Rating: 
Summary: Best of all
Review: I was hooked on Anne's books the first time I read "Murder on a Girl's Night Out." This one is definitely a hoot! I love the up-to-the-times Birmingham news and the antics of the two sisters.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Ms. George years ago for a newspaper article and she told me something I will never forget: That she sees herself as neither wholly Patricia Anne nor Mary Alice, but rather as a combination of the two. I miss her greatly, but know that she lives on in her books.
Rating:
Summary: Very saddened
Review: I was very saddened to hear of the death of Anne George. Every time I went to the bookstore (which is just about every weekend), I look for any new books she might have written! She was a very funny lady, and I had many a good laugh from her books when I was feeling down! It is very upsetting when your favorite author passes on! I would like to express my sympathies to her family and hope that their hearts may be uplifted knowing how Anne George made everyone laugh and how she made her readers' lives more uplifting also!
Rating:
Summary: Another good one, funny and entertaining, a bit bittersweet
Review: I'm a fan of Anne George and find it very sad that she died earlier this year. The lead character Patricia Anne seems based on Mrs. George and there are a couple of mentions of what Fred (her husband) will do when she dies that pull you for a moment out of the entertainment. They're quickly over and the excitement of murder, along with the excitement of Mary Alice's nuptials, of babies coming and babies to be begat, and the excellent conveyance of the Birmingham, Alabama, setting, all combine to make this a very good book.
Rating:
Summary: CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE..WITH THE SOUTHERN SISTERS
Review: In this time when everything seems to be focused on the youth market, it's so refreshing to have had the blessing of Anne George and her Southern Sisters for eight delightful novels. With Ms. George's passing, a void now exists that hopefully other cozy writers will continue to fill. How refreshing to have such witty dialogue and energy courtesy of Patricia Anne and Mary Alice. Their repartee is so realistic, I can just imagine sipping tea with Patricia and boogying with the hefty Mary Alice. George pokes fun at so many of the little idiosyncrasies of our common folk that you find yourself laughing on every page. As far as mysteries go, this one's a little more involved than some of the earlier books and the resolution is a real stunner. This time the ladies are involved in the murder of an Elvis impersonator who died while dancing with 29 other impersonators at a benefit to restore the mooning Vulcan statue. But it's really the characters and their individual crises that make this a winner. Where else would you find a character bursting onto the scene telling an astonished Patricia that he is there to impregnate her niece? Or have characters eating tuna sandwiches and Dinty Moore beef stew. it's these little touches that have endeared Anne George and these marvelous characters. They will be sorely missed; maybe someone can pick up the series, but it will take Anne George's uncanny insight into human nature to pull it off.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE..WITH THE SOUTHERN SISTERS
Review: In this time when everything seems to be focused on the youth market, it's so refreshing to have had the blessing of Anne George and her Southern Sisters for eight delightful novels. With Ms. George's passing, a void now exists that hopefully other cozy writers will continue to fill. How refreshing to have such witty dialogue and energy courtesy of Patricia Anne and Mary Alice. Their repartee is so realistic, I can just imagine sipping tea with Patricia and boogying with the hefty Mary Alice. George pokes fun at so many of the little idiosyncrasies of our common folk that you find yourself laughing on every page. As far as mysteries go, this one's a little more involved than some of the earlier books and the resolution is a real stunner. This time the ladies are involved in the murder of an Elvis impersonator who died while dancing with 29 other impersonators at a benefit to restore the mooning Vulcan statue. But it's really the characters and their individual crises that make this a winner. Where else would you find a character bursting onto the scene telling an astonished Patricia that he is there to impregnate her niece? Or have characters eating tuna sandwiches and Dinty Moore beef stew. it's these little touches that have endeared Anne George and these marvelous characters. They will be sorely missed; maybe someone can pick up the series, but it will take Anne George's uncanny insight into human nature to pull it off.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book, a terrific series, my favorite writer!
Review: It is always a bittersweet feeling to finish one of these books. The characters feel like family, and I always read the last pages slowly to postpone the ending. Coming to the last page has always left me feeling a little bit lonely, but this one was especially painful. Anne George was a great writer, and a genuinely neat person. She always responded graciously to her fan mail. I have a letter from her dated less than a week before she died. I keep it near my stack of her books, which I have been trying to find hardback copies of, since I know the paperbacks aren't going to hold up as often as I read them.I wish there was a bulletin board for all of us who are missing our "family." God bless each of you, and especially Anne George's real family. If you haven't read any of Mrs. George's books, do yourself the favor. ARB
Rating:
Summary: Goodbye Anne....
Review: It took me a long time to work up to reading this book. I adore Sister and Mouse, and have loved every word of every one of their stories. But it was hard to read this book knowing it would be the last one. The last time to sit in Patricia Ann's kitchen, to ride with Mary Alice in her fancy cars, to visit with Bonnie Blue and Fred and hear about Haley's pregnancy and all of the characters that have come to be so real to me. I cried for a long time whenI finished this book. I shall miss Anne George, her humor, her warmth and her characters. They added to my life. I enjoyed visiting with her and getting to know Birmingham. I will read these books again and again, and enjoy them each time.
Rating:
Summary: Goodbye Anne....
Review: It took me a long time to work up to reading this book. I adore Sister and Mouse, and have loved every word of every one of their stories. But it was hard to read this book knowing it would be the last one. The last time to sit in Patricia Ann's kitchen, to ride with Mary Alice in her fancy cars, to visit with Bonnie Blue and Fred and hear about Haley's pregnancy and all of the characters that have come to be so real to me. I cried for a long time whenI finished this book. I shall miss Anne George, her humor, her warmth and her characters. They added to my life. I enjoyed visiting with her and getting to know Birmingham. I will read these books again and again, and enjoy them each time.
Rating:
Summary: a funny and enjoyable book
Review: It's very sad that this latest mystery novel, featuring the detecting skills of sisters Mary Alice and Patricia Anne, is probably going to be the last Southern Sisters mystery, since the authour, Anne George, passed away earlier this year. This series has been one of the few that I enjoyed more for the 'slice-of-life' angle than I did for the mystery at hand. Anne George did a wonderful job of bringing to life the affectionate yet sometimes contentious relationship that the two sisters had; and I truly enjoyed all her vivid descriptions of Birmingham, Alabama, from the blooming forsythias, to the huge iron statue of Vulcan that stands at the crest of Red Mountain, and whose naked derriere has mooned half the citizens of Birmingham from time immemorial. This is a wonderful series that never missed a beat and remained vital and funny till the very end. "Murder Boogies With Elvis" opens with Mary Alice's announcement that she's about to marry for the fourth time, to Sheriff Virgil Stuckey. Virgil and Mary Alice are going to officially announce their engagement to his children (Mary Alice has already taken care of informing her nearest and dearest) after the benefit that's being held at the Alabama (a restored theatre), to raise funds for the restoration of Vulcan (the iron statue). Virgil's son (Buddy, who happens to be an Elvis impersonator) and his son-in-law (Larry) are going to be performing at this benefit in the final act, along with 28 other Elvis impersonators, and Mary Alice has obtained tickets to the event for Patricia Anne and her husband, Fred. Given the sisters' knack for falling over dead bodies, you'd expect one to turn up right about now, and you'd be right! Right in the middle of the Elvis act, one of the impersonators, who was dancing between Buddy and Larry, plunges to his death right into the orchestra pit, literally at the sisters' feet! The next day brings intelligence that the dead man was not one of the official impersonators at all, and no one really knew who he was, and his death is being tagged as murder. It is later revealed that the dead man was actually a Russian ballet dancer, here in the US on a cultural exchange program and that he was attached to a New York ballet company. What was a Russian ballet dancer doing in Alabama, pretending to be an Elvis impersonator? But even the revelation that he had made an appointment to see Mary Alice's daughter, Debbie, who happens to be a lawyer, doesn't deflect the sisters form more important and immediate concerns such as Mary Alice's approaching nuptials, and the return of Patricia Anne's daughter, Haley, from Warsaw. And then Patricia Anne finds the murder weapon in her purse, and suddenly the murder and the murderer seems to much closer to the sisters than either would like, esp when the finger of suspicion falls on Mary Alice's son-to-be and son-in-law-to-be... The mystery in this novel may seem to be a little of an afterthought in "Murder Boogies With Elvis," but this one of the rare instances where this fact did not bother me at all. I was totally caught up in what was happening within Mary Alice's & Patricia Anne's family: would Mary Alice actually find a wedding dress that didn't make her sister shudder, and would Patricia Anne have to wear a magenta matron-of -honour dress? What really makes this entire series work is the entirely humourous yet natural manner in which Anne George relates things -- the dialogue, the manner in which events unfold -- all these seem a little off the wall at times and yet comes across as being totally natural and realistic, because of the masterful manner in which Anne George handles things. I really love this series, and I'm going to miss the fact that this may be the last book in the series that she ever wrote.
Rating:
Summary: A hoot of a mystery
Review: Mary Alice and Patricia Anne (AKA Mouse) might be in their sixties but their lives are anything but dull. Mary Alice is planning her fourth marriage and plans to honeymoon in an RV while Patricia Anne is counting the days before her pregnant daughter returns from Warsaw with her new husband. Patricia Anne and her spouse Fred, and Mary Alice and her fiancé, Virgil are going to the Alabama Theater to see the latest acts that include an Elvis impersonator. From the vantage point of their front row seat they see one of the Elvis's keel over and falls into the orchestra pit. It was later discovered that he was murdered with a switchblade, which Patricia Anne found days later lying in her purse. Once Patricia Anne becomes involved to that extent, the Southern sisters are not going to rest until they find who the murderer is and just as important, why the weapon was dropped in the purse. Fans of down home southern regionals will love MURDER BOOGIES WITH ELVIS. Although the ambiance of the deep South is captured to perfection, the background does not overwhelm the plot in way. Instead it adds an extra dose of atmosphere to the story line as well as fleshing out the characters so that the reader will know what they are feeling. There is a lot of humor in Anne George's latest mystery that will have the audience laughing out loud especially the scenes between the two sisters. Harriet Klausner
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