Hissy Fit: A Novel [Paperback]

Mary Kay Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

Welcome to the world of Mary Kay Andrews, where manners are polished, reputations are tarnished ... and revenge issweet.

Keeley Murdock's wedding to A. J. Jernigan should have been the social event of the season. But when she catches her fiance doing the deed with her maid of honor at the country club rehearsal dinner, all bets are off. And so is the wedding. Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, earning herself instant notoriety in the small town of Madison, Georgia.

Even worse is the financial pressure A.J.'s banking family brings to bear on Keeley's interior design business. But riding to the rescue -- in a vintage yellow Cadillac -- is the redheaded stranger who's purchased a failing local bra plant. Will Mahoney hires Keeley to redo the derelict antebellum mansion he's bought. Her assignment: decorate it for the woman of his dreams -- a woman he's never met.

Only a designing woman like Keeley Murdock can find a way to clear her name and give her cheating varmint of an ex-fiance the comeuppance he so richly deserves. And only Mary Kay Andrews can deliver such delicious social satire. With Hissy Fit, she's created a story as outrageous, dishy, and true as Savannah Blues and Little Bitty Lies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Interior decorator Keeley Rae Murdock has designed her whole life, right down to the antique Oriental rug planned for the foot of her bed. What she never counted on was discovering her fiancé, A.J. Jernigan, cavorting with her maid of honor in the middle of her rehearsal dinner. She pitches a hissy fit that reverberates through her tiny hometown of Madison, Ga., and captures the attention of Will Mahoney, a newcomer who recently purchased an antebellum plantation house. Headstrong, freckled Will pressures Keeley to restore the rundown mansion within six months. His plan: to woo a woman whom he has seen only on television by designing the house of her dreams by Christmas. Keeley knows it's an insane plan, but the Jernigans are now trying to put her out of business, so she begrudgingly accepts. As the house comes together, Keeley discovers links between the Jernigan legacy of infidelity and her mother's disappearance many years ago. Darker than the book's fluffy title suggests, this black comedy is riven with shocking secrets. And Keeley's vast knowledge of all things antique offers a fascinating peek into the luscious world of designer home furnishing, sure to make readers drool with envy over sideboards and sofas.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Andrews is the pseudonym of Kathy Trocheck, primarily known for her Callahan Garrity mystery series. This is the third Andrews title, following Savannah Blues (2002) and Little Bitty Lies [BKL S 1 03], and it's obvious she's on a roll. In the midst of a posh rehearsal dinner for her upcoming nuptials, interior decorator Keeley Murdock discovers her fiance, A. J. Jernigan, and her maid of honor in a lusty embrace. One major hissy fit later, the wedding is off, and Keeley is left trying to salvage her dignity. The disgraced Jernigans use their considerable clout to undermine Keeley's business. Desperate to shore up her finances, she takes a rush job redecorating an antebellum mansion for Will Mahoney, a wealthy entrepreneur who has recently purchased a failing local lingerie factory and whom she indelicately refers to as "bra boy." Andrews' descriptions of antique furniture and heart-pine flooring are so lush and appealing that they will seduce even the decorating-challenged. Throw in the idyllic southern setting and the humorous, often-scintillating banter, and you've got yourself another winning read. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; First Perennial Edition edition (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060564652
• ISBN-13: 978-0060564650
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Kay Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestselling Savannah Breeze and Blue Christmas (HarperCollins), as well as Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies and Savannah Blues, all HarperPerennial.

A former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she wrote ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck.

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida (and a diplomate of the Maas Bros. Department Store School of Charm), she started her professional journalism career in Savannah, Georgia, where she covered the real-life murder trials which were the basis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

As a lifelong ""junker"" the author claims to know the location of every promising thrift store, flea market and junkpile in the southeastern United States, plus many parts of Ohio.

She has a B.A. in newspaper journalism from The University of Georgia (go Dawgs!), and is a frequent lecturer and writing teacher at workshops including Emory University, The University of Georgia's Harriet Austin Writer's Workshop, the Tennessee Mountain Writer's Workshop and the Antioch Writer's Workshop. Her mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards.

Married for more than 31 years to her high school sweetheart, Tom, she is the mother of 24-year-old Katie Abel and 20-year-old Andrew. After a three-year hiatus in Raleigh, NC, she and her husband recently moved back to their old neighborhood in Atlanta, where they live in a restored 1926 Craftsman bungalow.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A light read that goes beyond the trivial, September 7, 2004

By 

Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hissy Fit (Hardcover)

The first few pages read like a typical "chick lit"-type book: during her rehearsal dinner, main character Keeley discovers her fiancé and best friend inappropriately engaged, and she flies into a rage which gives the book its title. Predictably, she seeks comfort from another close friend, Austin, the requisite gay character. Beyond this point, however, Hissy Fit is anything but predictable.

Enter Will, new in town and both single and rich--a perfect new love interest for Keeley, right? Well, not exactly, as he has already fallen head-over-heels for a blond knockout, but he does hire Keeley's interior design firm to renovate a local mansion in order to win over his heart's desire. In the midst of her hectic new work schedule, Keeley finds herself not only questioning her beliefs about love and fidelity but also longing to discover the fate of the mother who left Keeley and her father when she was just a child.

This is a light read but with a breadth and depth rarely seen in this humourous genre. You will laugh, you will think, but most of all, you will enjoy this book.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOL! LOL! LOL!, July 12, 2005

By 

Patricia Tryon (Longmont, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hissy Fit: A Novel (Paperback)

What a funny, funny book. The main character is a completely believeable young woman caught in the unfortunate situation of discovering a cheating fiancé the night before the wedding. What's a woman to do? Pitch a fit.

Like other Mary Kay Andrews stories, this has an element of fairy tale: in this case, restoring a Southern mansion and having access to unlimited funds. There are also several fairy-tale-like antique buys that had me sighing. And then there is the matter of the perfect bra...

A strong sense of place -- of several places, actually -- permeates this light read. If you come away without wanting to visit rural Georgia and several locations of flea markets in the South, you will not have been paying attention. In all these places readers meet up with deftly drawn characters, people you would certainly recognize on the street. The mystery at the heart of the story solves itself in the reader's mind with at least a third of the book to go. But the places and people kept me engaged and laughing out loud until I turned the last page.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outrageous behavior that is laugh out loud funny!!, October 7, 2004

By 

jeanne-scott (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hissy Fit (Hardcover)

This is one of those books that you do not want to read if you are somewhere that has little toleration for laughing and giggling while you read.......add a few gasps for outrageous behavior!!!!
Hissy Fit is the story of a young interior designer, Keeley, whose life will be taking a sudden unexpected turn when she finds her fiancé and her best friend in a compromising position the night before her wedding is to take place.
Mary Kay Andrews fills her book with laugh out loud humor, crazy, outrageous behavior and reactions as well as a tender, loving father daughter relationship whose very ground may be rocked by the events that will unfold. She surrounds Keeley with a group of unique and interesting characters that move this book along at high speed. You simply have to turn the page to find out what will happen next, only to be surprised time and again. This is too good not to read!!