Joyfully Retired

When the librarian showed me the short story section I was surprised at the variety. One of the volumes I brought home was Mystery Writers of America Presents Show Business Is Murder. As editor Suart M. Kaminsky said, nearly every major mystery writer, including Shakespeare (Hamlet), used show business as a focus in their stories. This volume also focuses on variety – “variety in style,  subject matter, media, and seriousness.” Just right for me – the new short story reader.

Murder at Heartbreak Hotel by Mark Terry is a light-hearted story.  After looking at his nearly overdrawn checkbook, a new private detective agrees to accept a job looking for Elvis Presley. His client is being blackmailed by someone who photographed her having sex with Elvis.

His client understands her lover is not the Elvis but she swears his name really was Elvis Presley. As our detective begins his investigation he returns to the hotel where the lovers met. He wanted to see if Elvis was still there.

Elvis had not left the building. Elvis had tripped and fallen on the Xerox machine.

He encountered an entire hotel of Elvises – 101 Elvis Presleys. They were part of a troupe that traveled the country performing all of Elvis’ hits. Our detective discovers that seven of them legally changed their names and were registered as Elvis Presley. When our detective knocks on the door of one of these seven  he gets another shock. His client is on the floor of Elvis’ room with a knife through her heart.

A short story with a winning combination: a mystery that was fairly easy to solve and lots of  humor.

For more short stories visit  John at Book Mind Set.