Can't Never Tell

This was a fun book. I usually find the themed mystery series trite and hard to get into but in this one the characters felt real and fleshed out...though that could be becuase I started a few books into the series...

I found both mysteries running through the book interesting and fairly realistic and I was glad that there was no attempt to blend the two together and I thought the brief glimpse of Carnie life was well done and just enough for the feel of the book.

I also REALLY liked how the ending made sense and was logical and actually involved the police vs the female lead 't magically turning into Super Investigator and doing it all herself which I've seen all to often and wouldn't have worked with the character as written so I was very happy to see she went with the realistic approach.

I found the characters and the town very enjoyable and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Only I'm going to go back to the first one now.

I just loved this novel. Avery comes home to a small town after botching her own career in Charlotte, and then falls into a mystery and a murder, imagine that. Throw in a dash of romance, some family time, and some time doing lawyering and you have a nice little story that builds itself well for future adventures. ( )

The Avery Andrews mysteries take place in the Up Country of South Carolina, an area I have visited numerous times. I suppose that's one reason that I enjoy reading them. This one was a four-star mystery until I hit the last thirty pages. Two bodies were introduced early in the story, and I like my mysteries to have almost immediate action. The resolution of one mystery was really quite humorous. My beef was all of the information about securities fraud and the law that the author crammed into one chapter. There is also an appendix dealing with safe investing. All well and good, and it is timely information for readers in these days of falling returns. But, it bogged down an otherwise lilting story with some dry legal information. However, if the reader can endure for a few pages, the pace picks up again, and the book goes on to a good conclusion. I recommend it but hope the author will be able to subdue her lawyer tendencies in her next outing, even if her main character is an attorney. ( )

It’s summer in Dacus SC and attorney Avery Andrews is occupied with mundane activities: attending a 4th of July carnival with her seven-year-old niece Emma and a faculty picnic with Emma’s mom and dad. Seems safe enough, but, of course, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have a mystery.

At the carnival’s fright house, Emma stumbles over a mummified body and, at the picnic, a faculty member’s wife goes missing – over a waterfall. Principals in both events knock on Avery’s door for legal advice and our reluctant heroine once again must sort it all out. Avery’s also has a new man in her life, an economics professor who, on the surface, appears perfect. But he reminds Avery of an old suitor -- and that relationship still gives her the creeps just thinking about it.

I love this series – it’s funny, well written and plotted, with a heroine who is savvy yet uncertain, smart yet vulnerable. Cathy Pickens also knows how to create a wide range of interesting southern characters, all of whom seem real enough and pleasantly complex. In Can’t Never Tell – fifth in the series – she also introduces a plot line that might have come from current headlines. (To reveal which headline would just spoil the fun, so I won’t.)

Can’t Never Tell is a delightfully engaging cozy mystery that will please old fans and, I hope, bring in new ones.

By Diana. First published in Mystery News, Feb-Mar 2009 edition. ( )