Happy Never After (Callahan Garrity Mystery #4)

I wasn\’t sure what to expect when I ordered the Callahan Garrity series. I have long been a fan of Mary Kay Andrews but since some of my favorite authors now had some less than stellar early books, I just kept my fingers crossed. Much to my surprise, I am thoroughly enjoying this series. I like her characters, the plot twists and turns, the humor and earthiness. Although some of the language is not politically correct, sadly it is accurate to the times. I am awaiting novels 6, 7, and 8 in the series and have loved 1-5. Can\’t wait! For reference (in case you like to read them in order like I do), the 1st is Every Crooked Nanny, the 2nd is To Live and Die in Dixie, the 3rd is Homemade Sin, the 4th is Happy Never After, the 5th is Heart Trouble, the 6th is Strange Brew, the 7th is Midnight Clear, and the 8th is Irish Eyes. Phew!

I love the Callahan Garrity series and I discovered this older one which I hadn\’t read. Not only are the House Mouse housecleaning gang included but a murder mystery involving the music business takes Callahan into extremely dangerous territory. As an added bonus, this book is in many ways a time machine back to the early 1990\’s before smart phones and personal computers became necessities! All in all, this book is entertaining in humor, characterization and mystery. Have fun reading it!

Really enjoy these Callahan Garrity mysteries. Usually they revolve around her House Mouse cleaning business with a little detective work on the side and a glimpse of her affair with Mac. This time it\’s the other way around. Callahan gets involved with a 60\’s teen band, a murder, some snooping, a shooting…a surprise as to \”who done it\”….Callahan almost losing her own life…and another \”what???\” regarding Mac that will make you want to slap him. Great story but you get so caught up in the story that it\’s over too quickly. Good buy.

Being a fan of MKA, this was the book that started it. I\’ve read all of her books for entertainment between some of the \”heavy\” murder mysteries I read.

This is more like Sue Grafton. The dialog has tightened up. My favorite line \”Rita, she\’s alright. You ask me if she did do it the dude probably needed killing.\” The plot construction is not as tight as Grafton. We are not convinced that the only way to prove Rita innocent is to find the real killer so the page-turning tension doesn\’t build up. It\’s a series of interviews which are used to bring in memorable characters and a lot of information about pop music of the sixties. The sub-plot of the two divorced couples and their daughters was more compelling. I was not sure from reading it if this was next in the series after Every Dead Nanny. Did Home-Made Sin and To Live and Die in Dixie come in between? I\’ll have fun finding out.

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