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Cathy Pickens

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.cathypickens.com/

Twitter

CathyPickens

Genre

Crime, Mystery, Nonfiction

Member Since

April 2013

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Crime writer Cathy Pickens started her writing life as a mystery novelist. The first of five mysteries in the Southern Fried series won St. Martin’s Award for Best New Traditional Mystery.

Her fascination with the power of real crime stories led to a series for History Press, starting with Charleston Mysteries and Charlotte True Crime Stories.

She is a frequent mystery convention panelist, speaking on topics ranging from Southern mysteries to classic true crime stories to the use of poisons. At various times and under various aliases, she’s been a trial attorney specializing in complex civil litigation; a university provost; a business school professor (at Queens University of Charlotte); a church organist and choir director; and a ballroom ...more

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Cathy Pickens’s books

Average rating: 3.94 · 4,755 ratings · 347 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	Murder at Luna Lake (Southern Fried Mystery #1) 3.81 avg rating — 1,669 ratings — published 2004 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder at Folly Beach Creek (Blue Ridge Mountain Mystery #2) 3.85 avg rating — 721 ratings — published 2005 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS MYSTERIES 1–5 five cozy crime mysteries full of twists 4.53 avg rating — 538 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hush My Mouth (Southern Fried Mystery #4) 3.85 avg rating — 524 ratings — published 2008 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Can't Never Tell (Southern Fried Mystery #5) 3.96 avg rating — 499 ratings — published 2009 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hog Wild (Southern Fried Mystery #3) 3.96 avg rating — 496 ratings — published 2007 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Blue Ridge Mountains Mysteries Books 1 to 5: five addictive cozy mysteries 4.57 avg rating — 105 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Charleston Mysteries: Ghostly Haunts in the Holy City 3.73 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 2007 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	True Crime Stories of Eastern North Carolina 3.77 avg rating — 31 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Charlotte True Crime Stories: Notorious Cases from Fraud to Serial Killing 3.38 avg rating — 29 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Cathy Pickens…

2 posts
Cathy Pickens's Blog

CREATE

Cathy Pickens Guest Post on Mystery Fanfare Blog | October 10, 2020

CREATE

How can a writer of crime fact and fiction presume to talk about creativity, much less write a book about it?

CREATE! started as my attempt to figure out what we mean by “creative” and how I could be more so.

Creativity is a word loaded with magic. Combining my crime writing life with years of research and teaching law in a g Read more of this blog post »

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Published on October 14, 2020 14:17 • Tags: create, creativity, mystery-fanfare, rehab

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Series by Cathy Pickens

Blue Ridge Mountain Mysteries (5 books)
by

Cathy Pickens (Goodreads Author)

3.96 avg rating — 3,443 ratings

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Cathy Pickens rated a book it was amazing Tell Me a Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories by Daniel Taylor (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 03, 2026 06:50AM · like
Cathy Pickens rated a book it was amazing The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Cathy Pickens rated a book it was amazing Deadly Gold Rush (The Indie Retirement Mystery Series Book 2) by Landis Wade (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’m so glad Harriet Keaton, Craig Travail, and Yeager Alexander are back! No second-book slump here, following the first in the series, Deadly Declarations. It’s like returning for a visit with particularly interesting old friends. Vestiges linger fr ...more
Feb 03, 2026 06:46AM · like · see review

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Quotes by Cathy Pickens (?)

“Odd how being away could teach you about home.”
― Cathy Pickens, Southern Fried

9 likes

“His beard might once have reached to his waist, but his waist had grown off and left his beard high and dry.”
― Cathy Pickens, Southern Fried

1 likes

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