Book ~ "Heart Trouble" (1996) Mary Kay Andrews (Kathy Hogan Trocheck)

From Goodreads ~ Callahan Garrity has her hands full trying to expand her House Mouse cleaing business. So she's reluctant to take on a client in need of detective services, especially when that client is the most notorious woman in Atlanta - Whitney Albright Dobbs. Whitney is a wealthy socialite who, while under the influence, hit and killed a young black girl and just kept driving.

Whitney's light sentence has set the city's racial tensions on simmer and Callahan is not especially keen on helping track down Whitney's soon-to-be ex-husband's hidden assets. Against her better judgment though, Callahan launches a full-out search for Dr. Dobbs's dollars. But it only takes a glance to see that more than Whitney's alimony is at stake.

Callahan used to be a police officer and changed careers when she bought House Mouse, a cleaning service that she runs with her mother, Edna ... but she still does private investigating on the side.

House Mouse has been asked to bid on a big job but Callahan would have to hire more staff if they won the job and she's having issues trying to find people.  In the meantime, she has been approached to take on an investigation job ... a wealthy woman is in the process of getting divorced and she suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband is hiding his assets and she needs someone to look into it.  Callahan can use the money but the wealthy white woman is one of the most hated women in Atlanta ... she recently ran over and killed a young black girl while under the influence and got away with it because of a technicality. The woman agrees to pay Callahan double her normal rate so Callahan accepts.  On top of all this, Edna is having heart problems so her health isn't great.

The writing was okay, though it could have been edited better as there were words left out. The storyline was more racial-charged than I was expecting and there was a lot going on (too many unimportant side stories like Neva Jean's husband buying emus and Callahan's sister and brother-in-law moving in because they are renovating their house). The ending came quickly and I wasn't buying it. 

It is written in first person perspective in Callahan's voice.  Because it was originally written in the mid 1990s and is set in the mid 1990s (just before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta) they are still using pay phones, answering machines, cheques, etc. Some of the terms used are now cringe-worthy such as the "N-word" and "coloured" which makes the book seem racist. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

This is the fifth in the Callahan Garrity Mystery Series ... I read the first one in 2018 and recently picked the series back up again.  Though part of a series, it works as a stand alone as there is enough background provided.  It's not a great series but I'm now more than halfway through so I'll keep going to the end.

Book ~ "M is for Malice" (1996) Sue Grafton

From Goodreads ~ "M" is for money. Lots of it. 

"M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands.

"M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune - four men with very different outlooks, temperaments and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them - angry, troubled and in trouble - went missing.

"M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.

"M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. 

"M" is for malice.

And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.

"M" is for malice . . . and malice kills.

It's 1986 and Kinsey Millhone is a private detective in Santa Teresa, CA, in her mid-thirties.  Her cousin, Tasha, who is a lawyer, hires her to find an heir of the wealthy Malek family.  When Bader Malek died, everyone assumed his $40 million estate would be split between his three sons Donovan, Bennet and Jack ... but the will also names his disinherited son, Guy.  Guy was the black sheep of the family who had left home almost 20 years ago and hasn't been seen nor heard of since.   Kinsey is able to locate Guy, who comes back to the family home hoping for a happy reunion, but she is soon sorry that she had.

I liked this story and thought the reveal of the whodunnit at the end had a nice twist.  The book shows a more emotional side of Kinsey with her interactions with Tasha (who she meets for the first time in this book), the return of her former love, Robert Dietz, and finally dealing with the grief of the deaths of her parents and her aunt years ago.  It's written in first person perspective in Kinsey's voice.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

This is the thirteenth in the "alphabet series" featuring Kinsey Millhone.  Though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone.  I discovered this series in the mid-1990s and have read them all.  I started rereading them last year.  With the author's recent death, Y is for Yesterday will be the end of the series.

Book ~ "I Remember Sunnyside" (1996) Mike Filey

From Goodreads ~ First published in 1982, "I Remember Sunnyside" is a mine of golden memories, bringing back to life an earlier Toronto, only hints of which remain today.

Like the city itself, Sunnyside was an everchanging landscape from its heady opening days in the early 1920s to its final sad demolition in the 1950s. 

The book captures the spirit of the best of times a magical era which can only be recaptured in memory and photographs. It also presents the reality of a newer Toronto where change, although necessary, is sometimes regrettable.

There are a few things I wish I could go back in time to experience and one of them is Sunnyside Amusement Park, which is the focus of this book along with the a history of the neighbourhood.

Sunnyside Amusement Park was a popular amusement park in Toronto that ran from 1922 to 1955.  It was demolished in 1955 to make way for the building of the Gardiner Expressway. It was located on the Lake Ontario waterfront at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue, west of downtown Toronto.  Only the Sunnyside Pool and Bathing Pavilion and the Palais Royale buildings survive today.

The park was popular for its large roller coaster, known as the "Flyer", several merry-go-rounds, the Derby Racer steeplechase ride and numerous smaller attractions. It also hosted several stunt events including flagpole sitting, famous boat burnings in Lake Ontario and fireworks displays. Other popular attractions included outdoor and indoor musical concerts, night clubs, and restaurants and walking along the boardwalk.  There was even a Sunnyside train station nearby at the intersection of King Street W, Queen Street W and Roncesvalles Avenue which operated passenger service from 1910 until 1971 (it's now a park).

Mike Filey had a column in the Toronto Sun for about 30 years and I read it for many years (I like learning about the history of Toronto).  I've read all his books where he compiles some of his columns. 

Even though it was originally published in 1982 and reprinted in 1996, it was an interesting book because the pictures of older Toronto were great. If you live in Toronto or are from Toronto, you should check it out. 

Book ~ "Chump Change" (1996) David Eddie

From Goodreads ~ Of course, working at the Cosmodemonic Broadcasting Corporation as a news writer is not David Henry's first choice for employment. But circumstances conspire against him - his parents won't lend him money, girls won't talk to him at parties, magazines won't pay him enough and the rent is due. 

Feeling out of touch with his times - "Frankly, the 20th Century scares the sh$t out of me" - David Henry is often caught daydreaming, drink in hand, head in the clouds, wishing he were somewhere else. Sandwiched between Gen X and the Boomers, his is not the media's generation of choice but rather a sensitive, desperate lot who see TV as the enemy and Madonna as, well, just plain frightening. 

But David Henry, hounded by a pack of vicious creditors, needs cash and needs it quickly. If there is a way to get it (legally) without a job, he'll do it. The next best thing is the Cosmodemonic hamsterwheel, a government-owned network chock-full of overpaid louts with their snouts in the trough. Not that he has any problem with that.  "Government fat tastes just like chicken," says Mr. Henry - but there is always a downside to a Faustian pact, and he is about to find out what that is and then some.

It's the late 1980s and Dave is living in New York with his girlfriend.  He quits his job which he hates and moves back home to Toronto and lives with his friend, Max.  Dave has two degrees and wants to be a writer ... he figures it won't be too hard to get some work.  When he's borrowed money from just about everyone he can, he's forced to take a job as a news writer at a government-run TV broadcaster.  He hates this job but he does likes what earning $40,000 a year can give him ... good scotch, something to eat besides sardines on bread, the ability to socialize, etc.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it.  Written in first person perspective in Dave's voice, it is like Dave was telling us his story ... the tone is very conversational.  It's funny and sarcastic at times.  Dave "lives" in the Annex in the Dupont/Bathurst area and I knew exactly where he was as he went to real restaurants and 'hoods in Toronto ... a girl he dates works at Pauper's Pub on Bloor Street W (I've been there!), he loves the breakfasts at Peoples Food at Dupont/St. George (now closed), etc.  As a head's up, there is swearing and adult situations.

If you're looking for something quirky, you should check it out.

Book ~ "Remember Me, Irene" (1996) Jan Burke

From Goodreads ~ In this gripping addition to the Irene Kelly mystery series, a young reporter learns the hard way that a revered figure from her past is not the man she imagined he was.

In an unsettling encounter on the streets of Las Piernas, newspaper reporter Irene Kelly fails to recognize the homeless man who declares, "I'm not who I used to be." Only later does she realize that he had been her favorite instructor back in college -- Lucas Monroe. Once a gifted young academic with a promising future, Lucas needs her help, but he's gone missing. Now his name keeps coming up in association with charges of blackmail and possible homicide. Irene wants to know more but no one is willing to talk. And then she stumbles upon a dead body ...

This is the fourth book in the series of eleven (as of 2011) ... I'm rereading the series.

I found this one to be just okay, not great. There were a lot of characters and I had a hard time keeping them all straight ... so I gave up and focused on the main ones.

It's been a while since I'd read this one so didn't remember anything about it but it didn't take me long to figure out what happened to a couple of the key characters.

Considering it was written and set in the mid 1990s, it's funny to read about the reporters having to wear beepers ... do they still exist? And "cellular" phones were used sparingly because of their high cost.

Book ~ "Eat Right 4 Your Type" - Peter J. D'Adamo and Catherine Whitney (1996)

From Amazon.com ~ If you've ever wondered why the latest fad diet doesn't work for you ... well, there are lots of reasons, mostly the fact that it's a fad diet. But it could also be that you're the wrong blood type for the kinds of foods the diet recommends. Peter D'Adamo makes an argument that your blood type is an evolutionary marker that tells you which foods you'll process best and which will be useless calories. He covers the entire range for each of the four blood types, from entrées to condiments and seasonings, and also makes type-specific exercise and lifestyle recommendations.

According to this book, I should be eating a high protein/low carb diet because of my blood type. I can't see myself adhering to everything I was told (there's no way I'm giving up potatoes!) but I'll try to add in more of the recommended foods.