Strange Brew

This is book six in the Callahan Garrity Mystery series, featuring former cop Callaghan and her mother, Edna, who run “House Mouse” maid service in Atlanta. Their neighborhood is seeing increased crime, but apparently is still a target for developers to buy up inexpensive properties and gentrify them. On Halloween, Wuvvy, an aging flower child who runs a toy store / head shop, confronts one of these new developers during a party at a local tavern. The next night said developer is found dead inside the Wuvvy’s shop. She swears she had nothing to do with the murder, and Callahan is inclined to believe her. But before she can really begin investigating, Wuvvy is found dead in her car, an apparent suicide.

I like this series. I like show more Callahan, who does have some reason to investigate and is at least skilled at it. She’s frequently helped by the House Mouse crew of eccentric ladies; I particularly like the elderly sisters Baby and Sister. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep even the best amateur sleuth guessing, and I didn’t figure out the perpetrator much before Callahan did.

Another satisfying cozy mystery from this author, and I’ll keep reading the series. show less

It was one of those unremarkable Sundays. Not unbearably hot, because we'd had an early afternoon shower. The windows were open, and I could hear the soft swish of a lawn sprinkler nearby. I was inside the house, watching an old gangster movie. I think George Raft was in it. Edna had put a chicken in the pressure cooker, and I was supposed to be listening for the steam to be sputtering good so I could turn down the heat. She was outside on the porch, probably dozing over the Sunday paper. All of a sudden she let out a howl like a scalded dog. I went running out just in time to see her out in the yard, beating this poor old drunk with a dripping wet floor mop.

Change is coming to the funky Atlanta neighborhood where Callahan and her
mother live. Bungalows like theirs are being snatched up and 'restored' and
the local shopping district, Little Five Points, is changing, too. A
wealthy co-op decides to open one of a chain of microbreweries in L5P,
displacing an eccentric aging hippie known only to her neighbors as "Wuvvy"
after evicting her small novelty store that's been a fixture on that corner
for years. In the middle of a freak tornado that tears through urban
Atlanta late on Halloween night, the young corporate rep is found murdered
in the empty building and Wuvvy has disappeared. An eerie message from the
old hippie is left on Callahan's answering machine just hours before her
body is show more found inside her ancient van, an apparent suicide. A former cop,
Callahan isn't as quick to condemn the colorful local character as her old
colleagues on the force, and their eagerness to tie up all the loose ends in
a neat bow doesn't sit well. Her investigative zeal is stirring up secrets
that are forcing her to reassess old friendships while someone is
desperately trying to keep her nose out of their business.

I'm liking this series more and more. The characters are familiar by this
time and the dialogue between them is witty and well written. This is a
tale of sex, love, rock and roll, and sweet revenge delivered with flair.
It gets a 4.5. show less

This was an awesome mystery (Callahan Garrity Mystery series) with lots of colorful and quirky characters – keeps you guessing all the way through the book. Voted for this book as the best mystery for 2013 Good Reads awards. If you love Mary Kay Andrews (which I do and have read all her books), try her older books (under the name of Kathy Hogan Trocheck) are now available as e-books.
This can be a standalone; however, you will want to read the other books in the the Callahan Garrity Mystery series as the characters are a riot (I have only read a few and trying to get to the others) on my to read list.

I loved the Atlanta references (as lived there most of my life) and Little Five Points (setting) is a trendy, funky cool area and show more fitting for this book.

This is a great book to read now in the Fall Season as the setting was Halloween with a mystery Callahan Garrity seeks to solve. She was a former Atlanta cop and now owns a house cleaning business (House Mouse) with her mother and other quirky funny characters. She takes on private detective jobs and this one is a big one which the cops cannot solve. Lots of twists and turns with some shocks along the way.

A body turns up on Halloween night (murder of a microbrewer) and Wuuvy (a hippie flower child who owns a shop in L5P is somehow connected. (will not spoil the rest) as too good! In the meantime, her mother (Edna) was robbed and she has formed a neighborhood group. (too funny as worked for a Coors Distributor in Atlanta years ago, as Marketing Director so could relate).

As the mystery develops more bodies are dying and takes them to a small South Georgia town where they meet some characters from the past who may know the real truth about the history of these culprits. Callahan never gives up and continues to uncover more of the puzzle

This book was full of Mary Kay’s humor and sass---full of mystery and thrills! I look forward to reading more of the Callahan Garrity Mysteries. Highly recommend! show less

A nice cozy mystery. I love her books written under Mary Kay Andrews. It was fun to stumble on a book from a series of hers. So what if it was #6? 😉💜

a dumb mystery. I won't be looking for any more by this author.