Just Desserts

Savannah Reid, Book 1

By: G. A. McKevett

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

Finding herself in over her head with a case involving a politician's infidelities, Memphis-born karate expert Detective Sergeant Savannah Reid is told that she must turn in her badge because she is overweight.

©1995 G.A. McKevett and the Kensington Publishing Corp. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

First in the series.

This is good enough that I've got the rest of the series in my Wishlist. I love a good literary read, but when at work or driving this is the kind of listen that suits me best. It doesn't take too much concentration but fills my otherwise boring time with enjoyment.

Disappointing Book

I'd been looking forward to listening to this as I know the Desserts books are popular. And while I love a cozy mystery, I fail to see the lure of this one. Nope...I will stop with Book 1...thank you very much. Also, the narrator was irritating. I'm from the deep south but this woman was pouring it on thickly. Please!

Good story, bad language

Would you consider the audio edition of Just Desserts to be better than the print version?

Have not read the print version

What did you like best about this story?

The story was good.

What about Dina Pearlman’s performance did you like?

Ms Pearlman was able to use different voices effectively.

Any additional comments?

I had trouble getting past the foul language, which seems to be the norm at present but is not too my liking. I believe authors could be more creative with expressing themselves and not resort to swearing as often as they do. There is a Citi credit card commercial which currently illustrates this: the first time I saw the commercial, the actor said, "... every damn day." They have since changed that commercial to say, "... every single day" and it expresses their point just as well (or even better, if you ask me.) This is my only complaint with this book.

Entertaining

Would you listen to Just Desserts again? Why?

I'm currently on the 12th book in the series and love following the fun cast of characters

Confusing title for a great book

The title led me to expect a series similar to Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series (which I enjoy), but this was really closer to a Southern version of Sue Grafton’s Millhone series (but not as dark).

I loved this book and have already downloaded the next three in the series. I’m especially excited to have found a new series with a good number of books as it’s always a bummer to find books I love only to find there are only a few in the series.

What was so great? The plot was complex enough to be interesting without being convoluted. The characters were also very likable and interesting. Best of all for me was the humor. I didn’t laugh out loud most of the time like I do reading an Evanovich Stephanie Plum book, but there was enough clever, real humor to keep the story from being too dark.

The relationships had a real feel to them too, versus the overdramatized version of relationships you often see in books so it felt like I was getting to know real people.

Also, having lived in GA for some years I was pleased that the narrator didn’t over do the Savannah accent. She did a really decent job of it and overall she did an excellent job bringing out the main character’s personality. For me the sign of a good narrator is when I forget someone is reading to me and I just recognize characters, which happened right away in this book. Savannah is someone I’d love to know so it was great fun being part of her life for a few hours. Hopefully you’ll feel the same if you try the book!