Southern Fried (Thomas Dunne Books) Book

St. Martin's Minotaur authors who have received the Malice Domestic Award for Best First Novel have gone on to further success-including Agatha and Tony citations-from the hilarity of Donna Andrew's in-hot-water Meg to the gentle adven-tures of Hathaway's Dr. Fenimore. Cathy Pickens, the current winner, has, like her pre-deces-sors, her own approach. She has created one Avery Andrews, a young woman attorney who has been 'downsized' from her position with a big city law firm. She returns to what she expects will be the quiet of the small Southern town where she grew up, to lick her wounds and consider setting up a law practice there. She quickly gets a client or two, and immed-iately the company building owned by one is destroyed by arson and a murder suspected. Mean-while, an old high-school classmate arranges several well-attended mock near-suicides, claiming to the world that unrequited love for Avery is driving his death wish. Southern Fried is a story filled with humor and believable real people going about their some-times bizarre business. Humor, atmosphere, and a challenging puzzle set the scene for the next big series.Read More