Fat Free and Fatal: A Savannah Reid Mystery

In McKevett's 12th enjoyable if not especially suspenseful cozy to feature Savannah Reid (after 2006's Corpse Suzette ), the saucy California PI lands a gig as bodyguard to actress Dona Papalardo, who's gained recent notoriety for her dramatic weight loss. When Dona's personal assistant is murdered, Savannah thinks the killer was aiming for Papalardo herself. But after another member of Dona's staff gets killed, Savannah must dig deeper, with some help from San Carmelita police officer Dirk Coulter. It turns out the two dead employees knew each other long before they signed on with Papalardo and shared a sinister past. While the identity of the killer won't surprise most readers, McKevett's critique of the cult of thinness, to which Papalardo succumbed by having a dangerous gastric bypass, lends this light read some heft. (May)