Southern Fried

Blue Ridge Mountain Mysteries #1

by Cathy Pickens

Laid off from her prominent job with a big-city law firm, attorney Avery Andrews returns to the small Southern town of her childhood in the hope of setting up a new practice but finds her efforts challenged by the murder of a first client and an old classmate's volatile declarations of love. A first novel. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Chick Lit, Southern

326 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2004

About the author

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 and clog dance coach.

She has served as national president of Sisters in Crime, on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding board member of the regional Forensic Medicine Program.

Based on her book CREATE! Develop Your Creative Process, she offers workshops on developing the creative process. She also coaches and teaches new writers through Charlotte Lit, and works with former inmates and those in rehab on starting their own businesses and writing their own stories.

Reviews

[January · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder at Luna Lake by Cathy Pickens
Blue Ridge Mountain Mystery #1
previously published as Southern Fried, Southern Fried Mystery #1
8h 38m narrated by Tiffany Morgan, 280 pages

Genre: Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery

Featuring: Columbia, Charleston, and Fictional Small-Town South Carolina; Lawyer MC, Tobacco Spitting, Columbia, November, Southern Food, Thanksgiving, Female Sheriff, Bikers

Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult language, sexual innuendos, and descriptions of violence

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½💦🍗

My thoughts: 📱12% 1:03:58 Ch. 3 - I was one spitting tobacco moment away from quitting this book, but the last sentence in Ch. 2 sparked my interest, a little.
📱23% 2:00:48 Ch. 5 - I don't feel like she's solving anything or even a part of the investigation, but it's gotten a little better.
📱56% 4:49:04 Twenty minutes into Ch. 9 - I'm interested in the story, but this doesn't feel like a cozy mystery at all. Halfway in, and she hasn't done any sleuthing. There was a dead body in the beginning, but the investigation is very lukewarm. Also, what BBQ plates come with pulled pork and fried foods, including hush puppies, that sounds like some sort of catfish combo plate?

Some parts of this story were funny but it was mostly trying too hard. It was 70% in when she finally did some real sleuthing and by then I already knew who the murderer was and I was right. There were a lot of characters with crazy names to keep up with, by the end of chapter 10 I was so confused I had to go on Kindle Unlimited and reference the ebook with X-ray. The Donlee storyline was ridiculous and I couldn't believe she chose to spell it that way. I won't be picking up the next book anytime soon, even with that ending, but I'm putting this series on my maybe list. I saw the original covers for the old titles and that would have kept me reading, food on the cover, and a Ferris wheel. I'm off to the author's website because there seems to be a disagreement of series name. Author's website has confirmed it was Southern Fried Mystery, now Blue Ridge Mountain Mystery, the original titles were cuter too.

Recommend to others: Sure, this had more going on than your average cozy mystery, you'll either enjoy it or wish for a simpler tale.

Blue Ridge Mountain Mystery aka South Fried Mystery
1 Murder at Luna Lake (2004)
aka Southern Fried
2 Murder at Folly Beach Creek (2005)
aka Done Gone Wrong
3 Murder at the Golden Cove Forest (2007)
aka Hog Wild
4 Murder at Moody Springs Lookout (2008)
aka Hush My Mouth
5 Murder at Bow Falls (2009)
aka Can't Never Tell

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think sort of a cozy, but a cozy with bite. It has a cozy cover, it has a cozy setting, cozy character lineup of main character going home to escape a mishap in the big city and offbeat folks who live in said setting. This one is a bit edgier than most and I liked it a lot. I didn't see anywhere on the cover or inside if it was the beginning of a series, but I certainly hope it is.
I like the main character, Avery. She's a lawyer in disgrace and home to lick her wounds. She gets caught up in a murder mystery and cover-ups. She is torn with wanting to stay home or heading back out in the big world to see if she can try again. Home is pulling at her.
I hope to see more of this series and this author. I can definitely recommend.

[Sheila Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

SURPRISINGLY GOOD! This is the first book I've read by Cathy Pickens. This story was creative and original, well written, well paced, entertaining, and hard to put down. I'm looking forward to additional installments as they become available at my library. Well worth the time to read.

[Douvonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lack of forced in romance was so refreshing.

[ISABELLE M MANDANICI · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the characters believable and friendly sounding. I was glad I didn't h as 've to wait long th o learn t he final outcome.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading an award winning mystery called "Southern Fried" by Cathy Pickens. I see I am not the first reader enthralled with this excellent novel and its way to combine the heartfelt with the humorous. Avery Andrews, her perspective, the small community of Dacus, and the brilliant style used with all its inhabitants kept me delighted from start to finish. --M. Costa

"Disclosure: A review copy of this book was sent to me by the author. All of the above opinions are my own."

[Laurie • The Baking Bookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: This review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).

My Review: My regular readers know that I don't give up on a book lightly. For me, there's a fine line between giving a book and author their due and feeling like I'm wasting my precious reading time on a book that's just not clicking with me.

Unfortunately, this book and I weren't on the same proverbial page. I'm all for the light, easy-reading mystery. There's nothing better than curling up with a good book on a snowy day and a cuppa java in my other hand. It's my bliss. But 'light and easy' doesn't mean silly and ridiculous and that's how this book felt from the get-go for me.

My opinion is vastly different than the majority of people who have read this book but there are some things that just got in the way with me fully enjoying it. First of all, when writing for the locals of this small southern town the author opted to write in their accent. For example, "Tragic, itn't it? It uz his true love for you that drove him to it." I realize the characters are from a very small town in the South and an occasional word thrown in with the accent in tow is fine. But I don't like to be spoon fed every little thing and if I have to decipher the majority of what these characters are saying it takes away from the momentum of the book and can get distracting. And in this case, it did.

The mystery also seemed like it was never going to get started. The pace was extremely slow with no burst of energy in sight. The humour came off as trite and hokey and with the weak plot I guess this just wasn't a book for me.

In the author's defense, I think she was going for a charming, funny southern mystery but unfortunately the very slow pace of the plot, the silly banter between the locals and the lack of interest I had in the main character got in the way with me actually finishing the book.

My Rating: 0/5 stars (gave up on it)

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really glad to have been lead to this series, even if I did start with the newest book instead of the first. I've enjoyed reading them so much that I've had to force myself to stop reading them to go to bed or work and I now regret not taking at least the next one out from the library so I could get started reading it right now.

In this introduction to the series, the characters and town felt just as natural as the last installment instead of forced as many first books in a series can.
Which makes it even more impressive that this is in fact her first book.

With one exception the people of this town feel real and fleshed out, and she captures the feel of a small town and what it might be like to come home wonderfully. The only exception is when she tries to demonstrate one of the deputies Southern accent in typed form, it just feels force and makes him more of a caricature. At some point she stops that though, since he wasn't like that in the newest book.

The actual mysteries and surrounding story lines were handled quite well, though I did find some of them a bit convenient in the end. But the endings all made such good sense and felt right that I don't even consider that a sticking point.

And again as in the first one I read, I appreciated that the mysteries didn't get solved solely by our intrepid investigator but progressed naturally and made sense.

[Katie Winkler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always like reading books of people I've met. I first met Cathy Pickens at a writer's conference in Athens, GA--Harriette Austin Writers' Conference. I bought this, her first book in the series, back then but never got around to reading it. Then, a couple of weeks ago I heard Cathy speak at the High Country Bookfest in Boone and was so impressed and intrigued by her, again, that I picked up another one of her books, which I will read as soon as I finish "Generosity." I'm determined to finish it before my brother from Germany gets here.

I love Cathy's humor, both in person and in her writing. She's got a quick wit and an authentic Southern voice. At the session I went to, she also had some good advice for struggling writers like me. My favorite part of this book, however, are the letters she finds and reads as well as the reaction of her main character to the letters. Hope Cathy will write a straight up literary novel some day.

[Kristie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it was pick of the month for one of my online reading group and because the protagonist is a lawyer. It was okay for a cozy mystery, but just okay. I kept getting distracted by the author writing out how the people in the small South Carolina talked rather than letting me imagine it; if I have to decipher the language, it makes the page-turning a bit slower. More importantly, I was never convinced about what mystery the main character was trying to solve, or even if she was trying to do anything at all. I might continue with the series if someone told me the writing improves, but probably not otherwise.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This was a light and easy mystery with quirky characters. Normally I like that kind of book, but I needed a little more depth here. I disliked the writing of the dialects and the hokey dialogue. The mystery was pretty simple. Just okay for me.

[Morgan Rae · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Tricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all this book was previously published under the title "Southern Fried" in 2004. It makes the scenes where the heroine needs change for a pay phone and frustration at the lack of a car phone much more understandable. The narrator does a good job and I would not have a problem listening to another book she has done. What I would not do again however is read another book by this author. The cover is very deceptive, it leads you to believe it is a stereotypical cozy and that couldn't be further than the truth. Several mentions of male genitalia, crass words and talking about nailing a woman to a tree (in the literal sense) among other disgusting things were deal breakers. I totally understand the gallows humor of one of the cops but that is completely different. This is a perfect example why no matter how cheap the books are you read the first one before buying the series. The story started out fine but as the book progressed so did the loathsome behaviors. I did skip to the end to find the perpetrator but I had already figured it out even before I stopped reading.

[Lisa Shafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not quite your standard cozy. It does have the protagonist moving back to a small town and having some kind of personal relationship with a cop, but in this case, the sheriff is female and an old classmate who doesn't like the protagonist. And there's no romance. Zero. (This is rather refreshing, actually.)
The truly odd thing, though, is that it was published in 2004, but it appears to have been written at least a decade earlier. Not only are there no smart phones, but there are no computers anywhere -- not even word processors. People type things on Selectrics. Plus, there are multiple references to things that occurred "25 years ago" and in the 70s, and those two time periods seem to match up.
There's nothing wrong with reading a book set in the 1990s, but its being published in 2004, when internet searches and laptop computers were common, confused me.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avery andrews returned home to her western South Carolina home to chaos. There are dead bodies, insane admirers, a few steel magnolias, bikers, and more intrigue than any city could offer. she settles into her grandfather's cabin and drives his vintage Mustang as she ends up in the middle of untangling the insanity. She sets up shop, more or less, and begins to practice law though she isn't sure she knows what she's doing and knows she doesn't seem to be making much money. Her clients are that crazy admirer who fakes a murder to get her attention, a husband who is assumed to have killed his wife 15 years prior, a factory owner who is knee deep in trouble and seems completely oblivious. Throw in a large nasty sheriff and several crazy redneck types and you get a lot of action, humor and intrigue for Avery.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in a series. It seemed just a little scattered to me, trying to figure out who everyone was so quickly but by the end of the book I was able to sort out the major characters and I was happy with the resolution (that I did not figure out) so I'll probably be open to reading the next one in the series. An attorney returns to her hometown hoping to pick up a few cases to tide her over until she decides what to do next. Right off the bat, not only her past comes back to haunt her...you just can't go home again...but also the town's past when a truck is found in the lake and it contains the skeletal remains of a high school classmate who's been missing for some time.

[Chrissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not what I expected (in terms of a chance cover buy) but I really enjoyed it once started. A lawyer loses her job and returns to the small town where she grew up and is confronted with learning the town from a different perspective--is this the place where she wants to grow a law practice? Can she navigate the interpersonals of the town as an adult?

There were a few places where you could feel the thud of dropped hints, but these were few and the story itself was a good mystery in terms of how do all these pieces fit. The ending had me immediately checking for another book in the series.

[Melissa Basnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Southern mystery

Avery moved back home after being fired from her job. She is trying to figure out where she is going to find a job. In the meantime she is fending off an admirer, fixing up her grandfather's cabin, and representing a few clients from town. A woman's body is found in the lake and a body is found after someone tried to burn down the factory. Now Avery is trying to find out what happened in each murder and how they may be connected in order to represent her clients. The story is set in a charming small town with a few quirky characters and has some interesting plot twists.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the very beginning, we meet Pud and hear about Don Lee's unrequited love. I laughed and knew I was in for funny Southern mystery. The author wrote in dialect and the audiobook narrator did a great job with those voices. There were so many over the top characters that populate this little town that I didn't have trouble keeping them straight. I loved the Sherriff and Avery's history with the people in the town. I was so glad to see how the mystery worked out. I had suspected that, but I wasn't sure if it would work out that way. Then it did work out that way and it was better than I expected. This has everything I love in a funny cozy mystery.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit slow and meandering…

I never expect huge drama from a cozy read, but I have to say, it took almost the whole book to figure out which murder mystery we were supposed to be solving. Couple that with a main character who spends most of the book belittling the town and townspeople around her and the author’s attempt at “realistic dialogue”, a.k.a. mostly misspelled conjunctions, it just makes for a tedious read. On top of that, there are a few racial and social references that would pass muster in the ‘90’s when this book was first published, but not so much today. Probably not a series I’m going to invest time in continuing.

[Marsha Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging story, but bashes conservatives

I did not appreciate how on at least two occasions in the book the author made deprecating remarks about conservatives. This was not necessary
Also. I would expect that as a former trial attorney the main character would stand up to people making slanderous remarks about her and her loved ones and give them the tongue lashing they deserved. If she is going to succeed as a small town lawyer she had better recover the backbone that got her fired from her Job at the big firm in the big city.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Southern cosy crime that I struggled to get into, to the point that I was considering it for the dnf pile. Instead I skipped a good chunk of the middle and read the on for the final third of the book which was ok as there was slightly more happening. My main issues with it were:
- I didn't find MC Avery particularly engaging
- the small-town Southern charm and quirky characters that draw me to this genre fell flat
- the pacing was off - too slow with nothing of interest happening in the first 30 % so I was bored (don't know about the middle as I skipped it - the end was ok).

[LilBib’Phile · Rating 4 out of 5]

After losing her job at a big-city law firm, Avery Andrews comes back to her hometown of Dacus.
This book was much better written than I expected (you never know with “cozy” mysteries). I spotted the culprit before the end but it played out differently than I thought it would.
The slight criticism I have was that the end was a little abrupt but all in all very good and I will look for more in the series.

[Tomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not liking the stereotypical portrayals of Southerners as rednecks and trashy. Long and rambling story with lots of characters that are just there to make the town seem more redneck. Lots of attempts at humor that just fall flat. And, in spite of the rambling and disjointed plot, the perpetrator was easily figured out in the first half of the book, even though our clueless heroine has to wait for a confession at gunpoint obtained by someone else.

[C. Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story because it avoided the blasphemous, rude, and crude language that some modern writers seem to thing are necessary in a novel.
However, I felt that it was a wee bit confusing until almost the end of the book. The attempt to portray Southern Carolinian dialect in print didn't help either. I also think that I picked up a couple of typos that, surely, a decent proofreader would have flagged!
I won't go out of my way to find the next volume - but if I see it, I may well take it!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few bits of rough language in this cozy, but the words suited the characters. I enjoyed the mix of environmental concerns, transitions, murder mystery, kooky people, normal people, humor, and the rural South Carolina setting. I hope book 2 lets us find out what happens with Mrs. Geneva Gadsen and the war memorial.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

if it wasn't for the challenge and not wanting to find a new qualifier, I probably would have ditched this. It wasn't unreadable but it certainly wasn't one I'd ever recommend. It passed the time at best, and even that was a little slow. I have maybe 20 pages to go and just kept putting it off until this morning.

[Julia Hebner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly a cozy

This book has all the elements of a cozy, but also some gore. The setting is specific and clearly described - so clearly you can smell it. Interesting and sometimes amusing characters are impossible to confuse with each other and the plot is well developed with a steady pace. Yes, A reader will likely identify the villain before the reveal. Still a good read.

[Judy Hardwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good little mystery. We get to know Avery Andrews a young attorney who has returned home, licking her wounds from being recently fired from her big-town job... In the midst of readjusting to her rural town and all of its characters she ends up solving a murder. IT was a slow book for me - but ended with a good resolution.

[Lynette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

Why did I keep reading? I kept waiting for something to happen. But nope. I skipped several chapters and read the last two. Still waiting for something to happen…smh. Oh yeah, who ever the editor was and if paid they need to give the money back with interest.

One and so done.