounds make the most interesting and offbeat too-cozy-for-comfort sleuth duo since Spenser and Hawk. Bring it on, Morgue Mama!