FROM THE PUBLISHER

Atlanta is temporarily distracted from its pre-Olympic frenzy by the sensational case of Whitney Dobbs, the wealthy, white ex-wife of a prominent cardiologist, who ran over a little black girl while driving drunkenly through a park. With the aid of a wily lawyer, she has managed to get off with a misdemeanor charge plus a few hours of community service, and the city is outraged. So when Whitney is shot to death while picking up roadside trash (as part of her community service), people seem happy to accept the cops' verdict that she's just another casualty of a neighborhood where the chief hobby is indiscriminate shooting. Callahan had been doing some detective work on Whitney's spectacularly messy divorce before the shooting and now she's been hired by Whitney's daughter to track down the killer. Callahan uncovers suspects from every social stratum: the parents of the girl Whitney killed, Whitney's greedy ex-husband, and his fluffily malevolent new gal pal. Only a crazy man witnessed Whitney's murder and he communicates solely via biblical riddles and allegorical paintings. As she races to uncover the killer before she herself gets killed, Callahan's riotous personal life rattles along at full throttle. Her hated sister and brother-in-law move in while their house is being renovated (for renting out during the Olympics), her irascible mom, Edna, suffers some (literal) heart trouble of her own, and the rogues' gallery of "girls" in her employ offer a wealth of comic relief - from unusual table settings to impotent emus.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In the midst of preparations to host the Olympics, the city of Atlanta is locked in the grip of racial tension when a drunk driver, wealthy white socialite Whitney Dobbs, runs down a black child and is sentenced to a small fine and 100 hours of community service. Callahan Garrity, owner of The House Mouse cleaning service and part-time PI, reluctantly takes on some detective work for Whitney, whose ex-husband, well-known cardiologist, Carson Dobbs, is suspected of financial hanky-panky. Meanwhile, Whitney is gunned down while collecting garbage for the city and Callahan, whose mother, Edna, is just out of the hospital, is drawn into the murder investigation. In Callahan's fifth outing (following Happy Never After), memorable characters abound, from the two elderly black sisters, Baby and Sister Easterbrooks, House Mouse employees who use Kotex for dinner napkins, to Neva Jean, another employee, who is allergic to the emus her husband has just bought. Traveling from the heights of Atlanta society to the depressed area known as the Promised Land, Callahan narrates her newest adventure with zesty enthusiasm, all the way to a thrilling climax with the murderer in a rustic cabin. Trocheck has a sure winner in Callahan. (June)

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