In five superlative mysteries, cleaning-lady-and-sleuth Callahan Garrity has patrolled the uneasy border where antebellum and New South converge. Now, in her most timely and intricate adventure yet, she must step in when hippies, yuppies and crackers clash with murderous consequences.Overnight, it seems, Callahan's Atlanta neighborhood is morphing from a genial mix of hobo and boho into an upscale, cappuccino-drenched quarter. The most unsettling portent of this change is that YoYos, a venerable headshop, is being forced out of business so that a microbrewery can take over its prime location. As the neighborhood gears up for its raucous Halloween revels, Callahan realizes that trouble is brewing. Not only is a fierce tornado bearing down on Atlanta, but Wuvvy, the aging flower child who runs YoYos, is on an uncharacteristic rampage. And in the storm's aftermath, Callahan's fears are confirmed when she finds the bludgeoned corpse of the grasping young entrepreneur who was pushing Wuvvy out.The police are quick to pin the crime on Wuvvy, but Callahan can't believe that this gentle soul would commit such a brutal act. Callahan's unique ability to mingle both with superannuated hippies and small-town Southern belles allows her to dig into the victim's past and Wuvvy's. She unearths a slew of succulent revelations about Wuvvy -- a tabloid-worthy tale strikingly at odds with the woman Callahan thought she knew. Her search also forces her to reassess old friendships in light of deadly new developments.As Callahan's investigation unfolds, she unleashes her wry wit, tussles with the outrageous band of "girls" (and one newly recruited "boy") in her cleaning business and rekindlesromance with her rugged beau, Mac McAuliffe. All in all, "Strange Brew" is superbly intoxicating suspense."Callahan Garrity mops up the crime scene in an Atlanta neighbourhood where murder meets its match in this fiesty, funny heroine. "Strange Brew" offers up a tidy mystery with a polished writing style and industrial-strength suspense."Sue GraftonA

Truman Kicklighter, widower and former AP reporter living in the Fountain of Youth Residence Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida, has lots on his plate as a bogus evangelist announces plans to take over the hotel and evict the retirees who don't buy their apartments. Then his best friend, a man whose decline into Alzheimer's is appallingly speedy, is accused of killing a young woman tout at the dog track.Aided by a feisty young Fountain of Youth waitress named Jackleen, Truman tries to uncover the evangelist's scam and find the tout's murderer. The latter effort, centering around the missing computer disk with the murder victim's new betting program, takes him up against the evangelist's brassy, ambitious secretary, a couple of low-life thugs for hire and a representative of organized crime.

In this short story by NY Times best-selling author Mary Kay Andrews, Atlanta private investigator/cleaning business owner Callahan Garrity once again proves her ability to clean up a sticky mess. When the grandson of faithful House Mouse employee Ruby is charged with brutally bludgeoning an elderly antique dealer, Callahan is called on to investigate. What she discovers is a recipe for homicide.

Retiree Truman Kicklighter, who lives in St. Petersburg's Fountain of Youth Residential Hotel, revs up his investigative abilities when a sleazy used-car salesman unloads a lemon on his good friend Jackie. When Jackie complains, strange things happen: someone steals the car, and the salesman winds up dead. Although warned away, Kicklighter goes undercover, gathering evidence of insurance fraud and murder.