News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Author Alane Ferguson, right, spoke to students at Gateway High School Nov. 17 about writing and some of her best-known work, including a series featuring Cameryn Mahoney, a teenage coroner’s assistant.

 By Jessica Solis
Staff Writer

The scene: A morgue.

The subject: A cold, lifeless body turned inside out in the name of science and crime-solving.

It could be an episode of “CSI,” or a day in the life of a medical examiner. But in the world of author Alane Ferguson, suspicious deaths, serial killers and autopsies are seen through the eyes of a teenager.

Ferguson brought her brand of young-adult mystery writing to Gateway High School Nov. 17, and gave students a closer look at the world of forensics that has inspired most of her novels.

“I’m fascinated by death,” the Colorado-based author said.

Her 2006 book, “The Christopher Killer,” is the first in a series of forensic mystery novels centered on Cameryn Mahoney, a 17-year-old who becomes an assistant to her father, the town coroner.

Cameryn then finds herself investigating the death of her friend, who was the victim of a serial killer who strangles his victims, and leaves behind a St. Christopher medal on their bodies.

The investigation forces Cameryn to think about the case like a medical examiner, not a grieving friend, to help find the killer.

The Colorado-based author said she draws inspiration from her own life to develop the plots and characters in her books. Using what she experienced when her best friend was murdered, she wrote “Show Me The Evidence,” which won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1990.

Ferguson worked with authorities to find her friend’s killer, a case that took almost five years to solve, and one that she said propelled her to learn the field of forensics.

“In my books, I can catch the killers,” she said.

She researched for her books by interviewing forensic pathologists and moonlighting as a diener, a morgue attendant responsible for moving and cleaning bodies.

“I got to scoop out the blood (of the bodies),” she said.

However, she eliminated forensics as a career choice when she realized she couldn’t see the bodies as just work, she said.

“You have to be able to detach, and I’m too emotional,” she said.

“The Christopher Killer” has been a hit with students, Gateway reading coach Vanessa Souther said, and made the Florida Teens Read list last year.

The book also was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award in 2007.

Ferguson’s style has appealed not only to aspiring writers, but to young mystery junkies as well, and her novels have been compared to crime-fighting forensic shows like “CSI.”

“I like it,” Gateway sophomore John Hopps said. “Reading her books, she has a unique writing style.”

Her knowledge and experience with autopsies and other medical details have made the book successful in science classes also, and the high school’s Academy of Health and Medical Sciences got to see Ferguson’s personal autopsy pictures, from images of Ferguson as a diener, to a dissected face on an autopsy table.

Later in the day, Ferguson also hosted an author’s workshop and sat down with a small group of Gateway’s aspiring writers to critique their writing.

With high school students usually focusing on academic writing, English teacher Kay Hill said, the workshop gave students a chance to flex their creative writing muscles and receive feedback from a professional.

“Most of these students are writing on their own time, because they enjoy the process,” Hill said. “A lot of these kids are writing novels.”

In the workshop, Ferguson focused on the business and creative side of writing, giving advice to young writers hoping to turn their hobby into a career.

“Sometimes you think it’s all creative, just purging your words,” senior Amber Paoloemilio said. “It’s a lot more structured than that.”