Part of Callahan Garrity Mystery, book 2
First published 1993
Callahan Garrity thought cleaning houses was messy until she took on detective work. The former Atlanta police officer now runs a cleaning service, but Elliott Littlefield has a different job for her. The notorious antiques dealer wants Callahan to track down a Civil War diary written by an infamous madam. The journal is worth a fortune and stirs up plenty of controversy. Callahan accepts the case, expecting a straightforward search. Instead, she stumbles into a web of obsessed Civil War collectors who will do anything to possess historical artifacts. Right-wing extremists complicate her investigation, and even local teenagers get pulled into the chaos. Each lead Callahan follows makes the situation more dangerous. She discovers that some people value old secrets more than human lives. The diary contains information that threatens powerful people in modern Atlanta. Callahan must decide how far she will go to solve the case and whether some mysteries should stay buried.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, investigation, secrets
Setting: Atlanta, Dixie
Period: Civil War
284 pages · Hardcover · Harpercollins