Southern Fried by Cathy Pickens

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Cathy Pickens' first book, Southern Fried, won the 2003 St. Martin's Press Malice Domestic contest for the best traditional mystery. It is the first of a series of books about a young woman named Avery Andrews who is trying to reestablish her legal career after getting fired from her first big job. In Southern Fried Avery has gone home to think about her options; she moves into her grandfather's old cabin at the lake, gets his old convertible to drive, and sets up a temporary office downtown. Soon she has a couple of clients.

Avery's hometown is a small southern town complete with some "good old boys" she went to high school with, a trio of great aunts who all worked in the local school system before retiring, a gang of aging bikers, a man suspected of killing his wife, and the usual assortment of the rich and the down and out. Avery finds herself questioning her temperament, her competence to practice law, and her ability to get along with people. She is fortunate to have very loving, concerned parents who just want her to settle down and be happy.

As the book begins, Avery has been called to the Lake where a man has allegedly drowned; however, in spite of a team of divers, there is no sign of him. She gets teased, however, because the man who confessed (Donlee) to drowning his friend did it to get her attention. He apparently had a crush on her back in high school. The divers don't find the man they were looking for; however, they do discover something rather shocking--an old rusted car at the bottom of the lake. When they bring in a wrecker to drag the car out, they discover that it contains the grisly remains of someone.

Avery takes on several cases, but one seems to go badly right away; a local businessman wants her to represent him as the EPA comes into inspect his furniture factory. A couple of days later, there is a suspicious fire. She gets another client when the identity of the body in the rusted car turns out to be a woman that everyone thought had either run away, or been killed by her husband. With so many investigations, she gets plenty of time to visit with the local sheriff, LJ, a woman who once bullied Avery back in school--and hasn't gotten much more charming since then.

This is a fun read, and full of lively dialogue Southern style, colorful characters, and lots of family dynamics that almost any reader can identify with, along with a few introspective sections where she reflects on her grandfather's life and career.

You can find Southern Fried in the Mystery section of the WPL.