Book Review: The Cross Kisses Back

Reviewed By: Carl Brookins - RAM

The Cross Kisses Back     Amazon US PB Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
C. R. Corwin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Morgue Mama
$24.95, Hardcover, 230 pgs.

Morgue among other places it's the label attached to a storage area- often gloomy-somewhere in a newspaper building. It's where the newspaper files their stories after they've run, along with lots of information developed by reporters during the research phase. Somebody is in charge of all the filing cabinets. Of course today newspapers are converting to computer files, but there still has to be somebody keeping track.

In this case, it's Dolly Madison Sprowls. Behind her back they call her the morgue mama. It's both an affectionate and a sarcastic label. Dolly is old, cynical and possessed of entirely too much curiosity. She's also into helping new young and eager reporters. Sometimes it gets her into trouble. As in this delightful novel, THE CROSS KISSES BACK.

The new police beat reporter is 24-year-old Audrey McGinty. She gets Morgue Mama involved in her efforts to track down the real killer of a local televangelist. A woman named Sissy is already in prison for the murder, but Audrey believes she has found some loose threads that are leading her in a different direction. Somehow, Audrey involves Dolly in her research in a quite different way so that we join Dolly and Audrey out in the community, tracking down leads and interviewing all manner of folks. At times it gets quite exciting.

So we have avarice, jealousy, infidelity, religious malfeasance, some engaging characters, and a pretty well-written novel with a clever plot. What's not to like? You probably won't stay up late to find out who really did the deeds, and this isn't a novel you'd expect to be discussed in literary fiction classes, but it's fun, worth the time and the money, and it comes in a very nice package.

Carl Brookins - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carl Brookins - RAM

Please visit Carl's website at http://www.carlbrookins.com/