This isn't the first book I've read about an Elvis impersonator, but a policeman dressed as Elvis? In the second of the Darla Cavannah Mystery series, a lady from Philadelphia is now working in the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. OFFICER ELVIS, otherwise known as newly promoted Detective Tommy Reylander, meets an untimely end. Cue a lively investigation.
Darla is an interesting character. When widowed, she met and married a doctor and clinic director in Mississippi, so even though some backward people call her a darn Yankee, she isn't going to move. She is also a hate crime specialist and a fine detective. Darla has to put up with some grotesque semi-humour which is inevitable when a man meets his maker dressed as Elvis after giving a concert in an old folks' home. But she's keen to know who had a motive and means to carry out the crime.
This setting is determinedly up to the minute, with ubiquitous cellphones, social sites and laptops besides current social issues. Darla is required to visit not only an alleged meth cooker, but the office which handles booking for Elvis impersonators. The varied people are the centrepoint of this case, from the generous to the bizarre, and Darla even takes a guided tour of Graceland. I enjoyed Darla's chats with her new partner Rita, a local lady who gets all the dates a police officer could ask for online. However, it turns out that someone very nasty indeed is prowling, and it will take the combined police department to pin him down.
The first in this series is called 'The Last Clinic'. Gary Gusick is a former advertising executive who lives in Mississippi and New Orleans. He seems to be enjoying bringing the southern landscape, music and charm to life for his readers. I don't know whether to recommend this book to those who adore the Elvis legend, or not. I would call it an adult crime story. OFFICER ELVIS is an excellent idea, well written, and I'll be interested to see what happens next in this atmospheric series.
In the vein of Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner, Gary Gusick
takes readers on an explosive ride-along with Mississippi
detective Darla Cavannah, a Yankee transplant making her
name in the Deep South.
After performing at a local old-folks home, off-duty police
officer and part-time Elvis impersonator Tommy Reylander
smoothes out his pompadour, climbs into his pink Caddy, and
gets all shook upβfatally so, when a bomb explodes. Whether
he was killed for his police work or bad singing is a
mystery that detective Darla Cavannah is determined to solve.
Though itβs been several years since Darla (reluctantly)
partnered up with Tommy, she convinces her boss to let her
lead the murder investigation. As the new regional director
of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Shelby Mitchell
can think of better uses for his star detectiveβs time, but
not even the most hardened good ole boy can resist Darlaβs
smart, savvy persuasions. She soon embarks on a roller
coaster ride through the world of Elvis tribute artists
while tracking down one of the most bizarre serial killers
in the history of the Magnolia State. Aiding her pursuit of
the killer is recently reprimanded officer Rita Gibbons,
fresh from the trailer park and described by Shelby as βhalf
a licorice stick short in the manners department.β But
Ritaβs plenty smart, even when this case takes their
suspicious minds in an entirely unexpected direction.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026