Cheap Peaches and Screams: A Savannah Reid Mystery (Savannah Reid Mysteries (Paperback)) (Book) (G. A. McKevett) Price

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Customer Reviews of Peaches and Screams: A Savannah Reid Mystery (Savannah Reid Mysteries (Paperback))

In Peaches And Screams, Savannah Reid heads back to Georgia to be a bridesmaid in another sister's wedding. But when she arrives, she finds that her youngest brother is being held for the murder of a town judge. She, like a good sister, doesn't believe he did it, but the signs are not encouraging. She starts her own investigation to see if she can clear her brother. Tammi and Dirk arrive from California to help her, and with their assistance she starts to piece together the puzzle of who dun it.

There is probably less action in this installment than in any other I've read so far. Much of the story that doesn't revolve around her investigation explores how her Grandmother is dealing with the lazy leeches that make up most of her siblings. By the end of the book, Savannah has gotten her to set some new ground rules to avoid being taken advantage of. She also has to deal with an old flame from her past, who just happens to be the head cop in the town.

While a good story, I was probably less enthralled with this one than any of the others. There just didn't seem to be that sense of urgency about it.

Peaches and Screams
Some burdens are unavoidable. Southern California transplant Savannah Reid, the oldest of nine children, knows that she has to go back to her hometown of McGill, Georgia, for her sister Marietta's third wedding, even if it means wearing a fluorescent orange bridesmaid's gown. And she knows she'll have to face deputy sheriff Tommy Stafford, who years ago introduced her to the pleasures of teen lust before unceremoniously dumping her for Lisa Mooney. But what private eye Savannah (Sour Grapes, 2000, etc.) doesn't find out until her arrival is that she'll also have to solve the murder of rich, philandering Judge Patterson-and solve it right quick, or prosecuting attorney Mack Goodwin, who's Patterson's son-in-law, will have her brother Macon strapped to a gurney ready for a lethal injection. Most of her siblings are pretty well useless: Marietta, Vidalia, Jessup, and even straitlaced Cordele can't think of anything better to do than dump their dirty laundry on Granny Reid's porch and pack away pounds of fried chicken. And the judge's estranged wife Bonnie and her flashy boyfriend Alvin Barnes are downright obstructive. Lucky for Savannah that her West Coast buds-first and foremost Detective Sergeant Dick Coulter and Tammy Hart, the assistant at Savannah's Moonlight Magnolias Detective Agency-come through to help Savannah collar the perp. A whodunit as old-fashioned and satisfying as one of Granny Reid's bacon-egg-and-grits breakfasts.

Deep South female private eye cosy
McKevett has always produced great characters, especially her overweight detective, Savannah Reid, with her sharply contrasted group of Californian friends and vast Georgian family. But to be honest her writing contained weak spots and cliches and her plots were sometimes threadbare. This one has much better writing and an ingenious plot. I think it's her best. It's set in Georgia instead of her usual California. Savannah has to go home for her sister's third wedding and her good-for-nothing brother is accused of murder. Some of it is gooey and sloppy and sentimental, but to complain of schmaltz in McKevett is like complaining of sweetness in a chocolate eclair. If you want hard-boiled irony and deadpan sophistication don't shop here.
I couldn't give it five stars in a world that contains Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich but it's fun.