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Keeley Murdock's wedding to A.J. Jernigan should have been the social event of the season. But all bets are off when she catches her fiancé doing the deed with her maid of honor at the country club rehearsal dinner. The wedding's off, too, as Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, earning herself instant notoriety in the small town of Madison, Georgia.
Now A.J.'s unscrupulous banking family is bringing financial pressure to bear on Keeley's interior design business. But a redheaded stranger in a vintage yellow Cadillac is riding to her rescue. Will Mahoney, the new owner of a failing local bra plant, is about to offer the designing woman just what she needs: a plum decorating assignment, a chance to clear her name, and a golden opportunity to give her cheating varmint of an ex-fiancé the comeuppance he so richly deserves.
Trocheck explained in an interview with Reading Group Guides.com the reason for adopting a pseudonym (derived, by the way, from combining the names of her two children): "Because Blues is so different from my Callahan books, I wanted a chance to try for a whole new group of readers, people who like women's fiction, Southern fiction, and still, mysteries. That Mary Kay is a pseudonym for Kathy Hogan Trocheck is not a secret from my fans."
Savannah Blues introduced readers to Eloise "Weezie" Foley, whose marriage to the wealthy Talmadge Evans III suffers a fatal blow when he announces he is in love with someone else. When Talmadge's mistress moves into his Savannah mansion, it's the backyard carriage house for Weezie, who soon begins to devise a plan to get revenge on her cheating hubby. Blues may have been a marked departure from Trocheck's grittier early work, but it was a rousing success on all fronts. Publishers Weekly hailed it as "delightfully breezy, richly atmospheric" and Kirkus reviews called it "pure fun."
Soon, Mary Kay Andrews had assumed a life of her own. A year later, she published Little Bitty Lies, followed in 2005 by the joyfully wacky New York Times bestseller Hissy Fit. Having revisited the world of her irresistible protagonist Weezie Foley twice more in Savannah Breeze and Blue Christmas, Andrews continues to craft her winning brand of witty, Southern-fried fiction -- much to the delight of her many fans.
As Kathy Hogan Trocheck, Andrews's mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity Awards.
When she isn't writing, Mary Kay Andrews lectures and teaches at writing workshops.
A few fun outtakes from our interview with Andrews:
"When I finish writing a book, I always celebrate with my favorite junk foods: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Wink grapefruit soda."
"I have no sense of direction and am incapable of reading a map."
"I'm a charter member of the Salty Dog chapter of the Andy Griffith Show Re-run Watchers club."
"I love afternoon naps, junking, reading, cooking with my husband, anything with avocados, English Setters, old movies, anything blue and white. I hate shopping for clothes, cigarette smoke, math, magic, mimes, scary movies, and Star Trek re-runs."
If it had not been for my fiance's alcoholic cousin Mookie I feel quite sure that my daddy would still be a member in good standing at the Oconee Hills Country Club. But Mookie can't drink hard liquor. She can drink beer and wine all day and all night and not bat an eyelash, but give her a mai-tai or, God forbid, a margarita, and you are asking for trouble.
It was my rehearsal dinner, which the Jernigans were hosting, and I was the bride-to-be, so I don't believe I should have been the one responsible for keeping a grown woman and mother of two away from the margarita machine, even if she was one of the bridesmaids.
Nonetheless, I was the one standing there when Mookie went spinning out of control across the dance floor, and I was the one who got sprayed with a good six ounces of strawberry margarita. And across the front of my blue raw silk Tahari dress too.
"For God's sake," snapped GiGi, my mother-in-law-to-be. She of course had neatly sidestepped Mookie, leaving her own pale pink beaded gown spotless. "I told you not to have her in the wedding. You know how she gets."
"Keeley," Mookie yelped, lunging at me with her half-empty glass. "I am sooooo sorry. Let me help you get cleaned up."
She proceeded to dump the rest of her drink down my back.
"It's fine," I said, gritting my teeth. "Just a little spot."
Mookie's mother, who is used to this kind of behavior, snatched her up by the arm and started dragging her toward the door so she wouldn't cause any more of a scene, and all the women closed ranks around me, dabbing and fussing until I wanted to scream.
Actually, I'd been wanting to scream for several weeks now.
Enough! Enough parties. Enough presents. Enough luncheons and teas, enough sappy wedding showers, enough family and friends oohing and aahing over the perfect couple.
A.J. had had enough too. "Can't we just go somewhere and screw our brains out for a couple weeks, then come back and be normal?" he'd asked the night before the rehearsal dinner.
It had been a busy week. I'd already endured the "Sip 'n See Tea," where everybody in the county came by my daddy's house to paw over my wedding loot, and the bridesmaids' luncheon where GiGi let it be known that she thought it was awful my mama hadn't been invited to the wedding. As if I even knew where Mama had been living for the past twenty-some years.
And that was just the solo stuff. That very night A.J. and I had suffered through the "His 'n Her Barbecue Shower" given by one of his former fraternity brothers.
At the time he asked this question, A.J. was modeling the Hot Stuff! barbecue apron and padded oven mitt, which had been a shower gift from his Aunt Norma. To be perfectly honest, A.J. was naked under the apron. And he wasn't wearing the mitt where his Aunt Norma had intended.
I had A.J. backed into the corner with the barbecue tongs, and then one thing led to another, and pretty soon we were rolling around on the floor of his apartment, and my chef's hat came off along with the rest of my clothes, and the next thing you know, A.J. was having one of his attacks.
"Hee-upp! Hee-upp." His whole body arched backward. I pushed him away, not startled really. A.J. gets like that sometimes when he's, uh, in the throes.
"Breathe, baby, breathe," I instructed, slithering out from under him.
"No," he managed, between hiccups. "Don't stop, Keeley." He tried to pull me back down. "Come on. I'll be all right."
"Hee-upp! Hee-upp! Hee-upp." His body jerked violently with each hiccup. I was afraid he'd hurt himself. Hell, I was afraid he'd hurt me. Not to mention that I don't find fits of uncontrollable hiccups much of a turn-on. Not even when the hiccupper is the love of my life.
I scrambled to my feet, ran to the sink, and filled a cup with water. "Come on, A.J.," I said, helping him to his feet. "It's better if you stand up. Come on, sugar, drink some water for Keeley."
"I (hee) don't (up) want any damn hee-uppp! water," A.J. stuttered. But he took a sip anyway.
"Another one," I urged, rubbing his bare back. He caught my free hand and slid it down his belly. The man never stops trying.
"No, now," I said, giggling and moving away. He pulled me back toward him. I held out the cup. "Not until you drink all this water."
He frowned but started sipping.
"Go slower," I said. "You know it's the only thing that works."
"I know what works," he said, getting that look in his eye again. "Come back over here and rub on me again."
But I'd picked up my clothes and was already hurrying into the bedroom to get dressed.
"Hey!" he called after me. "That wasn't the deal."
I pushed the button on the doorknob. "I know," I called through the locked door. "I tricked you."
By the time he found the key to the bedroom door I was just zipping my skirt.
"Aw, Keeley," he said, his lip thrust out in that adorable pout of his. "I wanted us to do it one more time tonight."
I tried to kiss the pout away, but he wasn't having it.
"A.J.," I said, pushing his hands away from the button he was unfastening.
"Now, really. The wedding's just a few days away. I have an early morning meeting and a ton of stuff to do. I can't be staying over here fooling around with you all night."
"Come on, baby," he whispered, sliding the zipper on my skirt down while pushing my skirt up toward my waist. "Once we're married, it won't be as much fun as this. We'll be all legal and stuff."
Hissy FitIntroduction
The night before her wedding, in the middle of an oh-so-smart rehearsal dinner, interior decorator Keeley Murdock chances upon her fiance and maid of honor in flaming flagrante delicto. Keeley throws the hissy fit to end all hissy fits and storms out.
The next day, though, she has to deal not only personally with a broken engagement but also with her business being shut out by folks in a town financially obligated to her ex. Rescue comes in the form of the new owner of the local bra plant. He hires Keeley to redo the broken-down antebellum mansion he's bought for the woman of his dreams. So Keeley dives in, scouring for antiques and searching for clues to her mother's puzzling disappearance. Keeley finds out that things can work out even for those who throw humdinger hissy fits.
Discussion Questions
About the author
Mary Kay Andrews is a native Floridian who learned to love junking and antiquing at an early age in St. Petersburg, Fla. She has a journalism degree from The University of Georgia. She worked as a newspaper reporter for 14 years, the last ten years of which she worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her first Callahan Garrity mystery, Every Crooked Nanny, written under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck, was published by HarperCollins in 1992. A veteran of countless estate sales, flea markets and junk shops, Kathy turned to antique picking when her "finds" threatened to take over her house . The mother of Andrew, 18, and Katie, 22, Kathy and her family now make their home in a vintage 1925 cottage in Raleigh, N.C.
Anonymous
Posted April 14, 2012
Great lite summer book
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 17, 2012
I was recamended this book when i was in kind of a reading funk. This book is laugh out loud funny. Very easy read and perfect for a raining day or when you just need something to make u laugh.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 10, 2011
Hilarious! I found myself laughing out loud! Not to mention, the characters were so vivid and endearing. The plot was by far, her best and most in depth thus far. I loved this bok and would reccommend it t anyone who loves a little Southern sass. Truly one of my favorites.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 14, 2011
Great fun. A must read summer novel..
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 30, 2011
A southern mansion to restore and decorate, a trashed wedding, an old mystery 25 years in the making and a father who has a more active social life that his daughter. Fun book.
I would read more of this author. A good book for a snowed in kind of day.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 16, 2011
I am so happy that I purchased this book! I am a big fan of the chick lit genre in general, but Mary Kay Andrews attention to detail and full character development make this a must read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 5, 2011
This is the second book I have read by this author and I will continue to read more books by her. It was easy reading and also entertaining.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 3, 2011
This was the first of Mary Kay Andrews' novels that I read. It was not the last. I have now read all of her novels and anxiously await the next. They are just plain fun to read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 2, 2011
I enjoyed the book, but i didnt care for all the decorating details. I skipped over most of it. It would have been a quick read but for me I didnt care about decorating, just the plot and characters. Sometimes after reading a book I walk away with a little extra knowledge from certain details in a book, I cant say that about this book, I skipped over so much because the details about furniture and such made parts seem to drag on forever. Thats why I gave it 3 stars.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 20, 2011
I have read all 3 of this author's books and loved them all. They are all modern funny southern tales that will keep you entertained. Being a southern girl myself I could really relate. Wish she would write more! Oh and the price is great, much less than I paid for the books.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 5, 2010
ok so i got tjis book because it sounded good from the back but there was more about antique furnishings then nething else which should be put on the back to warn you
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 1, 2009
This is my first Mary Kay Andrews book and I was disappointed. I found it very hard to like the male lead. The "girlfriend" character was way over-the-top and unbelievable. She also stayed around way too long for me. I ended up not wanting the lead male and female characters to end up together, even though you knew it was going to happen. The ending was disappointing and anti-climatic also. I got to the last page and moaned in disgust. It felt like she decided the book should end in 20 pages or less so she wrapped everything up without it fitting together or making sense. All that being said, the lead character was a great character and the book was very well written. The interwoven plot lines were beautifully coordinated and all the minor characters were a great addition to the book. I will read other M.K. Andrews but this one is on the "Do not read again" list.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 8, 2009
This book was very cute,perfect for the beach! The story line is very entertaining. Some parts were hard to read as they dragged on. but i would recommend as a summer read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 13, 2009
I think this book is a great book to read, it's fast reading, and disapointing when it comes to an end. Great humor with a little romance.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In Madison, Georgia, interior decorator Keeley Rae Murdock lives her life in accordance with her profession down to the tiniest iota. The twenty-eight year old feels everything is perfect until she finds her fiancé Andrew Jackson ¿A.J.¿ Jernigan and her maid of honor Paige Plummer having a go hiccups and all during the wedding rehearsal dinner. Keeley has a HISSY FIT that every local resident heard about, but especially comes to the attention of wealthy newcomer Will Mahoney.--- Will decides that Keeley is perfect for restoring the dilapidated mansion he purchased that he plans to use to court the woman he desires that he has never met in person only on TV. Keeley prefers to reject Will as a client as it seems impossible to decorate a home with no idea of the benefactor of her work, but her ex and his banking family are trying to destroy her business so she accepts the assignment.--- This dark comedy will keep readers¿ attention as southern small town secrets begin to surface including one involving Keeley¿s vanished mom. The story line offers an intriguing look at home furnishing mostly through the discerning eye of the heroine. Though much of the support cast is one dimensional especially A.J. while Will¿s woman is kept somewhat shadowy on purpose, fans will appreciate Keeley¿s HISSY FIT that hooks the audience expecting more outbursts from this steel magnolia.--- Harriet Klausner
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 5, 2004
If I could do 3 1/2 stars, I would. This book is predictable, but enjoyable. I would have preferred more development of the main characters romance - you'll know when you read it, but I laughed out loud on occasion and it left a good feeling when I finished it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 20, 2013
This was the first Mary Kay Andrews book I read and I was unsure what to expect. Needless to say, I was excited to be hooked on a new author. Hissy Fit is a hysterically engaging chick lit piece and the ending is satisfying. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great beach read or a break from heavier reading.
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Posted June 30, 2012
Love it
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Posted June 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this book i have read other books by this author which i really liked
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.CrystalMichelle
Posted May 29, 2012
A good read but not my favorite by Andrews.
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Overview
Keeley Murdock's wedding to A.J. Jernigan should have been the social event of the season. But all bets are off when she catches her fiancé doing the deed with her maid of honor at the country club rehearsal dinner. The wedding's off, too, as Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, earning herself instant notoriety in the small town of Madison, Georgia.
Now A.J.'s unscrupulous banking family is bringing financial pressure to bear on Keeley's interior design business. But a ...