Author Pam Avery is returning to the fictional North Georgia community of Kings County with her new novel, The Other Side of Tanner, scheduled for worldwide release on October 1. The book is a sequel to Avery's critically acclaimed debut, The Tanner Side of Town, and shifts the spotlight to Tanner Fox, the daughter of Lucy Tanner and Hunter Fox.
Now in her early 50s, Tanner Fox is a successful, high-profile attorney and fixer who helps politicians and celebrities navigate crises. However, when her complicated personal life collides with a dangerous investigation, she discovers that solving other people's problems is far easier than confronting her own. At the center of her personal turmoil is a five-year affair with married U.S. Senator Cary Lancaster, a relationship whose political consequences she understands all too well.
"After The Tanner Side of Town, I knew there were still stories to tell about this family, but I wanted to explore them through a different generation and a very different woman," Avery said. "Tanner Fox is smart, accomplished, tough and very good at managing other people's crises. Yet beneath all that confidence is someone struggling to manage her own life. That contradiction made her a fascinating character for me to explore."
The novel reaches beyond Washington politics and forbidden romance. Back in Kings County, the past refuses to remain buried. Tanner becomes drawn into an investigation that stretches from Georgia to Chicago and Florida and involves Bill Braxton, a small-time criminal with an outsized mobster ego. As she digs into Braxton's past, she uncovers connections to the Andrews family that make the case deeply personal for those closest to her.
"I wanted the book to have suspense and twists that keep readers turning the pages, but I also wanted it to be about more than solving a mystery," Avery said. "It's about the choices people make, the secrets they keep, the consequences that follow and the people who stand beside them when life becomes complicated. At its heart, this is still a story about family."
Readers of the first novel will encounter familiar characters decades later, including Lucy Tanner, the fiercely independent heroine; Hunter Fox, the newspaperman who captured her heart; and Hank Tanner, now a Georgia district attorney. They are joined by a cast that includes recovering surgeon David Harrington, who operates a farm helping men rebuild their lives after addiction; Joseph Andrews; retired Chicago police officer Leo Flynn; and others whose histories become intertwined with Tanner's search for answers.
The Tanner family's roots stretch back to the 1800s in the mountains of Georgia. The original novel centered on Lucy Tanner and the battle to protect "The Ridge," an untouched mountain range of historical significance running through Kings County. The Other Side of Tanner picks up the family story decades later, examining what happens when a new generation inherits not only the strength of those who came before them but also unfinished business from the past.
"The North Georgia setting is almost another character in these books," Avery said. "The land, the family history and the sense of belonging to a place help shape who the Tanners are. You can leave home, build a career and create an entirely different life for yourself, but sometimes you must come back to where you started to understand where you're going."
Through Tanner, Avery explores a distinctly contemporary contradiction: a woman professionally trained to manage chaos who cannot always control the chaos within herself. Her journey forces her to confront difficult truths about love, dependency, family, identity, and what she really wants from the second half of her life.
Ultimately, The Other Side of Tanner is as much about finding peace as it is about solving a mystery. "I hope readers are entertained by the mystery and intrigue, but I also hope they see something of themselves in these characters," Avery said. "Life rarely gives us perfect people making perfect decisions. We make mistakes, we carry things from our past, we love people we probably shouldn't, and sometimes we get another chance to decide who we want to be. That's what Tanner's journey is about."
The novel is published by Shades Creek Press, LLC. ISBN: 979-8-2561-0471-9. Its release adds a new chapter to Avery's growing body of work, which includes The Tanner Side of Town (2022), What Tink Told Us (2024), and Dirt Road Dreams…Poems, Prose, and Photography. The book's blend of mystery, suspense, and multigenerational family drama may appeal to readers who appreciate character-driven stories with a strong sense of place.
