From Publishers Weekly
While some mannerly mysteries call for a cup of tea and a plate of scones, Trocheck's Georgia-based tale suggests iced coffee and cornbread. The second appearance of sleuth Callahan Garrity, a 34-year-old former policewoman who runs the "House Mouse" cleaning service, offers the smooth writing and feisty characters introduced in the notable Every Crooked Nanny . While sprucing up the messy mansion of racist Civil War buff Elliott Littlefield, Callahan's cleaners find the bloody corpse of a 17-year-old girl. Although a similar homicide occurred in his home 20 years earlier, Littlefield maintains his innocence, insisting that the killer also stole the valuable diary of a Civil War madam. Hired by Littlefield to investigate the robbery, Callahan plainly itches to implicate her Rebel-loving employer in the murder. Callahan's detective pursuits merge seamlessly with details of her home-based relationships with her nosy mother and steady beau, with attention also given to Callahan's earlier bout with breast cancer and a teenage character's bulimia. Even though the roster of eccentric House Mouse employees is less involved than before, other memorable Southern personalities and on-target dialogue lift this appealing whodunit well above the norm.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Like Emma Chizzit, Atlantan J. Callahan Garrity ( Every Crooked Nanny , HarperCollins, 1992) owns a business and sleuths on the side. When she and her cleaning crew arrive at a notorious Inman Park mansion, they discover the body of a teenaged girl. Police handle the murder, but the mansion's owner--himself a suspect--hires ex-cop Callahan to locate a valuable Civil War journal stolen at the same time. With the help of Mom, crew, and the victim's sister, Callahan closes in on the culprit. A smoothly written work featuring the reappearance of an affable, independent heroine. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
