Homemade Sin (1994)

First Line: "Nine-letter hint," I muttered, absent-mindedly winding a curl around my finger.

When her cousin Patti McNair is shot to death in her new car near the Garden Homes project in Atlanta, a horrible situation is made even worse by the fact that her young son is in the car with her. Callahan refuses to believe that Patti's death is a random robbery and senseless murder, and sets out to find her own suspects and conduct her own investigation. In fact, she's being so mule-headed about the whole thing that she puts her own life in danger.

I've enjoyed this series about a former Atlanta police officer who's now owner of the House Mouse cleaning service. Granted, Callahan's mother has always rubbed my fur the wrong way with her methods of getting her daughter to do as she wants, but I could overlook that. Unfortunately, in Homemade Sin there were a few too many things I couldn't overlook.

For one thing, I can't help but compare this series to Ann Purser's Lois Meade series centered on a woman running her own house cleaning agency in small town England. Purser's series wins, hands down. It's obvious that Callahan had a career previous to House Mouse, and by the way she's always haring off to do something else, her heart isn't in her current career. On the other hand, Lois keeps a tight rein on her business, takes care of her family and solves crimes.

Trocheck's series, set in Atlanta, also has a tendency to limit African American characters to the roles of domestics, gang bangers and project dwellers, which didn't set well with me.

But what really got up my nose is the behavior of Callahan herself. At the very beginning of the book, there really isn't any evidence to support Callahan's belief that Patti's murder was planned. I'm sorry, but Callahan's guilt over not talking to or visiting with her cousin as often as she should have in recent years just isn't evidence to me. Our intrepid heroine then proceeds to ride rough-shod over everyone else in the family to pursue her gut feeling. She has no respect for anyone else's feelings or wishes. Then she pouts when family members give her the Silent Cold Shoulder Treatment. Gah!

Yes, Callahan was proved right, but I'm still annoyed with her. Hmm... see why I have enjoyed this series? The characters can get to you! If you're in the mood for a cozy with a heroine whose heart is in the hunt and not the scrub bucket, give Kathy Hogan Trocheck's Callahan Garrity series a try. Not everyone is a curmudgeon like me! ( )

Callahan and her mother, Edna, are shocked to receive a phone call one
Sunday morning, telling them that Callahan's favorite cousin, Patti, has
been murdered, the apparent victim of a senseless urban car jacking. And
her nine year old son, Dylan (who suffers from a speech recognition handicap
and can barely communicate under the best of circumstances), was asleep in
the backseat when it happened, waking up just in time to see a "scary black
man" blow his mother's head off. While Edna rushes to her sister-in-law's
side to comfort her in the loss of her daughter, Callahan simply cannot
accept the obvious and does not believe this was a random act of violence.
What in the world was Patti doing in such a bad part of the city in the
first place, when she is famous for her phobias and fears? Why was Dylan in
the car in the middle of the day? And who was it that made the call to 911
to report the killing on that seedy street corner? Callahan's investigation
irritates the police (as usual) and pisses off the rest of her family, too,
who simply want to grieve and get over this and not rake everything up and
keep the wound open and bleeding. Everyone is concerned for Dylan, the only
witness, but while the rest of the family worries about his state of mind,
Callahan is more concerned for his safety because sooner or later the
murderer is going to try to take him out, she's sure of it.

I have to say that this book was better than the first one I read. The
recurring characters seem to ebb and flow and become more fleshed out in
some episodes than they do in others. This series is more like a television
series in that respect, with not a lot of progress made on any sort of
backstory, just individual characterization and a new mystery each time.
Callahan is a bit edgier in this book, but maybe I'm just beginning to know
her a little bit better. I like her mother better, though, to tell you the
truth. At any rate, Trocheck seems to have the Atlanta area down pat
and the women who work for Callahan's house cleaning business, The House
Mouse, are becoming more familiar. ( )

Trocheck doesn't seem to shrink away from touchy subjects. This book deals with the apparently car-jacking murder of Callahan Garrity's cousin. The repercussions threaten to destroy her entire family, not just Callahan herself. ( )