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Elvis and The Dearly Departed (A Southern Cousins Mystery Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Peggy Webb (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 107 ratings
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From a USA Today–bestselling author: First in the mystery series filled with “pure southern lunacy of the best possible kind” (Laurien Berenson).
 
They say you can’t get to Heaven without passing through the Eternal Rest Funeral Home. And no one gets into Eternal Rest without passing muster with Elvis—the basset hound who’s convinced he’s the reincarnation of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. Brewing up a big ol’ pitcher of Mississippi mystery, Peggy Webb’s delightful new series is as intoxicating as the Delta breeze.
 
Normally, Callie Valentine Jones spends her days fixing up the hairdos of the dead, but when the corpse of prominent local physician Dr. Leonard Laton goes missing, it’s bad for business. So Callie and her cousin Lovie (Eternal Rest’s resident wake caterer) have no choice but to go in hot pursuit of the recently embalmed, last seen bound for Vegas by way of downtown Tupelo.
 
In Vegas, Callie and Lovie hit the jackpot when they find the dearly departed inside a freezer owned by his showgirl mistress, Bubble Malone. But their luck runs out when Bubble decides to join her man in the afterlife. With the poisonous Laton family tree providing plenty of rotten suspects, Callie, along with some help from her basset hound, Elvis, is determined to crack this case—and have a killer singing “Jailhouse Rock” in time for her next haircutting appointment . . .
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  1. Book 1 of 6
    Southern Cousins Mysteries
  2. Print length
    302 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Kensington Cozies
  6. Publication date
    August 25, 2009
  7. File size
    805 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
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  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peggy Webb is the bestselling author of more than sixty novels. A former adjunct lecturer at Mississippi State University, she has won numerous writing awards, composes blues songs on her vintage baby grand and shares her home in Tupelo, Mississippi, with her chocolate Lab and a quirky muse who channels Elvis.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002MTM3FM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies (August 25, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 25, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 805 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 302 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 107 ratings

About the author

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Peggy Webb

Peggy Webb

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Peggy Webb is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than 100 novels in numerous genres, including the reader favorite crime thriller, Snow Brides, and the acclaimed literary fiction novel The Sweetest Hallelujah - written under her pen name Elaine Hussey and compared to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Her current crime thrillers combine the addictive quality of Snow Brides with the lyrical writing of her literary works the late, great Pat Conroy called "astonishing." Peggy is a former adjunct instructor of writing at Mississippi Sate University and has won numerous awards, including a prestigious Pioneer Award for creating the sub-genre of romantic comedy, numerous Reviewers Choice Awards, multiple WordWeaving Awards for Excellence, and a submission for the Pulitzer.

With more than three million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Peggy's love of writing goes back to her roots in northeast Mississippi where she grew up on a farm and fell in love with words by reading everything she could get her hands on while sitting in her daddy's hayloft. Peggy is an accomplished pianist and singer, and has starred in numerous roles in her local community theater, including M'Lynn (the Sally Field role) from Steel Magnolias, and The White Witch from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Her love of theater and music shine through her novels .She is known for her chilling, filmic scenes, and her latest crime thriller features blues lyrics she composed and credited to one of her characters. She has co-written screenplays for two of her novels, and is active with the Film Festival in her hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, which is also the birthplace of Elvis.

Peggy's love of both writing and music is so strong, she says, "I hear the music of words in every novel I write." You can hear her discuss the link between the two arts in her music videos on Facebook and visit her at her website.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
107 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BARBARA M. HODGES
5.0 out of 5 stars Love those basset hounds!
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2012
Verified Purchase
Well I put the review under the wrong book. I will be reading, Elvis and The Grateful Dead, next. Here's my review for Elvis and The Dearly Departed.

Loved it. When I saw that it featured a basset hound named Elvis I had to read it. Enjoyed very much the chapters written in his point of view.

His human mom is a riot. Also her cousin Lovie. What messes they get in to.

The cast of characters are outrageous. I do believe there is much more to Uncle Charlie. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Calli's relationship with her ex, Jack is also entertaining.

The plot involves a missing body, the search leading to much more than bargained for.

Even through the dangerous parts, I found myself smiling.

Read this book for some light-hearted fun.
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Amanda
4.0 out of 5 stars teaser
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2010
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This is a great book. This is not one that I would have normally picked to read. Honestly, I read it because it was FREE! However, it did turn out to be one that I could not put down. A book has to be out of this world for me to give it 5 stars, so this one got four. I would recommend for mystery, comedy, and a good, light read. I will buy the next one!
One person found this helpful
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TBreakiron
5.0 out of 5 stars A really cute and fun mystery
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2016
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If you are looking for a book that will give you a couple hours of escape then this could be the book series for you. Elvis is apparently back and in the form of a dog. While most of the chapters are from the perspective of the dog's owner, the dog weighs in every once in awhile. The mystery takes some interesting twists and turns and stays light hearted and fun which is perfect for the fan of cozy mystery stories.
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L. Burns
3.0 out of 5 stars Ain't nothin' but a (basset) hound dog...2.5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2011
Verified Purchase
First the good news: Elvis is alive and well and living in a small town on the outskirts of his beloved Tupelo.

The bad news: He now inhabits the body of a pudgy little basset hound, and is at the center of a nasty little canine custody battle.

Hairdresser Callie Valentine Jones is not about to give her soon-to-be ex husband custody of her dog, Elvis. Jack Jones is not about to give Callie a divorce. And Elvis? Well, Elvis didn't spend a couple of decades crooning love songs for nothing, and if he has his way these two will be patching things up before you can say "Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building."

Besides the drama surrounding her ex, Callie has her hands full when a body goes missing from her uncle's funeral home, which leads to the discovery of yet another corpse. As Callie and her cousin, Lovie, try to sort out the mess, they discover that their bumbling investigation will either (a) catch a murderer, or (b) get them killed.

There are two ways to approach this story. Either you get into the spirit of screwball comedy, quirky characters and a preposterous and frenetic storyline, or you roll your eyes at the silliness. Frankly, I did a little of both.

What worked for me: Overall, I thought the characters had potential, although they are all ridiculously over-the-top. Parts of the story were funny, and the little tidbits alluding to Uncle Charlie's dark past and Jack's secret life did pique my interest.

Not so much: Too many characters thrown at you from page one, a completely confusing mish/mash of Callie's family and potential suspects. The plot was just too far-fetched, even for a lighthearted "cozy" read. Too repetitive - - just about every chapter had Callie determined to dump Jack for good, only to wind up ditching her clothes as soon as he so much as looked at her. Finally...enough with the shoes! Every other page dropping yet another high end shoe designer name was so annoying. You know who else had a closet full of Jimmy Choo shoes (besides Callie)? The late Princess Di. While I think that Diana had the budget for them, I'm wondering how many perms Callie would have to do per week to feed her habit?

Bottom Line: A good natured but totally wacky "cozy" set in a small southern town. The story is told in the first person, present tense from Callie's point of view. There are a few short chapters told from Elvis's (the dog) viewpoint. While parts of the story were entertaining, I can't say that it held my interest. This is the first entry in a series, and while I can see some potential here I doubt I'll continue on with the series.

Very little (if any) strong language; some sexual innuendo but otherwise no sexual content.
8 people found this helpful
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Shoshana Hathaway
4.0 out of 5 stars Mississippi Meyhem
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2011
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Elvis and the Dear Departed by Peggy Webb

What a delightful romp! This book is pure fluff, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. It's quirky but loveable characters and impossibly outlandish situations are in the spirit of Stephanie Plum's Newark, NJ ...but in Mississippi, and the heroine is a beautician for both the living and the dearly departed. The star of course, is Elvis ...canine investigator extraordinaire ...and reincarnation of ...well ...the King, himself.

The plot never slows down; the situations never come off as contrived (although, if one took a breath and *thought* about them...they just ...*couldn't* have happened, could they? The characters are absolutely wacky, and totally believable. I find myself hoping that, somewhere, there are people like these, because, (well, except for the villains), I thoroughly liked them. This book won't change the world, but it might make you laugh, or cheer you up, and it's just plain fun! I recommend it, especially when things are not going well, and you need something to help you pull yourself out of a funk.
2 people found this helpful
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