Savannah Reid is back for her fifteenth enjoyable adventure in San Carmelita, California. The voluptuous private detective is once again asked to help her friend Detective Sergeant Dirk Coulter with a case. As in the recent series entries, the focus is on the diet industry, this time on therapist Dr. Robert Wellman, who claims amazing weight-loss success using his popular hypnosis program. Is that true or, more likely, a fraud? Either way, Wellman seems to be wildly successful, but all that is jeopardized when his wife, Maria, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Investigating the murder, Reid and Coulter soon discover that Dr. Wellman is not exactly what he claims, nor was he where he claimed at the time of his wife’s death. As usual, Savannah’s family and friends make appearances and help solve the mystery. With romance between Dirk and Savannah apparently heating up, readers will wonder about Dirk’s preoccupation with diet and exercise and Savannah’s inexplicable jealousy. A nice mix of cozy relationships and mystery. --Judy Coon
Description:
From Publishers Weekly
When Maria Wellman, the unpopular wife of philandering diet guru Dr. Robert Wellman, is found dead on the beach below the couple's cliff-top estate, Savannah Reid investigates in McKevett's solid 15th mystery to feature the voluptuous San Carmelita, Calif., PI (after 2009's A Body to Die For). Granny Reid, who flies in for a vacation, distracts Savannah from her sleuthing, but she also provides major help (and biscuits!) after Savannah and her policeman beau, Sgt. Dirk Coulter, uncover a big secret about the Wellmans. Suspects include battered wife Lydia Mahoney, whose husband was blackmailing Robert, and Karen Burns, a single mom pregnant with Robert's baby whose mother runs a nightmarish day-care center. Though Savannah's wit about food and healthy weight continues to sparkle, the will they or won't they? banter between Dirk and Savannah is getting a little tired. Hopefully, McKevett (the pseudonym of Sonja Massie) will let the two fully connect soon. (Feb.)
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From
Savannah Reid is back for her fifteenth enjoyable adventure in San Carmelita, California. The voluptuous private detective is once again asked to help her friend Detective Sergeant Dirk Coulter with a case. As in the recent series entries, the focus is on the diet industry, this time on therapist Dr. Robert Wellman, who claims amazing weight-loss success using his popular hypnosis program. Is that true or, more likely, a fraud? Either way, Wellman seems to be wildly successful, but all that is jeopardized when his wife, Maria, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Investigating the murder, Reid and Coulter soon discover that Dr. Wellman is not exactly what he claims, nor was he where he claimed at the time of his wife’s death. As usual, Savannah’s family and friends make appearances and help solve the mystery. With romance between Dirk and Savannah apparently heating up, readers will wonder about Dirk’s preoccupation with diet and exercise and Savannah’s inexplicable jealousy. A nice mix of cozy relationships and mystery. --Judy Coon