From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up—The summer before Christopher Newell is set to start college, he gets a job in the morgue because it's his life's goal to become a spy and working there should teach him about forensic pathology, if nothing else. Instead he discovers a murder cover-up that points to town officials and close friends. As he works to discover whodunit, the plot thickens with bribery, blackmail, murder, and revenge. With everyone suspect, and danger deepening, it seems that the only person Christopher can trust is Tina McIntyre, an insanely hot, brazen reporter who wants to boost her career with a killer story. Together they might discover the truth, but at what cost? Ford makes his debut with a solid mystery infused with dry wit, but it's his likable, quirky detectives and their crackling chemistry that make
The Morgue and Me anything but stiff.—
Terri Clark, Smokey Hill Library, Centennial, CO Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Senior year is history and college is still a few months off. What better way to kill the summer than by working as a janitor in a morgue? True, it’s Christopher’s interest in being a spy that draws him to the job, but it’s his first encounter with a corpse that really snares his attention. Mitch Blaylock is the dead man’s name, and he’s listed as a suicide. Those multiple bullet wounds, however, don’t look self-inflicted. What was the sheriff doing whispering over the body? And what gives with all that cash hidden in the medical examiner’s desk? The questions, suspects, and dangers keep accumulating, and soon Christopher pairs up with an “insanely hot” wannabe muckraker from the local newspaper. Too much serendipity plays into the hands of this crime-fighting duo (and not enough is made of the character traits that would drive someone to work at a morgue), but Ford’s unpredictable curveballs and switcheroos never relent. A satisfyingly grim departure from the usual squeaky-clean teen sleuthing. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus
