Happy Never After

Digital audio book narrated by Hillary Huber.

From the book jacket: In this fourth installment of the Callahan Garrity series, the South’s favorite cleaning lady/sleuth immerses herself in the world of sixties girl groups and nineties rap groups to hunt the killer of a suave, self-serving record producer.

My reactions:
I like this mystery series. It’s a little edgier than a traditional cozy, because Callahan is a former Atlanta Police Officer, but it has many of the classic elements of a cozy: an “amateur” sleuth, a regular cast of characters surrounding the main character’s life/business (in this case, her mother and the other maids of her house-cleaning business), and murder that happens (mostly) off the page. We also have a show more love interest that is getting complicated. Callahan, however is NOT an amateur – she’s a licensed private investigator, and can carry a gun (and shot it). She’s also intelligent, determined and usually gets herself out of a jam rather than wait around for help.

I really enjoyed the premise in this installment, especially as I was a teenager in the era of the sixties girl groups. There were plenty of references to that era that kept me entertained and enough plot twists and red herrings to keep me interested. And … I did NOT guess the perpetrator until the reveal.

Hilary Huber does a fine job of narrating the audio version. She has good pacing, clear diction, and the skill to give the many characters distinct voices, making it easy for the listener to distinguish who is speaking. I particularly love how she voices the elderly Easterbrooks: Baby and Sister. show less

Callahan Garrity, former Atlanta police officer, owner of The House Mouse maid service, and part-time private investigator, is surprised one day when two black women walk up onto her front porch. Vonette Hunsecker is the ex-wife of Callahan's old friend from the force, C.W. She and her cousin Rita Fontaine are two of the women who made up the girl-group, The VelveTeens, who were pretty hot stuff back in the 1960s. They want to hire Callahan to help them track down Rita's sister and the third member of their trio, Delores Carter. They haven't seen nor heard from Delores since 1974, but the VelveTeens have a chance to make a come-back because a Hollywood producer wants to make a movie based on their smash hit "Happy Never After" and use show more the girls to reprise their song for the soundtrack. Callahan is reluctant to get involved with Vonette because her best friend, Linda Nickells just married C.W. last year, and things have always been tense between him and his ex-wife. But, times are kind of tough right now and besides, how hard could this be?

But Callahan realizes she might have bitten off more than she can chew when Rita is found passed out drunk by a swimming pool near the dead body of the trio's former producer, big time music mogul Stu Hightower. The fact that she's also holding a gun that turns out to be the murder weapon sure makes it look like she's guilty, but something just doesn't add up for Callahan. Switching gears and now working along with Rita's defense attorney, she sets out to prove her client's innocence in a case that is rocking the music world.

I'm really enjoying this series. The women on the House Mouse cleaning team are such an eccentric group and they are really fleshing out as the series progresses. There's a bit of a backstory, too, but it's very much in the background and not obtrusive to the mystery being solved in each book. I enjoy books set in the south and this author knows the Atlanta area quite well. This one gets a 4.5 show less

I am in the process of reading the Callahan Garrity Mystery Series-- not entirely in order; however, each can be a standalone, as these are being released this year. This was #4 and Kathy Hogan Trocheck (Mary Kay Andrews) always adds spice and humor with her sassy southern belles.

With the housekeeping business (House Mouse) and her detective work, the array of colorful characters (quite eccentric) are always into some sort of mischief. This time, Callahan is trying to track down a missing member of the popular 60’s group the Velvet Teens.

It will take you back in time if you were from this era (which I was) with lots of laughs before all the new technology – entertaining – looking forward to reading them all since I have read show more all Mary Kay’s books (one of my favorite authors)– picking up Trocheck’s mysteries. show less

This was a fun, quick "summer read". It was especially entertaining to me since it took place where I live (Atlanta). The mystery was intriguing and I'm looking forward to reading another one of her mysteries.

A sidetrip back to the 60s Motown music when Callahan is hired to find one of the members of a singing group so they can have a comeback. Callahan ends up delving into the workings of an independent record label, which was interesting as well.

Fun fluff read. House cleaning crew has lots of potential for getting into unusual situations. I'll probably read more of this author while working out at the gym.

Callahan Garrity is met stip de nieuwsgierigste schoonmaakster van Atlanta. Haar reputatie om korte metten te maken met vlekken en vlerken is inmiddels legendarisch.

Haar nieuwste zorg is Rita Fontaine, lid van Callahans favoriete meidengroep uit de jaren '60, de VelvetTeens. Helaas zit er weinig muziek in deze opdracht. Rita wordt er namelijk van beschuldigd haar vroegere producer, Stu Hightower, te hebben vermoord, omdat hij de comeback van de VelvetTeens dwarsboomde.

Terwijl Callahan voorzichtig een weg zoekt door het mijnenveld van de muziekwereld, blijkt al gauw dat Stu de laatste jaren meer vijanden dan platen heeft gemaakt...