Southern Discomfort

by Caroline Fardig

Southern Discomfort introduces the sweet and naive Quinn Ballandini, who was raised by her grandmother to have impeccable Southern manners. She and her more rebellious sister help their grandfather manage a successful bed and breakfast in Savannah, Georgia, where Quinn does most of the cooking.

Quinn discovers the dead body of a friend’s brother. This too trusting B & B manager tries to transform herself into an amateur sleuth to get her friend and potentially herself cleared. She is pretty bad at it, but she is persistent. There are lots of interesting characters including her magician grandfather, Papa Sal, her mother who is into drugs and auras, her older sister Delilah, and her Uncle Frank’s ghost who appears to Delilah and Papa Sal. Additionally, former high school football star Tyler re-enters her  life with a love-hate relationship. There are also a lot of suspects Quinn has to interview to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Southern Discomfort was a satisfactory read but not as well written as the one other book by Caroline Fardig that I have read from a different series. I would be willing to read the next book in the series, but the extent of the paranormal in the next book will determine further readings in this series.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Random House (Alibi) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery, Women’s Fiction

Notes:  1. #1 in the Southern B&B Mystery Series.

  2. There are some paranormal elements that I found more amusing than offensive.

3. A few delicious sounding recipes are included at the end of the book.

Publication:   March 6, 2018—Random House (Alibi)

Memorable Lines:

Well, I’d had a fleeting moment of calm, thinking it might not be so bad to tell my sad story to my old friend Rufus. But with Detective Angrypants staring me down, my nerves frazzled again.

I’d always thought culinary reviewers were highfalutin foodies who savored their food morsel by morsel so as to taste every note and nuance of whatever they were eating. This guy was a inhaling his food. There was a no way he was savoring anything at that pace.

Her words stung me and brought tears to my eyes. Why did she have to be so stinking mean all the time? It was like I was back in high school again, getting picked on by the cool kids.