Elvis Has Entered the Building

TITLE: Elvis and the Grateful Dead (A Southern Cousins Mystery #2)
AUTHOR: Peggy Webb
PUBLISHER: Kensington
PUBLISHING DATE: October 1, 2009

FROM GOODREADS: In the second work in Webb's rollicking mystery series filled with Southern-fried wit and lovably eccentric characters, Callie Valentine and her incomparable Basset hound, Elvis, must uncover a murderer who's leaving residents of the King's hometown all shook up.


MY THOUGHTS: This book was a complete blast to read and I honestly don't know why I read so long to read book two considering I really enjoyed book one as well. Callie and her cousin/best friend Lovie have a southern knack for finding themselves smack dab in the middle of murder mysteries and this time around, all the drama and fun takes place during an Elvis festival in their hometown. All of a sudden, an Elvis impersonator ends up dead and then two...and then three...you get the point. To make matters worse, Lovie, who catered most of the food for the event, is the prime suspect.

The characters in this book really are hilarious. Callie seems to be the most stable other than her Uncle Charlie and even saying that, she manages to find herself in loads of sticky situations. Lovie is hilarious and only has one thing on her mind and being a murder suspect isn't it. Finally, Callie's husband who deeply cares about her even though they are separated is still always showing up at the right time. I wish Callie would open her eyes regarding Jack, but with new town vet Champ now in the picture, I'm not sure it will even happen. The mystery wasn't too easy to figure out and at the end, the motive for the murders was so ludicrous yet so plausible.

Finally we come to Elvis, and yes, he deserves his own paragraph. Callie's basset Elvis is a main character in this series and he adds so much color commentary to the books that one can't help but adore him. At first I thought Elvis just felt he was the actual Elvis reincarnated, but after this book, I think he IS actually supposed to be reincarnated Elvis. Elvis is a joy and throughout the book there are chapters called "Elvis' Thoughts On....." where he discussed what is going on from a dog's point of view. They were clearly my favorite.

If you love cozy mysteries and if you enjoy books with southern wit and charm, you have to give this series a try. I'm just grateful one of my local libraries has the rest of the series (6 in all) because I don't plan on waiting another 2 years before picking the next one up. 

RATING: 4 PAWS

BOOKER T's THOUGHTS: It's been a while since I've shared my thoughts but I just had to add a few comments about Elvis.  Elvis is an awesome basset and I've always liked bassets since my brother Cooper (who is playing at Rainbow Bridge) fell in love with Suzie down the street.  Anyway, Callie clearly can't survive with Elvis and there were many times in the book where I felt like he was the only sane character.  He's very bright and loyal.  I'm kind of sad that his parents Callie and Jack are divorcing, but have all the faith in the world that Elvis will eventually bring them back together.  

Now, it might seem a little odd that Elvis used to be the real "King" but hey, stranger things have happened.  However, this has sparked a serious conversation with my brother Cassius.  He is now saying that he is Muhammid Ali (Cassius Clay) reincarnated and that is why he lost control and "beat" me up.  I told him I wasn't born yesterday and that he was born a few years before Ali passed and reincarnation doesn't work that way.  I sent him off to the drawing board to try to come up with a new excuse.