From Publishers Weekly
McKevett's debut, set in San Carmelita, Calif., is an uneven mix of police procedural and gumshoe cliches. Georgia-born detective Savannah Reid and her staid partner, Dirk Coulter, are split up after the body of city councilwoman Beverly Winston's husband is found shotgunned. In an unprecedented move, Savannah is given the case alone and is told to concentrate on suspects other than Beverly. She learns why: Beverly and police chief Norman Hillquist are lovers. After refusing to abridge her investigation and discovering that Hillquist confiscated a piece of evidence, she is fired, ostensibly for being overweight. Then a prime suspect hires Savannah to find the real killer. In her private life, Savannah worries as her naive younger sister is wined and dined by a notorious pimp. An anonymous tipster, a gay detective couple and a computer nerd who finally breaks the case join Savannah and the ever-loyal Dirk as they careen from one implausible situation to the next, failing to settle into credible detecting. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This first-in-a-series starring police detective Savannah Reid proves once again that southern California is a world to itself. Savannah, a displaced Southern belle of buxom figure, heads an investigation into the murder of a prominent councilwoman's husband. When she refuses to go along with a police coverup, however, her boss fires her?for exceeding departmental weight regulations! Savannah proceeds, though, hampered only by her frequent dessert indulgences, her ingenuous 16-year-old sister, and her lust for a handsome bodyguard. The infectious heroine and self-deprecating humor override the predictable plot, exaggerated characters, and slick prose. Recommended.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

ANNOTATION

Detective Sergeant Savannah Reid is in her element cruising for crime in Southern California. But when she's told she's too fat to stay on the force, Savannah opens up her own detective agency and soon finds herself investigating a murder. With suspects abounding, Savannah finds herslf sifting through the nasty mess of sex, adultery and down-and-dirty politics.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

At forty, with a black belt in karate, Memphis-born Detective Sergeant Reid is in her element cruising for crime in one of southern California's most exclusive enclaves ... until a shocking murder rouses San Carmelita from its star-studded stupor - and places Savannah in the center of a sensational case that soon erupts into a media feeding frenzy. Speaking of food ... When Savannah uncovers evidence that places a high-ranking, married politician in bed - literally - with the local law, she's not only taken off the case, she's told she's too fat to stay on the force. Surrendering her badge, Savannah reacts in her usual fashion: by drowning her sorrows in deep-dish pizza and chocolate cheesecake. But nothing keeps a savvy Southern belle down for long ... and soon Savannah and a sexy fellow cop are working together to take a bite out of this crime. With suspects abounding - and a cast of characters that includes an ex-CIA agent and a computer genius with the know-how to take the case into the 21st century - Savannah finds herself sifting through a nasty mess of sex, adultery and down-and-dirty politics that could prove the creme de la creme of her detecting career. If she can use her own appetite for justice to unmask a cunning killer.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

McKevett's debut, set in San Carmelita, Calif., is an uneven mix of police procedural and gumshoe clichs. Georgia-born detective Savannah Reid and her staid partner, Dirk Coulter, are split up after the body of city councilwoman Beverly Winston's husband is found shotgunned. In an unprecedented move, Savannah is given the case alone and is told to concentrate on suspects other than Beverly. She learns why: Beverly and police chief Norman Hillquist are lovers. After refusing to abridge her investigation and discovering that Hillquist confiscated a piece of evidence, she is fired, ostensibly for being overweight. Then a prime suspect hires Savannah to find the real killer. In her private life, Savannah worries as her nave younger sister is wined and dined by a notorious pimp. An anonymous tipster, a gay detective couple and a computer nerd who finally breaks the case join Savannah and the ever-loyal Dirk as they careen from one implausible situation to the next, failing to settle into credible detecting. (May)

Library Journal