Cathy Pickens says she always wanted to be a writer of mystery books. Pickens graduated from the USC School of Law and practiced in South Carolina. Her love for reading and writing never left her, and in 2003, she published her first fiction mystery novel, Southern Fried, which won the 2003 St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Award for Best New Traditional Mystery. After her successful beginning, she continued with the Avery Andrews mystery novel series.
Pickens became interested in compiling true stories of crime in local communities. She met a representative of The History Press publishing company while participating in a book festival in Columbia. She was sharing her most recent work, Charleston Mysteries, which leads readers along a walking tour of scenic Charleston in the context of local crimes associated with each location.
This discussion with History Press led her to begin writing the “True Crime” series, which compiles the history of crime in different regions of South Carolina and North Carolina. These historical narratives are developed from her research of local newspapers, archives, and court documents. She has published nine “True Crime” books and says she spends about six to seven months on each book covering a different local region of the Carolinas, working over six days a week. She and her husband travel to different localities to conduct research and to take photographs…