Cathy Pickens - Southern Fried

Lines to remember:
Law school had broken me of the dating habit. Few people have any idea of the kind of people who go to law school.

I finished this book a few seconds ago. It is late, no, early. I'm tired. I actually only finished this book because I wanted to get over with it and I didn't want to stop reading 70 pages to the end. If I'm that close, I might as well finish and find out whether I was right.

But on to the story: Avery Andrews moves back to Dacus, SC, from Columbia, SC, after she loses her job in a high-powered law firm. She wants to rethink her career and her life, but her family manages to set her up with a few cases not long after she's arrived. The owner of a local factory hires her to help with an environmental problem, and divers find a body when she is at Lake Luna due to a half-baked stunt with which an old high school classmate tries to get her attention. This all sweeps Avery into a red-hot case...

The writing was actually really good and me as a non-English speaker, at least not as a mothertongue, but only as a language learned in school, had a fun time getting to know the Southern accent, thanks to Pickens' writing as it would have been said. Also, I really enjoyed the story being written in first person, which gave a more in-depth understanding of Avery. This, though, was what was also a problem with the book.
What really annoyed me, was the main character, Avery Andrews, who felt so special and appeared to be rather snobbish. To me it seemed as if she was thinking of each of the other characters as an inferior to her - not only business-wise, but also when it came to intelligence. It felt as if she was constantly bashing the people of Dacus, SC.
What turned me further off of Avery was her self-pity. So she lost her job because she made a more or less stupid mistake, okay. So this happens and she sure will lose some money due to that. But that's just the "big bucks" and she still has a chance to earn her living in another job as an attorney. It's not as if she lost her law licence or is about to lose it. It is a big change for her, true, but in a way she is the sole person responsible for it. Self-pity in that manner is something I can't stand.

I definitely won't continue with this series, as it is obviously not my type, but I'm sure others will enjoy this book and series quite a bit.

Rating: C