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Callahan Garrity Mystery #5
Heart Trouble
The fifth book in the exciting Callahan Garrity series sees the cleaning lady/sleuth tracking down the murderer of a woman whom the entire city loved to hate.
Callahan Garrity has her hands full trying to expand her House Mouse cleaning business. So she's reluctant to take on a client in need of detective services, especially when that client is the most notorious woman in Atlanta—Whitney Albright Dobbs. Whitney is a wealthy socialite who, while under the influence, hit and killed a young black girl and just kept driving.
Whitney's light sentence has set the city's racial tensions ablaze, and Callahan is not especially keen on helping track down Whitney's soon-to-be-ex-husband's hidden assets. Against her better judgment, though, Callahan launches a full-out search for Dr. Dobbs's dollars. But it only takes a glance to see that more than Whitney's alimony is at stake.
Callahan Garrity has her hands full trying to expand her House Mouse cleaning business. So she's reluctant to take on a client in need of detective services, especially when that client is the most notorious woman in Atlanta—Whitney Albright Dobbs. Whitney is a wealthy socialite who, while under the influence, hit and killed a young black girl and just kept driving.
Whitney's light sentence has set the city's racial tensions ablaze, and Callahan is not especially keen on helping track down Whitney's soon-to-be-ex-husband's hidden assets. Against her better judgment, though, Callahan launches a full-out search for Dr. Dobbs's dollars. But it only takes a glance to see that more than Whitney's alimony is at stake.
Audiobook
First published January 1, 1996
305 people are currently reading
2201 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Hogan Trocheck
20 books588 followersaka Mary Kay Andrews
Kathy Hogan Trocheck is the author of critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series. A former reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, she is also the author of Little Bitty Lies and the Edgar®- and Macavity-nominated Savannah Blues, under the name Mary Kay Andrews.
Kathy Hogan Trocheck is the author of critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series. A former reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, she is also the author of Little Bitty Lies and the Edgar®- and Macavity-nominated Savannah Blues, under the name Mary Kay Andrews.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
May 2, 2021
I am enjoying this series so much that I have to download the next audio book in this series as soon as I have finished the last one.
The narrator is doing an amazing job of bringing each character to life and the mystery is well paced with twists and turns that make me want to listen whenever possible.
The narrator is doing an amazing job of bringing each character to life and the mystery is well paced with twists and turns that make me want to listen whenever possible.
September 27, 2021
I'm almost done with one of my favorite cozy mystery series! I read them a little out of order, so I have just one more. Not looking forward to the end ...
March 8, 2017
This mystery is well written but it cemented an opinion that I had about this series. At best these books are quietly racist.
It is interesting how the parents of the dead little girl are always shown in an unsympathetic role, even if they lost their daughter to a drunk driver. They are repeatedly referred to as "gloating over" the death of the woman who killed their child. There is no way that white parents would have been shown in the same light.
She also does that same hateful description of only describing black people as looters ( I am sure these are not issues for the readers she wants but she goes out of her way to create negative narratives of black characters. I find the blind and deaf older ladies to be stereotypical examples of mammies.
Her writing is good but her audience is for quietly racist or privileged people who want to have all their negatives ideals, concerning black people, to be confirmed.
It is interesting how the parents of the dead little girl are always shown in an unsympathetic role, even if they lost their daughter to a drunk driver. They are repeatedly referred to as "gloating over" the death of the woman who killed their child. There is no way that white parents would have been shown in the same light.
She also does that same hateful description of only describing black people as looters ( I am sure these are not issues for the readers she wants but she goes out of her way to create negative narratives of black characters. I find the blind and deaf older ladies to be stereotypical examples of mammies.
Her writing is good but her audience is for quietly racist or privileged people who want to have all their negatives ideals, concerning black people, to be confirmed.
December 28, 2021
This the 5th in the Callahan Garrity series. It was copywrited in 1996 and will probably only be available on E-Bay or Amazon, but will be worth the effort. These are, what I consider “cosey mysteries”. A book that grandma can read and not be offended.
The mysteries take place in Atlanta and anyone who has lived there will revel in the places mentioned in the books.
Callahan Garrity is a former Atlanta Policewoman who has left the department to pursue a career in a Detective Agency. The Agency is not doing well and with her mother start a cleaning company called the House Mouse. Although this is doing well, Callahan keeps getting involved in murder mysteries.
This mystery sees her mother having heart problems, her love life starting to fall apart, the Atlanta Olympics, and a prominent Atlanta cardiologist.
The mysteries take place in Atlanta and anyone who has lived there will revel in the places mentioned in the books.
Callahan Garrity is a former Atlanta Policewoman who has left the department to pursue a career in a Detective Agency. The Agency is not doing well and with her mother start a cleaning company called the House Mouse. Although this is doing well, Callahan keeps getting involved in murder mysteries.
This mystery sees her mother having heart problems, her love life starting to fall apart, the Atlanta Olympics, and a prominent Atlanta cardiologist.
January 16, 2018
(Rounded down from 3.5)
I was a little put off by the fact that the books couldn’t seem to decide if it was chick lit that contained a mystery or vice versa. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read previous books about this character, maybe it’s that I generally read mysteries for the mystery and not the detective, but it felt like it flipped back and forth too much which killed any momentum or suspense.
Also wasn’t crazy about the resolution. I guess it made sense, but the character was such a minor character that it was tough to see any motivation. It felt forced.
I was a little put off by the fact that the books couldn’t seem to decide if it was chick lit that contained a mystery or vice versa. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read previous books about this character, maybe it’s that I generally read mysteries for the mystery and not the detective, but it felt like it flipped back and forth too much which killed any momentum or suspense.
Also wasn’t crazy about the resolution. I guess it made sense, but the character was such a minor character that it was tough to see any motivation. It felt forced.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2018
I love Callahan Garrity! I have really enjoyed this series. I think there are eight books total, so I have three more to dive in to! I love how they are written in the 90s around Atlanta. The set of main characters we have all come to know and love comes back in each book, as we are introduced to another new case. I like that in this book, the client that Callahan takes on isn’t 100% likable…but that you still want justice for her.
Bottom Line: This is a super fun cozy mystery series if you like that sort of thing.
Bottom Line: This is a super fun cozy mystery series if you like that sort of thing.
January 22, 2024
I enjoy the Callahan Garrity stories. The story is good with a woman that hires Callahan to prove her soon to be ex-husband has been hiding assets. However, she gets killed and her daughter asks Callahan to continue the case for her inheritance, but also to solve the murder. What I like about this book is outside of the plot this does make the read think of racism - systemic with law enforcement and court system, but also within ourselves. We also get to know Callahan's family a bit more.
How did this book find me? It is number 5 in a series I've been reading.
How did this book find me? It is number 5 in a series I've been reading.
July 18, 2017
I might have to give this an extra half star for diving head first into race relations in Atlanta. Delicate territory, and the author seems to present both sides well. But overall just a nice little mystery.
May 27, 2022
This one was a super fast read! I HAD to know what was happening. I am falling more and more in love with these characters and am so happy there are quite a few books left to read.
Murder. Set up. Controversy. This book has it all and of course our dear friend Callahan is at the heart of it all.
Murder. Set up. Controversy. This book has it all and of course our dear friend Callahan is at the heart of it all.
August 27, 2022
I'm hooked on this series (reminds me of eagerly awaiting new Stephanie Plum books back in the day). Enjoy the cozy mystery components of Callahan Garrity running the House Mouse cleaning business, with her mother and the assorted ladies who work for them, while working part time as a private detective. Love that the stories were published in the 1990's so there is some technology like computers and car phones, but no cell phones. And it is fun to get to know the Atlanta area through assorted murders and mysteries.
January 23, 2023
Loved it. Love everything by Mary Kay Andrews/Kathy Hogan Trocheck.
August 7, 2023
One of the better books in this series! Totally enjoyable.
June 12, 2024
I have to keep a record of all the people in the story, it gets so complex.
I love this series and only have 3 more to go. I will miss this family.
I love this series and only have 3 more to go. I will miss this family.
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September 12, 2024Dnf. Annoying narration. Lots of racist undertones even for the time period
May 22, 2023
Ack! I missed one!! Now to forget the references to book #4, and find a copy!!!
October 4, 2014
I am working my way through this series thanks to a friend who loves this writer and owns first editions of most of her books. The first book was quite humorous and set the tone, or so I believed at the time, for the rest of the Callahan Garrity stories. What I have found instead is the books are less funny and more dark the more into the series I get. I have also discovered that I really don't care for the lead character or her family and friends. Hmmmm - will I keep reading them, you ask? Yes, probably so, partially because of the aforementioned friend who is Ms. Trocheck's biggest fan; he has been so happy to share these books with me. Another reason is that I do still enjoy reading of locations in and around Atlanta that I am very familiar with, having lived and worked there for many years. Finally, these stories are decent mysteries and the "whodunit" is not obvious or unbelievable.
September 22, 2010
This series continues to entertain me. I really like Callahan and love reading about her relationship to her mom. She's a hard worker, running both a cleaning service and a PI company.
In this one she's hired to work for a woman who believes her husband is hiding assets so that he can claim to be broke when they divorce. The complication is that the woman is the "most hated woman in Atlanta". The woman killed a black child while driving drunk, but is let off because of a technicality. There's all kinds of racial tension in the city because of it.
Callahan is reluctant to take the job, but she does because she needs the money. When her client is murdered, she still continues to work for the daughter who believes her father killed her mom.
Throw in that Callahan's mom isn't feeling well and might need heart surgery, and it's a very interesting book.
In this one she's hired to work for a woman who believes her husband is hiding assets so that he can claim to be broke when they divorce. The complication is that the woman is the "most hated woman in Atlanta". The woman killed a black child while driving drunk, but is let off because of a technicality. There's all kinds of racial tension in the city because of it.
Callahan is reluctant to take the job, but she does because she needs the money. When her client is murdered, she still continues to work for the daughter who believes her father killed her mom.
Throw in that Callahan's mom isn't feeling well and might need heart surgery, and it's a very interesting book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2014
Have read her earlier books, like "Little Bitty Lies" and "The Fixer Upper", and have read two of her newer works--murder mysteries featuring ex-cop/ex-PI, J Callahan-Garrity, who now runs House Mouse house cleaning service with her crotchety mother, Edna. The books all take place in the South, this one in the Atlanta area. She is asked to help solve the death of a prominent physician's wife who is mysteriously murdered. The ending is quite exciting and the southern touches throughout are fun and funny. Good beach read.
June 21, 2020
Great series...cozy southern mystery series
August 19, 2022
Callahan used to be a police officer and changed careers when she bought House Mouse, a cleaning service that she runs with her mother, Edna ... but she still does private investigating on the side.
House Mouse has been asked to bid on a big job but Callahan would have to hire more staff if they won the job and she's having issues trying to find people. In the meantime, she has been approached to take on an investigation job ... a wealthy woman is in the process of getting divorced and she suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband is hiding his assets and she needs someone to look into it. Callahan can use the money but the wealthy white woman is one of the most hated women in Atlanta ... she recently ran over and killed a young black girl while under the influence and got away with it because of a technicality. The woman agrees to pay Callahan double her normal rate so Callahan accepts. On top of all this, Edna is having heart problems so her health isn't great.
The writing was okay, though it could have been edited better as there were words left out. The storyline was more racial-charged than I was expecting and there was a lot going on (too many unimportant side stories like Neva Jean's husband buying emus and Callahan's sister and brother-in-law moving in because they are renovating their house). The ending came quickly and I wasn't buying it.
It is written in first person perspective in Callahan's voice. Because it was originally written in the mid 1990s and is set in the mid 1990s (just before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta) they are still using pay phones, answering machines, cheques, etc. Some of the terms used are now cringe-worthy such as the "N-word" and "coloured" which makes the book seem racist. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.
This is the fifth in the Callahan Garrity Mystery Series ... I read the first one in 2018 and recently picked the series back up again. It's not a great series but I'm now more than halfway through so I'll keep going to the end.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2022/08...
House Mouse has been asked to bid on a big job but Callahan would have to hire more staff if they won the job and she's having issues trying to find people. In the meantime, she has been approached to take on an investigation job ... a wealthy woman is in the process of getting divorced and she suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband is hiding his assets and she needs someone to look into it. Callahan can use the money but the wealthy white woman is one of the most hated women in Atlanta ... she recently ran over and killed a young black girl while under the influence and got away with it because of a technicality. The woman agrees to pay Callahan double her normal rate so Callahan accepts. On top of all this, Edna is having heart problems so her health isn't great.
The writing was okay, though it could have been edited better as there were words left out. The storyline was more racial-charged than I was expecting and there was a lot going on (too many unimportant side stories like Neva Jean's husband buying emus and Callahan's sister and brother-in-law moving in because they are renovating their house). The ending came quickly and I wasn't buying it.
It is written in first person perspective in Callahan's voice. Because it was originally written in the mid 1990s and is set in the mid 1990s (just before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta) they are still using pay phones, answering machines, cheques, etc. Some of the terms used are now cringe-worthy such as the "N-word" and "coloured" which makes the book seem racist. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.
This is the fifth in the Callahan Garrity Mystery Series ... I read the first one in 2018 and recently picked the series back up again. It's not a great series but I'm now more than halfway through so I'll keep going to the end.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2022/08...
March 2, 2023
I tend to lean towards reading cozy mystery in the winter months and found this series of books. I read book #8 and then book #5 of this series out of order not realizing it was a series it seems ok and I will continue to finish out the series if i find time.
I do love the characters especially the main leading female strong role and her relationships with both her cleaning ladies as well as her mom who also assists in the private detective agency.
Setting for both books were in Atlanta and a assumingly poorer area named "the promise land" in which danger & crime always exist.
Book 5, Heart Trouble, had ALOT of racism scenes & under tones which at times, I did not appreciate but it was still ok to read since it wasn't too opinionated.
Overall rating a 3.5 read it in one sitting last night.
Note to self:
Callahan Garrity Mystery Books in order:
1-Every Crooked Nanny (I own on audible)
2-To Live and Die in Dixie (I own on Chirp)
3-Homemade Sin (I do not own - check library)
4-Happy Never After (I do not own - check library)
5- Heart Trouble (I own on Chirp - note cover & author is not the same as good reads cover) READ
6-Strange Brew (I got from library - this was the first in the series that I read)
7-Midnight Clear (i do not own - check library)
8-Irish Eyes (i own on Chirp)
I do love the characters especially the main leading female strong role and her relationships with both her cleaning ladies as well as her mom who also assists in the private detective agency.
Setting for both books were in Atlanta and a assumingly poorer area named "the promise land" in which danger & crime always exist.
Book 5, Heart Trouble, had ALOT of racism scenes & under tones which at times, I did not appreciate but it was still ok to read since it wasn't too opinionated.
Overall rating a 3.5 read it in one sitting last night.
Note to self:
Callahan Garrity Mystery Books in order:
1-Every Crooked Nanny (I own on audible)
2-To Live and Die in Dixie (I own on Chirp)
3-Homemade Sin (I do not own - check library)
4-Happy Never After (I do not own - check library)
5- Heart Trouble (I own on Chirp - note cover & author is not the same as good reads cover) READ
6-Strange Brew (I got from library - this was the first in the series that I read)
7-Midnight Clear (i do not own - check library)
8-Irish Eyes (i own on Chirp)
March 28, 2025
Edna has a problem with her heart and has to quit smoking. Callahan Garrity takes on a client, Whitney Albright Dobbs, who is very unpopular after she killed a child while driving drunk. Whitney's soft sentence led to race tension. Spoiler alert: when Whitney is killed the list of suspects has no end.
Her ex-husband Dr. Dobbs and his pregnant girlfriend are claiming to be broke and refuse to give Whitney and their daughter any money. Callahan is brought in to find out the truth about the doctor's finances. Meanwhile she needs to hire more cleaners for her House Mouse cleaning business and keep an eye on her mother, Edna's health. She has her hands full.
Her ex-husband Dr. Dobbs and his pregnant girlfriend are claiming to be broke and refuse to give Whitney and their daughter any money. Callahan is brought in to find out the truth about the doctor's finances. Meanwhile she needs to hire more cleaners for her House Mouse cleaning business and keep an eye on her mother, Edna's health. She has her hands full.
May 31, 2018
I just read three of these books in two days. They are highly entertaining. I love love love Callahan, the main character. The other ever present cast in these books her mom, boyfriend, and her employees are just as much fun. She always seem to be able to solve the crime while almost always getting hr self killed! My only hold out on 5 scores is the ever present GD word. I’m no prude and will pop them out with the best of them however that one is off limits and sends me to prayers when I hear it. Other than that these are fun fun books.
April 28, 2019
The first book that I’ve read/finished by Mary Kay Andrews (writing as Kathy Hogan Trocheck). It wasn’t bad. I enjoyed Callahan’s spirit and the feistiness of her House Mouse ladies. The mystery was fairly decent and was a different sort of mystery from others that I’ve read recently, so it stood out.
Will be looking for more books by Andrews (actually I have one waiting for me from the library right now! Another Callahan mystery). Recommend these for peeps who enjoy chick lit mixed with Southern fiction and some fairly gruesome murders (gruesome for chick lit, that is).
Will be looking for more books by Andrews (actually I have one waiting for me from the library right now! Another Callahan mystery). Recommend these for peeps who enjoy chick lit mixed with Southern fiction and some fairly gruesome murders (gruesome for chick lit, that is).
August 14, 2020
This book starts out slowly and the main character is not my favorite or the business she runs as well as investigating murders, but once you get into the story and the problem and start learning about the characters and their back story it draws you in. I love Andrews' books and the different characters and settings and events but the mystery in each is what I grab onto. This series or main character is nothing like the more current books the author has written and the author listed above is not the author on my book cover but the main character is the same.
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October 4, 2020DNF. I picked the wrong time to read this book. It’s tough enough to read about racial tensions in the south without doing it in 2020 during the protests and upheavals our country is going through. I read these mysteries as something fun and escapist so this really didn’t fit the bill for me. It’s well written. I decided not to rate it because I couldn’t really barely judge it. About halfway through I decided just to skip onto the next in the series I hope I wouldn’t miss too much.
March 26, 2021
Riveting. Timely. Suspense filled. Not lacking twists and turns. Also in keeping with wit interspersed along the way. Really enjoying this series. That being said - Saddened, amazed, disgusted, unsettled that at the heart of this novel lies the racism and social justice issues still headlining today. Events on the page from the 90’s could’ve been the same events currently, in both Atlanta AND throughout our nation. That ... is Heartbreaking.
November 29, 2021
This book #5 in this series and I am hooked. The characters in this series are unique. I so enjoy how Hillary Huber reads the characters. Hillary is fabulous at changing character voices. Callahan Garrity is my hero. Smart and confident, she gets to the bottom of a murder investigation and works to clear her client's name. Callahan lives by her own rules. She is determined to bring the killer to justice. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
March 9, 2023
I love Mary Kay Andrews. She is one of my favorite authors. Heart Trouble is one of her mysteries. Callahan is challenged as a PI to look into the divorce of a famous (for terrible reasons) lady, Whitney Dobbs, in Atlanta after her husband, a heart doctor claims he has no money for alimony or child support. The findings along the way will keep you on your toes. It was an ending I was not expecting.!
February 6, 2018
This book is much better than the previous books in the series. It seems that the author started getting her stride with the last book, and now with this one, she has found a way to translate a generic Whodunit into a suspenseful story that captured my attention. I look forward to reading further into the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews