Elvis And The Dearly Departed (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I rate it a 3.5 and would have rated it higher if it would have been a bit more evenly written. The issue I have is that it changes point of view and stops the flow when it does so. I think it is the going from human to dog as narrator that makes it seem so stop-and-start and, therefore, uneven. The story itself was a lot of fun. Cousins Callie and Lovie end up taking a road trip to Las Vegas to find a missing corpse from the family funeral home and end up discovering a murder instead. The hijinks of these two reminds me a lot of Stephanie and Lula in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. I think fans of the Stephanie Plum books might like this series. Elvis is a Basset hound that believes he is really the "King". He has opinions on a myriad of topics and is fairly insightful. I think I will probably pick up more books in this series. I had no idea what to expect really, a Basset Hound who thinks he is Elvis Presley? I thought the book would be from his point of view, but I have to say that that is happily not the case. However, after each chapter you read a small chapterkind that has Elvis’ thoughts on the situation and that I do like.I found the book a bit difficult to follow. Many loose ends or things that happened and I was thinking what just happened? Like the moment Callie and Lovie are in Vegas. The whole event was unrealistic especially when Callie and Lovie flee from the crime scene. I expected the cops to be at her place about two chapters later, but none of the sort. Callie went on to her business as beautician and her fight for Elvis. The first that it got mentioned again was way, way later… It was hard to keep up the storylines and it was going from here to there and over there and back again.The only thing that really bothered me seemingly was the relationship between Callie and Jack. They have been married, now in divorce and Elvis is the subject they can’t get an agreement over. However, Callie mentions a lot about how she just wants the divorce to be done, but ends up in bed with Jack a lot…. Really, a lot! And every time she sees him, she gets weak in the knees. I really didn’t like that a lot, I mean you usually get a divorce for a reason… So, yeah. Oh, what also kinda annoyed me was the “I’m wearing Prada shoes”, “Wearing my Jimmy Choo Sandals” and “I parked my Dodge Ram”. Just call it shoes and car… Once I know one rides a Dodge Ram, the next time I read about the car, the word ‘car’ is good enough.I will read the second installment since I did like the concept about Elvis the basset hound, but if it continues to be this way, I don’t think I will finish the series.
What do You think about Elvis And The Dearly Departed (2008)?
I loved it! I can't wait to read more about Elvis and Callie!
—darlenne
Very funny and heartwarming. Definitely recommended!
—violet_phoenix
