Mesopotamia
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
"Thoroughly entertaining, with an offbeat sense of humor . . . There's a solid mystery here, underneath the goofiness" (Booklist).
Things have not been going well for journalist Sandy Bloomgarten. Her job went down the drain and her marriage quickly followed. After a lengthy bender, she awakens one morning to the stark realization that she is flat broke. Nonetheless, she's still a crack reporter, and when a tabloid offers her a freelance assignment in Memphis—just a stone's throw from her childhood home in Mesopotamia, Tennessee—she takes it.
Though sent there for one story, she winds up tracking down another: someone is killing Elvis impersonators who perform at the annual Sing-the-King festival. The few available clues lead her to several unlikely characters: a cheating local minister constantly on the make, a strange band of misfits who only cover Elvis tunes, and a small-town private eye who blew himself up along with his crystal meth lab. As Sandy's investigation closes, she realizes that she is sitting on what could be the story of the century. The only problem is she can never reveal what she has found . . .
"The immortal shadow of Elvis Presley gyrates wildly through this satiric exploration of America's fascination with tabloid journalism." —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The immortal shadow of Elvis Presley gyrates wildly through this satiric exploration of America's fascination with tabloid journalism. Washed-up alcoholic reporter Cassandra Bloomgarten gets a career reboot when a sensational "runaway bride" case erupts in the town of Mesopotamia, Tenn., near Memphis. Adopted from a Korean orphanage and raised in the area by a Jewish family, Cassandra may have the local connections to grab the headline, but what happens when she stumbles across two dead Elvis impersonators and a large family left fatherless by a meth lab explosion? The plot thickens or zigzags. Nersesian (Suicide Casanova) ambles along, almost getting lost in sitcom territory with the adorable fatherless kids, but he recovers when Cassandra enters an Elvis impersonator contest. A surprise ending won't be much of a shock to anyone who knows Elvis lore, but the loose, amiable read carries you through.
