SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET Stories from the County Morgue

Hardback. The authors explore the everyday world of the Kent County Morgue in West Michigan, complete with the gruesome sights, the caustic smells, and the tingling sounds of autopsies. The authors continue to investigate the fascinating world of forensic science but take a more on-the-road approach, travelling around the Great Lakes State and chronicling some of its more intriguing, hair-raising true-crime cases. They examine the twisted tales of those who have rolled through the doors at Kent County : A hippy retreat organiser's dreams go up in smoke when he and his fellow partiers draw the ire of a local prosecutor. The feds are called in, and a Waco-like stand-off ends in tragedy. The leader is shot dead - but was it his own civil disobedience that killed him, or trigger-happy cops bent on bringing down the party for good? A malicious serial killer with a nationwide body count viciously murders two young men in Grand Rapids and dumps their bodies on the roadside. He would have kept going, if only he hadn't left a clue behind. Authorities find a Nigerian businessman entombed in cement in a sub-basement with bullet-holes in his head, and they apprehend two suspects. A he said/she said squabble between the suspects turns into a lengthy courtroom drama, with attorneys, judges, jurors, and even the suspects themselves uncertain of the fatal events the night the Nigerian was shot. A series of deaths in a nursing home raises suspicion about two aides. While investigators exhume the bodies to look for evidence of foul play, interviews with the suspects begin to spell out the strange story of a love affair and a pact made with murder. Featuring 21 stories of intrigue, deception, and murder. With graphic Illus. in colour + Sources and Index. 408pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in F. dw.