Lonely Street (First in the Bubba Mabry P.I. Mystery Series)

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious bloody fantasy/mystery
Review: I'm not sure anyone would want to emulate private eye Bubba Mabry's investigative style, but journalist Steve Brewer takes a delightful look at Albuquerque, New Mexico's beauty and dark side in this thriller. Brewer throws in a bit of the unrealistic by bringing Elvis Presley back to life -- although he shows readers a pretty good depiction of what the King would be like were he still alive. Several murders add enough blood for the morbid-at-heart, and the language makes up for a somewhat shaky plot. The characters, other than Elvis, are pretty ordinary -- the tired private eye looking for some dough, tabloid reporters out for the story of the century, a curvaceous Marilyn Monroe-type blonde who will either sleep with a man -- or threaten to shoot him -- in order to get information, and a couple of hulky thugs. But the combination of all the elements makes for a fast-read full of laughs, even in the face of horrible death.