Million for a Morgue

Love mysteries?  We sure do here at abcreads, including forensic crime solvers.  So we were intrigued to find out about the Million for a Morgue competition, which invites mystery fans to take part in a unique fundraising project by the University of Dundee (Scotland) to help raise funds to build a morgue in their Thiel Center of Excellence.

"The idea to involve the crime writers was borne out of the friendship between Professor Sue Black, the Director of the CAHID at the University of Dundee, and crime fiction writer Val McDermid. Professor Black has often assisted Val with the forensic details required for her crime stories and they have appeared at book festival events together discussing the thought process behind crime fiction," explains the Million for a Morgue website. "Everyone who donates to the Million For A Morgue campaign will get to vote for their favourite author or authors to determine who will have their name on the Thiel Centre of Excellence at the University of Dundee. You can vote now by visiting the authors page and selecting your favourite author."

The authors to vote for are: Lee Child; Jeffery Deaver; Jeff Lindsay; Val McDermid; Stuart MacBride; Tess Gerritsen; Peter James; Kathy Reichs; Mark Billingham; & Harlan Coben.  So far, looks like Tess Gerritsen is in the lead!

Also on the site, you can read about Professor Black & the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, the Thiel method of embalming,  & enter to win a murder tour of Aberdeen in the company of Stuart MacBride! (The murder tour winner will be picked from the hat on 29 February. They will only pay for travel to Aberdeen from anywhere in the UK.)