After a performance at old folks home, off duty police officer and part-time Elvis impersonator Tommy Reylander climbs into his pink Cadillac and is promptly blown to smithereens. Detective Darla Cavannah, who used to work with Tommy years ago, is determent to find his killer. Now she must go investigate all Tommy's enemies. But when more Elvis impersonators is starting to die must Darla re-valuate the while case, is there someone out there who just do not like the King of Rock and Roll, or have something against Elvis impersonators?

This cozy mystery book was actually a lot of fun to read. I liked Darla Cavannah, she's a tough chick and she made a great team with Rita Gibbons, who is back out in the field after being reprimanded for crashing a department SUV during a chase. Rita is an Elvis fan and that was handy on this case on the case to have. Also, she is a funny character and Darla & Rita work great together.

The case in itself was OK; I wasn't completely taking in by it. Don't take it wrong, I enjoyed reading the book and I would very much read more in this series. But it was a very lighthearted book and I prefer my crime novels to be a mix of light and dark or just dark. This felt a bit too whimsical for my taste. But it is a perfect book to read when you need something lighthearted in your life. But I must admit I was a bit surprised when it came to the killers identity, I don't want to give the story away, but who he was supposed to be was a bit of surprise, especially since I don't know much about the fellow in question he thought he was. Confusing? Yeah, but this is part of the plot and I just don't want to give it away.

So this book gets 3.5 stars. I actually changed the rating writing this review, gave it a half star more because I did enjoy the book!

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley and from TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review!

Review also posted on A Bookaholic Swede and It's a Mad Mad World ( )

Tommy Reylander is a detective with Hinds County Sheriff’s Department in the state of Mississippi and on his own time, he is an Elvis impersonator. His preferred stage name is ‘Officer Elvis’. This particular performance is at a nursing home. “Tommy looked around the room, making eye contact here and there, muttering thank you, winking and blowing kisses. An elderly woman in the back row had fainted. Or maybe she’d nodded off. In nursing homes it was kind of hard to tell.” Edwina (Cill) Nothauzer was Tommy’s girlfriend. She was the Priscilla to Tommy’s Elvis. She waited at the door with his fans while he went to retrieve the caddy. He owned an ‘Elvis-mobile’, a car just like Elvis’ 1955 pink and white Cadillac Fleetwood. This would be the last time he’d ever start the car.

Lieutenant Darla Cavannah of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations (MBI) is called to investigate the explosion that took Tommy’s life. She soon finds out that someone is targeting Elvis impersonators. Before her promotion, she and Tommy had been partners. She hadn’t been close to him; but he is one of their own. She teams up with Rita Gibbons, a recently reprimanded officer, who needs this second chance.

Officer Elvis was well done; it has a very creative story line. The author used dialect and expressions of the Mississippi locale that made the characters more believable. I’m drawn to mysteries that use humor and even a bit of sarcasm, and this one fit the bill. The killer is shadowed in a couple of early chapters without revealing his identity. Then about half way through, he is identified but the novel remains suspenseful as Darla and her team try to catch up to him. Officer Elvis follows The Last Clinic, #1 in the series, but I didn’t feel the need to read them in order. This book is complete in itself. Rating: 4.5 out of 5. ( )

Officer Elvis fits into the adult category due to adult language, sexual innuendoes and profanity.

Lieutenant Darla Cavannah, worked with the MBI, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Her one time partner, Tommy Reylander, when she worked for the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, was an Elvis Tribute Artist. Upon arriving at work, she discovered that "Officer Elvis" as he was known by his stage name had been blown up the night before at his last performance. She felt that although they hadn't gotten along well as partners, it was part of "the unwritten code" that they should work they case and find the murder. She wanted to lead the investigation.

Darla is given three days to come up with some good leads or turn the case over to the local county department. What she comes up with is bigger and stranger than anyone could have imagined.

Officer Elvis started out moderately paced and then picked up speed as it approached its climax. I thought the mix of Elvis Presley history and fiction made for an interesting basis for the story.

As this is the second book in the Darla Cavannah series, we were able to see a further development in Darla's professional character. Unfortunately we only find one scene with her new husband so we don't find much more about her personal life.

There are returning members from the first book such as Major Shelby Mitchell, her superior officer and Uther Pendragon Johnson - FBI research specialist, and new characters like Detective Rita Gibbons, her new partner and Elvis Presley aficionado. It was a lot of fun to see what information Uther was able to dig up through his resources and Rita’s knowledge of Elvis was quite impressive.

Watching the killer’s planning was fascinating. It was very well thought out and had definitely been thought about for some time. The way he made various planned steps ahead of time kept me wanting to keep reading to see what he was going to do with those steps since he didn’t execute them right away.

There were quite a number of twists and turns in the plot of this story, so much so that the story turns out to be about so much more than what it looks like at first glance. Officer Elvis is not the only Elvis Presley tribute artist who is murdered in the short few weeks leading up to a large competition. One of the questions that comes up during the investigations is why would the killer take out Officer Elvis who usually places last, or near last in this competition every year?

Despite the adult themes and profanity, I found the basic story itself to be very interesting. Those who are Elvis Presley fans will enjoy this novel, I'm sure. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

See my full review at Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/04/book-review-officer-elvis-b... ( )

"Officer Elvis" is the second book in the Darla Cavannah Mystery series and it is an improvement over the first. I liked "The Last Clinic," the first book, but found the killer and motive to be instantly apparent.

This book hinges on a gimmick, but Elvis impersonation is an ok gimmick. The dialogue and the dissection of Mississippi culture are funny and I laughed out loud more than once. (I have cousins from Mississippi. None is an Elvis impersonator though.)

I received a review copy of "Officer Elvis: A Darla Cavannah Mystery" by Gary M. Gusick (Random House – Alibi) through NetGalley.com. ( )