In this story her cleaning business hardly gets a mention. Her brother Brian, whom she has not seen for ten years, appears on her doorstep with his three-year-old daughter. He wants Callahan to help him gain custody of the child from his ex-wife, whom he alleges is an unfit parent. Callahan is familiar with his ex-wife, Shay, having grown up in the same neighborhood. Shay is the daughter of a prostitute and an unknown father.

Before Callahan can get legal proceedings started, Shay is found murdered, and Brian is considered the prime suspect. Callahan starts investigating the murder, even though she is not convinced that Brian is innocent of the crime.

The characters in this book are wonderfully written. They are by no means perfect people. They commit their fair share of sins and mistakes, yet they all have redeeming qualities which are endearing. Brian has had numerous encounters with the law, has little education, and a lot less ambition. He does however, love his daughter enough to try and remove her from a bad family situation, and give her a chance at a decent life. Callahan's mother, Edna, seeks to provide a warm and loving atmosphere for Brian's daughter, but has little regard for the law when it thwarts her in her efforts. Callahan herself adopts the philosophy of using whatever means she can to gain the information she seeks, regardless of the legality of her methods. She is dedicated to uncovering the truth though even if that truth shows her brother to be a killer.

The plot is not complex. Someone has murdered Brian's ex-wife, and the police with some unwanted assistance from Callahan seek to discover the villain. The motive, while not a particularly strong one to this reader, made sense to the killer. There were a few clever unexpected plot twists at the end of the book. The police are remarkably cooperative in allowing Callahan access to their information, though this is supposedly because Callahan has helped them in the past. She also seems to have little difficulty obtaining information from courthouse records.

While the general tone of the book is light, the issues the author addresses are serious. Although the murderer is caught, and the problem of the custody of the child resolved, it is quite clear that the future lives of many characters will not be easy. I eagerly await Kathy Hogan Trochek's next Callahan Garrity book.

--Andy Plonka