National Network for Equitable Library Service

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 T.V. 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.