Murder Boogies with Elvis
by Anne George

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Book Reviews of Murder Boogies with Elvis

Book Review: a funny and enjoyable book
Summary: 5 Stars

"Murder Boogies With Elvis" opens with Mary Alice's announcement that she's about to marry for the fourth time, to Sheriff Virgil Stuckey. Virgil and Mary Alice are going to officially announce their engagement to his children (Mary Alice has already taken care of informing her nearest and dearest) after the benefit that's being held at the Alabama (a restored theatre), to raise funds for the restoration of Vulcan (the iron statue). Virgil's son (Buddy, who happens to be an Elvis impersonator) and his son-in-law (Larry) are going to be performing at this benefit in the final act, along with 28 other Elvis impersonators, and Mary Alice has obtained tickets to the event for Patricia Anne and her husband, Fred. Given the sisters' knack for falling over dead bodies, you'd expect one to turn up right about now, and you'd be right! Right in the middle of the Elvis act, one of the impersonators, who was dancing between Buddy and Larry, plunges to his death right into the orchestra pit, literally at the sisters' feet!

The next day brings intelligence that the dead man was not one of the official impersonators at all, and no one really knew who he was, and his death is being tagged as murder. It is later revealed that the dead man was actually a Russian ballet dancer, here in the US on a cultural exchange program and that he was attached to a New York ballet company. What was a Russian ballet dancer doing in Alabama, pretending to be an Elvis impersonator? But even the revelation that he had made an appointment to see Mary Alice's daughter, Debbie, who happens to be a lawyer, doesn't deflect the sisters form more important and immediate concerns such as Mary Alice's approaching nuptials, and the return of Patricia Anne's daughter, Haley, from Warsaw. And then Patricia Anne finds the murder weapon in her purse, and suddenly the murder and the murderer seems to much closer to the sisters than either would like, esp when the finger of suspicion falls on Mary Alice's son-to-be and son-in-law-to-be...

The mystery in this novel may seem to be a little of an afterthought in "Murder Boogies With Elvis," but this one of the rare instances where this fact did not bother me at all. I was totally caught up in what was happening within Mary Alice's & Patricia Anne's family: would Mary Alice actually find a wedding dress that didn't make her sister shudder, and would Patricia Anne have to wear a magenta matron-of -honour dress? What really makes this entire series work is the entirely humourous yet natural manner in which Anne George relates things -- the dialogue, the manner in which events unfold -- all these seem a little off the wall at times and yet comes across as being totally natural and realistic, because of the masterful manner in which Anne George handles things. I really love this series, and I'm going to miss the fact that this may be the last book in the series that she ever wrote.

Summary of Murder Boogies with Elvis

The Southland's most mismatched set of siblings -- flamboyant Mary Alice and prim and proper Patricia Anne -- are back and ready to boogie in a King-sized story of hip-shaking mayhem and murder most tacky.

At an age when most women are slowing down, oversized, over-the-top Mary Alice a.k.a. "Sister" -- is always on the lookout for the next good time...and the next husband. Now Sheriff Virgil Stuckey is in line to become Sister's Mister Number Four, which has practical Patricia Anne's level head filling to the brim with a million and one prewedding details. But first there is another important occasion the sisters are looking forward to attending: a gala benefit to raise money for restoring one of Birmingham's unnatural wonders, a towering metal monument to the god Vulcan lately fallen into disrepair.

The grand finale is thirty sequined Elvis impersonators high kicking in unison. Enjoying the show from the front row, Patricia Anne and Mary Alice are in the line of fire when one of the dancing Kings keels over dead right into the bandstand. It seems this Elvis clone, one Griffin Mooncloth, has not only left the building ... he's left this life!

At first the sisters figure that the cause of death was a massive heart attack induced by one too many pelvic gyrations. But the unfortunate Mooncloth's very dramatic demise is soon discovered to be the result of a switchblade knife plunged into his back. The plot thickens when the murder weapon is discovered in Patricia Anne's very sensible purse. The perennially law-abiding "Mouse" is understandably all shook up -- and mortified to find herself the prime suspect in this bizarre case of Elvis elimination. And with Mary Alice's well-coiffed head in a sunflower-yellow-and-magenta cloud over her impending nuptials, Patricia Anne's the one who will have to get herself out of very hot water indeed.

Women's Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Women Sleuths