Midnight Clear [Import] [Hardcover]

Kathy Hogan Trocheck (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0709066333
• ISBN-13: 978-0709066330
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Kathy Hogan Trocheck has published 17 novels, 10 critically-acclaimed mysteries under her own name and seven other bestselling novels writing as Mary Kay Andrews.

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Trocheck earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1976. She started her professional journalism career in Savannah, Georgia, where she covered the real-life murder trials which were the basis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. She left journalism after a ten-year stint as a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Her first book, Every Crooked Nanny, featuring a clever, snoopy housecleaner named Callahan Garrity, appeared in 1992. It was followed by seven other Garrity novels including To Live and Die in Dixie (1993), Homemade Sin (1994), Happy Never After (1995), Heart Trouble (1996), Strange Brew (1997), Midnight Clear (1998), and Irish Eyes (2000). The two Truman Kicklighter novels were Lickety Split (1996) and Crash Course (1997).

The first novel to be published under the name Mary Kay Andrews was Savannah Blues (2002). It was followed by Little Bitty Lies (2003); Hissy Fit (2004); the New York Times bestseller, Savannah Breeze (2006); the New York Times bestseller, Blue Christmas (2007); Deep Dish (2008); and the New York Times bestseller, The Fixer Upper (2009).

Her mysteries have been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, and Macavity Awards.

As a lifelong "junker" the author claims to know the location of every promising thrift store, flea market, and junkpile in the southeastern United States, plus many parts of Ohio.

She is a frequent lecturer and writing teacher at workshops including Emory University, The University of Georgia's Harriet Austin Writer's Workshop, the Tennessee Mountain Writer's Workshop, and the Antioch Writer's Workshop. Her mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards.

Married to her high school sweetheart, she is the mother of two grown children and a proud grandmother. After a brief hiatus in Raleigh, NC, she and her husband moved back to their old neighborhood in Atlanta, where they live in a restored 1926 Craftsman bungalow. She divides her time between Atlanta and her restored beach cottage on Tybee Island, GA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Callahan Series, April 4, 2001

By 

Jennifer Hall (Rockmart, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Clear: A Callahan Garrity Mystery (Callahan Garrity Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've become somewhat of a Callahan Garrity junkie, and only wish that Kathy Hogan Trocheck would write more, more, more, and much faster. Come on, Grafton is up to her her sixteenth in her series, and I'd much prefer Trocheck to have written that many. This installment in enjoyable House Mouse land is the best yet, funny, suspenseful and well-rounded.

It's Christmas time in Candler Park, and Callahan and her goofy mother Edna are gearing up for the holidays. Out of the blue, Callahan's long lost brother Brian shows up, with an unexpected holiday package: his 3 year old daughter Maura. Edna is overjoyed with her new found granddaughter, but when Brian confesses that he has practically stolen her from his unreliable, trashy ex-wife, then vanishes for days leaving little Maura with Edna and the not-so-motherly Callahan, things start getting messy very fast. When the ex-wife is found murdered in her apartment, Brian is the main suspect, and Callahan is up to her ears in a new case, more personal than ever this time.

Trocheck never fails to mix in humor and suspense, and it abounds in Midnight Clear. Adding in more Atlanta history and new settings in the southern suburbs and the abandoned, long-ago Funtown, Callahan fights to clear her brother's name and to keep Maura safe. A delightful read, with twists and turns, and an unlikable new character in Brian, Midnight Clear is Trocheck's best to date.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT HOLIDAY MYSTERY, December 17, 2002

By 

Kim K. (Bayonne, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Clear: A Callahan Garrity Mystery (Callahan Garrity Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I deliberately waited over a year to purchase and read Midnight Clear by my favorite mystery author, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. I've always paced myself with her books because there aren't that many to begin with plus it's been over 3 years since KHT last wrote one. I hope that she is working on something new, because all of us Callahan Garrity fans are anxiously awaiting the next mystery featuring Callahan, Edna & the rest of the House Mouse cleaning crew! As for Midnight Clear-it just doesn't get any better than this. Kid brother Brian, who had been in absentia for 10 years suddenly shows up at Edna's doorstep with a surprise in his truck-a 3 year old girl named Maura. There is a major murder mystery for Callahan to solve, but it looks like Brian is the prime suspect-his ex-wife is found murdered in her bed. You'll find yourself rapidly turning the pages until you reach the surprise ending, KHT pulls out all the stops with this one. Once you reach the very end, however, you realize you want more books to come out featuring Callahan Garrity & co. As the previous reviewer mentioned, if only Ms. Trocheck would write as often as Sue Grafton does! Very highly recommended-along with all of her other books. Enjoy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining mystery, February 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Midnight Clear: A Callahan Garrity Mystery (Callahan Garrity Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Callahan must solve the murder of her brother's round-heeled ex-wife before the police arrest him and ruin her mother's Christmas. Although the actual culprit is fairly easy to spot it's great fun to watch Callahan work her way out of a tough situation; her brother is no angel and her mother is not quite the strong woman she used to be.

The zany friends and employees are back, and if they appear all too briefly, they are as amusing as ever.