The Morgue and Me

Starred review from June 15, 2009
Ford's dark and stellar debut, which nicely updates many classic mystery tropes, tells the story of high school valedictorian Christopher Newell, who takes a summer job at the hospital morgue before heading to college. Naturally, he stumbles across something he shouldn't—$15,000 in cash and a dead body that the medical examiner has ruled a suicide, even though the body had been shot five times in the torso. Certain that the medical examiner and the sheriff are connected, Christopher starts to investigate alongside Tina, a sexy young reporter for the local paper. The plot covers a wide range of characters, including Christopher's ex-neighbor (and crush), Julia; her police officer older brother, Tim; the town's mayor and his daughter; and Christopher's best friend, Mike, an amateur bookie. Christopher and Tina uncover interlocking mysteries involving blackmail, corruption and murder, which span years of the town's history. Ford spins a tale that's complex but not confusing, never whitewashing some of the harsher crimes people commit. The result is a story that holds its own as a mainstream mystery as well as a teen novel. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2009
Gr 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 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2009
Grades 9-12 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, its Christophers interest in being a spy that draws him to the job, but its his first encounter with a corpse that really snares his attention. Mitch Blaylock is the dead mans name, and hes listed as a suicide. Those multiple bullet wounds, however, dont look self-inflicted. What was the sheriff doing whispering over the body? And what gives with all that cash hidden in the medical examiners 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 Fords unpredictable curveballs and switcheroos never relent. A satisfyingly grim departure from the usual squeaky-clean teen sleuthing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
Christopher takes a summer job at a morgue. There he discovers--and decides to investigate--the cover-up of a murder. His suspicions wend their way through a number of his small town's prominent citizens. Blackmail and double-crosses pile up, and Christopher nearly finds himself accused of murder before solving the crimes. There's plenty of action in this absorbing story.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)