Try this author. She does not have the high public profile of some other female authors but she stands up there with the Graftons and Paretskys. This author has a lovely writing style and has created warm, believable characters. The mystery is compelling but I found myself wanting and enjoying more the dialogue and interaction between the characters.

This was my first read by Kathy and I will be back for more ! I really liked her style and the way your in suspense till the end .I thought Callahan was very beliveable and really liked her. I will be reading alot more of Kathys work. Lisa Miller

This is the third book in the C.G. series that I have read and i really enjoyed it. I really enjoy these books because Kathy tells it like it is .I liked the part where she talks about how hard it is to defend yourself when you are accused of being a racist even when your not and also the way alot of people today use it to make the news.The relationship between Edna and Callahan is great and those brothers and sisters are a pain in my butt!!I am also glad she is thinking about giving Mac another chance but lets hope she makes him crawl a little! Lisa Miller

I deliberately waited over a year to purchase and read Midnight Clear by my favorite mystery author, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. I've always paced myself with her books because there aren't that many to begin with plus it's been over 3 years since KHT last wrote one. I hope that she is working on something new, because all of us Callahan Garrity fans are anxiously awaiting the next mystery featuring Callahan, Edna & the rest of the House Mouse cleaning crew! As for Midnight Clear-it just doesn't get any better than this. Kid brother Brian, who had been in absentia for 10 years suddenly shows up at Edna's doorstep with a surprise in his truck-a 3 year old girl named Maura. There is a major murder mystery for Callahan to solve, but it looks like Brian is the prime suspect-his ex-wife is found murdered in her bed. You'll find yourself rapidly turning the pages until you reach the surprise ending, KHT pulls out all the stops with this one. Once you reach the very end, however, you realize you want more books to come out featuring Callahan Garrity & co. As the previous reviewer mentioned, if only Ms. Trocheck would write as often as Sue Grafton does! Very highly recommended-along with all of her other books. Enjoy!

I've become somewhat of a Callahan Garrity junkie, and only wish that Kathy Hogan Trocheck would write more, more, more, and much faster. Come on, Grafton is up to her her sixteenth in her series, and I'd much prefer Trocheck to have written that many. This installment in enjoyable House Mouse land is the best yet, funny, suspenseful and well-rounded.

It's Christmas time in Candler Park, and Callahan and her goofy mother Edna are gearing up for the holidays. Out of the blue, Callahan's long lost brother Brian shows up, with an unexpected holiday package: his 3 year old daughter Maura. Edna is overjoyed with her new found granddaughter, but when Brian confesses that he has practically stolen her from his unreliable, trashy ex-wife, then vanishes for days leaving little Maura with Edna and the not-so-motherly Callahan, things start getting messy very fast. When the ex-wife is found murdered in her apartment, Brian is the main suspect, and Callahan is up to her ears in a new case, more personal than ever this time.

Trocheck never fails to mix in humor and suspense, and it abounds in Midnight Clear. Adding in more Atlanta history and new settings in the southern suburbs and the abandoned, long-ago Funtown, Callahan fights to clear her brother's name and to keep Maura safe. A delightful read, with twists and turns, and an unlikable new character in Brian, Midnight Clear is Trocheck's best to date.

In Atlanta, Callahan Garrity is looking forward to Christmas, which is only a few days away when disaster strikes. Her brother Brian, who she has not seen in over a decade, arrives, accompanied by his two-year old daughter. However, there are universal truths including that the life of Brian means trouble for Callahan. Her sibling kidnapped his child from his former spouse, who will use the law to get her daughter back and her ex-husband in jail.

However, instead of a kidnapping rap, the police arrive to arrest Brian for killing his ex-wife. Brian has vanished, leaving his child and his hopes for freedom with Callahan, who he expects to clear his name.

MIDNIGHT CLEAR, the seventh Callahan Garrity mystery, is the best novel in a very well written series. The who-done-it is a true puzzler filled with intriguing twists and the characters remain fun to read about, especially the hilarious Edna (Callahan's mom) and her cohorts. However, the insight into the star's brother adds depth to the interesting, but strange brew. Kathy Hogan Trocheck has become one of the leading authors of amateur sleuths, living in Dixie.

Harriet Klausner

This is more like Sue Grafton. The dialog has tightened up. My favorite line "Rita, she's alright. You ask me if she did do it the dude probably needed killing." The plot construction is not as tight as Grafton. We are not convinced that the only way to prove Rita innocent is to find the real killer so the page-turning tension doesn't build up. It's a series of interviews which are used to bring in memorable characters and a lot of information about pop music of the sixties. The sub-plot of the two divorced couples and their daughters was more compelling. I was not sure from reading it if this was next in the series after Every Dead Nanny. Did Home-Made Sin and To Live and Die in Dixie come in between? I'll have fun finding out.

I love this series and it simply gets better and better. If you're new to this series, take advantage and begin at the beginning.

I love this author's books and this one in particular. The author has done particularly well in painting a realistic and moving account of the lives of members of a former "girl group". Something about this book made me identify so much with the female characters - a sign of good writing. Please give this book a go, especially if you haven't read this author before.

5 for overall book, 1 for circumstances/results. Kathy Hogan Trocheck is one of my favorite writers and this latest book was very good with the mystery, the suspense and the comic adventures of Neva Jean, Baby and Sister. However, my personal opinion rating of the outcome is a 1 as you will understand when you read the book. As in her past books, Kathy Trocheck doesn't really hold any punches with any of her main or semi-main characters. She writes things keeping true to real life, but in wanting to escape into a book I don't like real life to get too close to the characters I have grown to like after a number of books. But that's just my opinion. Don't pass this one up by Kathy Trocheck. From book one she has proven you can be great and still get better.

There are all the usual reasons to like "Irish Eyes," the eighth Callahan Garrity mystery, and some new ones. Spunky sleuth and cleaning-service operator Garrity and her gaggle of Southern stereotype associates deal with life, love and death in Atlanta in their usual manners. And, as in most of author Kathy Hogan Trocheck's previous adventures, Garrity has to deal with the changing social and political landscape of a Southern megalopolis that is growing too fast for its own good. This time, ex-cop Garrity's former associate, Bucky Deavers, is shot in a liquor store while Garrity is waiting outside in the car after a St. Patrick's Day event. Soon after, the only witness to the shooting disappears with the security-camera videotape. The spin soon has Deavers, critically wounded in the hospital, as being a rogue, but Garrity doesn't buy it, and she typically won't let the matter drop. It leads her into a world of police corruption that leaves more dead bodies. Meanwhile, Mac, Garrity's significant other, is talking about moving to Nashville. He's fed up with the uncontrolled urban sprawl, and wants Callahan and her mother, Edna, to come along. And it is surprising who is the more stubborn of the two. For comic relief (and some fair gumshoe work of their own), Baby and Sister Easterbrooks return with priceless dialogue and antics. Neva Jean and Swannelle also provide moments in which it is difficult to keep reading through the laughter. Though the main character is the author's alter ego, Trocheck keeps Callahan honest and humble, usually through Edna and Mac. And Callahan, like everyone else, sometimes has to depend on luck to achieve her objectives. So if you are ready for the best dose yet of Trocheck-style humor and humidity, intrigue and insanity, read "Irish Eyes." It follows a trail well, and is obviously leading to some new ones.

This was the first Kathy Trocheck Hogan book I read and after this I went out and bought them all! Fantastic story!! Good police work, good murder mystery, just enough humor to break the tension! You will get to know and love the characters! I cannot wait for her to write another book!

I was looking for something that would show the Atlanta I know and love, but the main character just was too self-righteous; one who appears to be so open minded, but had clearly never even considered riding a MARTA bus. The plot idea was original, but I was not suprised by the ending given the main character's leanings. I loved the descriptions of the area and all the other characters; they were all so more grounded in reality. If the author considers writing about them and less about her heroine, I'll definitely read it.

I love this series and it simply gets better and better. If you're new to this series, take advantage and begin at the beginning. The stories are interesting without being overly done or contrived. The characters are complex and welcomed visitors. Trocheck really has something here.

I came to this one after "Every Dead Nanny" and "Happy Never After" so for once I'm reading a series in the right order. I thought this was the best of the three. The plot is believable from beginning almost to the end (I never quite buy those heroine-save-in-the-nick-of-time scenes but they seem obligatory in this female private eye genre which is a descendant of romantic suspense). It unfolds piece by piece rather than being a series of interviews and the murderer is the kind of surprise that has you turning back pages and saying "why didn't I think of that?" Some great writing. I loved a scene where she describes a vivid temptation to buy Krispy Kreme doughnuts and then looks across the street and describes a crack-buying transaction.

While I liked this book for the most part I found it hard to follow her character developments. The employees of House Mouse were wonderfully drawn and Ms. Trocheck starts out by giving terrific descriptions of each. I would have been thrilled with more information about them but the cartoonish 'bad guys' left me feeling cheated. They were so obviously evil the only surprise was how many of them Callahan had slept with!
Also I have a hard time with writers who sum up the Latter Day Saints with a few well placed terms (I was glad to see 'Stake' used instead of church; but why were'nt the terms 'Ward' or 'General Authority' used and explained?). Having lived as a non-Mormon in Utah for many years I know that they are a complex group and I think it was unfair of Ms. Trocheck to give them so little depth.

This is Kathy Hogan Trocheck's first mystery published. Normally, I would be afraid to pick up anyone's first mystery, but Trocheck comes off as a seasoned professional. It is a smooth fast read.

Callahan Garrity, former Atlanta police officer, tried her hand at becoming a personal investigator. After finding out that it was not as lucrative as she had hoped, and nearly at the end of her money, Callahan bought the "House Mouse" cleaning service with her hard talking, chain smoking, blue haired mother Edna Mae Garrity.

Running a cleaning service puts Callahan in touch with an interesting cross section of the population. Her cleaning staff is quite a colorful cast of women. Then there is the other end of the spectrum, her clientele.

Callahan, by an odd twist of fate, has to go clean the home of a new client when she faces a labor shortage one morning. Upon arriving on the premises, who does she find is married to one of the local society big shots, but a sorority sister from her college days. Imagine that, and Callahan wearing an apron.

What starts off as a routine cleaning job turns into a crime investigation. What starts as a crime investigation turns into a series of crimes being investigated, and all of this while trying to keep a business running. In the course of cleaning homes, the members of the House Mouse are in a position to learn the most intimate details about their client's lives. Her cleaning staff learns the finer points of investigating crimes, all the while cleaning house.

Callahan has to tap into her old connection at the police department to solve the heinous crimes. We find out quite a bit about her tenure on the force.

There is a wonderful thread of religious misunderstanding and education as a sub-thread of the tale. Some have criticized that this thread was not as detailed as it could have been, but I would argue that it cleared up quite a few misconceptions, enough to make that plot element work. If a reader wanted to know all of the nitty gritty details of that faith, they could research further on their own.

I despise spoilers, so I will not give any more on the plot, but it is a good fast read with engaging characters.
The gore factor is low, and there are a few salty words, but few and far between. It has a pretty lightweight feel overall.

I plan on reading more of Kathy Hogan Trocheck's books, and hope to see much more of Callahan Garrity and especially Edna Mae Garrity.

A long time ago a friend from work lent me the book Strange Brew, which I immediately loved and I was determined to begin the Callahan Garrity series in chronological order. I breezed through this in 2 days and found it to be a fast, fun read. I definitely plan to continue with the rest of the Callahan Garrity series. The concept of running a housecleaning business while solving murder mysteries is a very good one. The other characters also play a major part in the story, beginning with Callahan's mom Edna as well as the 'girls' that work for their House Mouse cleanup biz, plus Bucky Deaver, a cop that Callahan used to work with when she was a police officer on the Atlanta force. If you like mysteries where the main character has both intelligence and a sense of humor, then you can't go wrong with this series. Very highly recommended.

Unlike the Garrity books this is a thriller not a mystery. We know who did the murder from the beginning and we are given some of the story from the viewpoint of the villains. Kicklighter and Jackleen are great characters and there's much insight into being a retired male and someone living on minimum wage. The Fountain of Youth Hotel and Bondurant Motors are well done. My trouble was with the villains - well they're fairly good villains but three other Florida thriller-writers have given us great villains. I kept comparing this with Leonard's "Maximum Bod" and Hiaasen's "Striptease" and Willeford's "Miami Blue." I know they were set on the opposite coast but it's all one state to me. The car talk was good but Seranella does it better. Making these comparisons knocked off a star but this is excellent page-turning entertainment. Did they ever open the trunk of the pink Cadillac?

I have to give this book only 4 stars for several reasons. The first is that the beginning is rather tedious until Callahan finds the body of one Jordan Poole, the guy who was going to put a senior citizen hippy, Wuvvy, out of business by turning her adult toy store, YoYos, into a microbrewery called Blind Possum. The book starts out with threatening weather that quickly and viciously turns into a tornado. And Callahan, with her annoying habit of finding dead bodies, goes after her boyfriend's, Mac McAuliffe's, dog, Rufus. So there goes Callahan, running with a flashlight, through the driving rain and hellacious thunderstorm on her way to find Rufus. She finds herself at YoYos, which is right beside her pal's, Hap's, bar, The Yacht Club. The door to YoYos is open, so she goes in and finds Jordan Poole's body.
And that's all you're gettin'!
But I will tell you this: This adventure featuring cleaning whiz Callahan Garrity, ex-cop, sometimes P.I., is a romp that will leave you laughing, possibly crying. But, be forewarned, this does start out a little slow. What the hell am I talking about, it takes about 100 pages to get interesting, but like she always does, Kathy Hogan Trocheck with explain, in the end, why she put us through the boring stuff in the beginning. 'Cause it just might help Callahan save her life.

This author can be relied upon to present wonderful characterisations and excellent plotting. She has succeeded again with this installment in the Callaghan Garrity series. The storyline revolves around the inhabitants of the down and out area of Atlanta near where Callaghan and her mother live. The author depicts the struggle and horror of the lives of these people in a poignant sub-plot. The major plot involves a twenty year old murder and its modern-day consequences. This is something that of course has been done before but this author carries it off with her usual high skill and humour.

This series may be considered as cozies, but they have a distinct edge. The characters are fun, but also well developed, and the plots are decent. The characters and their personalities are complex. The books improve as they go along. I was panting for the last one, "Irish Eyes." I even bought the hardback. Am waiting for the next one. Begin at the beginning if you can, but not necessary.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was the pace of the story. It didn't drag on and on with pages of boring details. Even though it was a fairly quick read, there was enough information about people's surroundings, the family connections, etc., to make it interesting and hold the reader's attention. As for the whodunnit, that was fairly easy to figure out, but it didn't take away from the book. I will definitely take the time to read more books by this author.

I don't usually go for such light-hearted mysteries, I prefer more gore and murder. But I picked this up after a friend recommended it to me, and I was not disappointed. Having grown up in and around Atlanta my whole life, it was fun to read the fictional events and actually picture where they were taking place. I could just see where the murder occured, where Callihan lived and ate, where her relatives lived. I guess that was the most appealing thing about this book. You may have to live in Atlanta to truly like it.

That said, the story was quick and interesting. You know almost from the beginning 'whodunnit', but keep reading to see him get caught. I don't think this book was as close to the Tokars case as some may think, but there were some similarites. I picked this book up on Saturday morning and was done by the next day. I may read more of her books, if just to enjoy the local setting a bit more.

These may be considered cozies, but they have a distinct edge. The characters are fun, but also well developed, and the plots are decent. The characters and their personalities are complex. The books improve as they go along. I was panting for the last one, "Irish Eyes." I even bought the hardback. Am waiting for the next one. Begin at the beginning if you can, but not necessary.