cover image Giving Up the Ghost

Giving Up the Ghost

Helen Chappell. Dell Publishing Company, $5.99 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-440-22575-1

Crime reporter Hollis Ball forecasts trouble when her long-lost godfather, Albie Lydekker, a washed-up ballplayer, reappears in town to organize an Elvis impersonator contest. When one of the many competing Elvises who have converged on the seamy Lock and Load Motor Inn turns up dead, Lydekker, who's know for his gambling debts and ties to a minor crime family, becomes a prime suspect. As the King killings mount and Ball is forced to protect her godfather from jail, Chappell's (Ghost of a Chance) talent for comical characterizations, sarcastic dialogue and absurd fiascoes comes to the fore. Particularly amusing are a drug-addicted prostitute with dreams of becoming a rock star named Snow White, and Ball's co-worker, who has a penchant for peach potpourri and Precious Moments figurines. Ball begrudgingly initiates an illegal investigation of her own under the guidance of her ex-husband's cantankerous ghost, putting herself in imminent danger. Chappell is in fine form here and her characters don't disappoint. (June)