Line #87 Literature/TheSavannahReidMysteries


1	[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/just_desserts_mckevett_1647.jpg]]
2	''Savannah Reid'' is a series of [[DetectiveDrama mystery novels]] by G.A. [=McKevett=], the [[SameFaceDifferentName pseudonym]] of author Sonja Massie.
3
4	Middle-aged Savannah Reid is proud of her Southern heritage and not ashamed of her plus-sized body. After being kicked off the police force because she discovered that some of the higher-ups would be implicated in a case, she opens her own [[PrivateDetective private investigation]] company. Though it may not be the best-paying job, she's got her friends to help solve the case: Tammy, her enthusiastic assistant; Dirk, the [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold crabby cop with a heart of gold]]; and Ryan and Gibson, a pair of ex-FBI agents.
5
6	The series, in order:
7	# ''Just Desserts''
8	# ''Bitter Sweets''
9	# ''Killer Calories''
10	# ''Cooked Goose''
11	# ''Sugar and Spite''
12	# ''Sour Grapes''
13	# ''Peaches and Screams''
14	# ''Death by Chocolate''
15	# ''Cereal Killer''
16	# ''Murder a la Mode''
17	# ''Corpse Suzette''
18	# ''Fat Free and Fatal''
19	# ''Poisoned Tarts''
20	# ''A Body To Die For''
21	# ''Wicked Craving''
22	# ''A Decadent Way To Die''
23	# ''Buried in Buttercream''
24	# ''Killer Honeymoon''
25	# ''Killer Gourmet''
26	# ''Killer Reunion''
27	# ''Every Body On Deck''
28	# ''Hide and Sneak''
29
30	At least one spinoff - ''Murder in Her Stocking'', a prequel featuring Granny Reid - is in the works.
31
32	----
33	!!Examples
34
35	* ActionGirl: Savannah's a PrivateDetective with a black belt in karate, and carries her Beretta everywhere she goes.
36	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Tammy says once, "Colder than a flat frog on a Philadelphia freeway in February?"
37	* AddictionDisplacement: Dirk with cinnamon sticks after giving up smoking.
38	* AmateurSleuth: Tammy. She even occasionally refers to what they do as "sleuthing", much to Savannah's amusement.
39	* AngryGuardDog: Beowulf in ''Bitter Sweets'' only grudgingly allows Savannah to pass after she gives him some meat. When she tries this with Hitler, Satan, and Killer in ''Death by Chocolate'', on the other hand, the three little dogs become Savannah's best friends.
40	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Most of Savannah's siblings, except Alma and Waycross.
41	* ApologizesALot: In one book, Tammy keeps apologizing. Savannah comments that if Tammy keeps it up, she's going to deduct one nickel of Tammy's salary for each time. Tammy's response? "Sorry."
42	* ArchEnemy: Captain Bloss and Chief Hillquist are Savannah's.
43	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Savannah uses these frequently, and to great effect.
44	* ArrestedForHeroism: Not quite, but when Savannah's car goes over a spike strip when she's helping chase the bad guys (in fact, it was thanks to her that they caught them at all), she isn't given any money to cover the cost of the tires because they claim she shouldn't have been interfering with police business. ''Despite'' the fact that one of the cops was in her car because his own was broken down.
45	* ArousedByTheirVoice: Savannah describes her car-cleaning guy Rory as having a very arousing voice.
46	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In ''A Decadent Way to Die'', when [[spoiler:Tammy's ex-boyfriend Chad shoots Savannah. She doesn't like the guy already for what he did to Tammy; now she knows she's badly hurt, and ''actually rationalizes that she's dying'', but when she looks down at her gunshot wounds, she becomes more upset by the fact that he ruined her grandmother's nightgown.]]
47	* AtrociousAlias:
48	** Jesup's husband (for a short time), Bleak Manifest. His given name, Milton Pillsbury, isn't much better.
49	** Savannah thinks that Moon Shadow (the name of an exotic dancer) is one. Turns out that Moon Shadow isn't her stage name - it's actually her real name; she had hippie parents. She has a brother named Star Shadow.
50	* BadSanta: The bad guy in ''Cooked Goose'' dresses in a Santa outfit to commit his crimes.
51	* BearerOfBadNews: Savannah finds herself in this position a lot, unfortunately.
52	* BeautyContest: ''Sour Grapes''. Of course, Savannah [[TemptingFate just]] ''[[TemptingFate has]]'' [[TemptingFate to say]] "[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong What could happen at a beauty pageant]]?"
53	* BerserkerTears: Margie, in ''Cooked Goose'', when Savannah tells her to pretend that Ryan (who's volunteering to help with the self-defense class) is the guy that tried to rape her, so that she can let her feelings out. She attacks him surprisingly ferociously, and it ends with her sobbing.
54	* BigBeautifulWoman: Savannah's got a plus-size body, but very few characters diss her for her weight, and when they do, it's usually scrawny women who think being thin = being beautiful. She gets complimented far more often for being comfortable in her skin, and several male characters comment on how they find larger women attractive.
55	* BigEater: Savannah absolutely loves her food.
56	* BigStupidDoodooHead: Savannah enjoys annoying Captain Bloss with childlike insults such as this. Tammy does it about Dirk sometimes, too, when he's not around.
57	* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Savannah finds her wedding planner dead right before the wedding starts.
58	* BluffingTheMurderer: One of Savannah's favorite tactics. It works sometimes, such as on [[spoiler:Eric Bowman]] in ''Just Desserts'' and [[spoiler:Waldo]] in ''A Decadent Way to Die''.
59	* BrainBleach: Savannah wishes she had some at one point after an encounter with [[CasanovaWannabe Kenny Bates]], complete with steel wool.
60	* [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Bratty Teenage Sister]]: Atlanta.
61	* BreakingBadNewsGently: Mentioned several times in the books when there's news to share.
62	* BulletHolesAndRevelations: This part in one book:
63	-->Then three shots exploded, filling the room with smoke and the smell of cordite.\
64	Three bullets seared burning paths through living flesh.\
65	Two bodies hit the floor.
66	* TheButlerDidIt: The conclusion of [[spoiler:''Death by Chocolate'']].
67	* CakeToppers: Savannah's wedding cake has these. During the first ruined wedding date, they end up getting buried in the frosting, but Savannah salvages them to use again.
68	* CallingTheOldManOut:
69	** Margie to [[ArchnemesisDad Captain Bloss]] in ''Cooked Goose''. Things came to a head when her dad came straight from a NoTellMotel to shout at her for being worthless and wrecking her new car, not even asking if she's okay, not asking ''why'' it was wrecked, when she only did it to escape from a rapist...
70	** Savannah finally chews out her old man in ''Sugar and Spite''. All those years, she and her siblings had to hear the whispers about how her dad was fooling around with another woman, and yet he never divorced his wife - and that's ignoring the fact that he almost never came home. Now that Savannah's fourty-something, he finally does divorce Savannah's mother... and asks Savannah to be the ''maid of honor'' for his marriage to the woman he's had an affair with for decades.
71	** Tammy to her mother at the end of ''Hide and Sneak'', after she walks in on her mother insultingly telling Savannah and Granny Reid that her marriage to Waycross and birth of their daughter is a mistake.
72	* CandlelitBath: Savannah is fond of these. Often, they help her to relax, but unfortunately they frequently get interrupted by phone calls.
73	* CaptainObvious:
74	** Dirk's words of wisdom in ''Bitter Sweets''.
75	-->'''Dirk:''' You never really know who done it, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment 'til you know for sure who done it.]]
76	-->'''Tammy:''' What?
77	** Dirk also tends to make obvious statements a lot in ''Killer Gourmet''; the others give him glares when he does and Savannah points out to him that it doesn't ''have'' to be stated - for instance saying "that was the worst opening night of all time", referring to Ryan and Gibson's chef being murdered at the opening of their restaurant, and also when they talk about how they're going to have to keep the restaurant closed for a bit for various reasons, he adds, "Plus, you've gotta get a new cook".
78	* CasanovaWannabe: Kenny Bates.
79	* CatsAreSuperior: Savannah's two cats seem to consider themselves so.
80	* ChefOfIron: Savannah loves to cook, but her main purpose in life is to catch the bad guys.
81	* ClearMyName: In ''Bitter Sweets'', the San Carmelita Police Department are eager to declare Savannah an accomplice to murder, as she had unwittingly led the murderer to the victim.
82	* ClearTheirName:
83	** In ''Sugar and Spite'', Dirk's ex-wife is shot in his house, with his gun, after the two of them fought. He's not the killer, but Savannah needs to prove it...
84	** In ''Peaches and Screams'', Savannah's youngest sibling, Macon, is accused of murdering the judge. Things aren't looking too good for him at first, but then Savannah realizes it wasn't him...
85	* CluelessDeputy: Mr. Jeter, the part-time volunteer deputy of [=McGill=], Georgia.
86	* CopKiller[=/=]KillerCop: The bad guy in ''Cooked Goose''.
87	* ComeToGawk: Happens on occasion.
88	* ComplimentBackfire: Just don't say anything whatsoever to Tammy's cousin, Abigail. She ''will'' find some way to turn it into an insult about her size.
89	* TheCoroner: Dr. Jennifer Liu.
90	* CountryMouse: Everyone in Savannah's family, to some degree.
91	* CurseCutShort: Dirk occasionally breaks off when starting to swear in the presence of Savannah's granny.
92	* DeathbringerTheAdorable: Subverted with Eleanor's dogs, Hitler, Satan, and Killer - they're tiny little fluffy dogs, not what you'd first expect the breed to be if you'd only heard the names. They ''are'' quite aggressive at first, but once Savannah starts treating them kindly, they're rather friendly to everyone.
93	* DeathFakedForYou: In ''Every Body On Deck'', [[spoiler:Natasha wants to get away with her husband's murder, get revenge on the other woman, and start a new life, so she has one of her biggest fans put the body of said fan's sister (who was awaiting burial due to the Alaskan winter) in place of Natasha, set the car on fire to hide the identity, and then do a switcheroo on the dental records so that they'd still think it was her.]]
94	* DeepFriedWhatever: Savannah loves just about anything deep-fried..
95	* DetectiveMole: In ''Cooked Goose'', [[spoiler:After Titus Dunn commits his crimes, he helps investigate them. Until, during one of them, he gets [[RevealingInjury injured in a car crash]] - ''then'' he "goes missing".]]
96	* DetectivePatsy: Occurs in both [[spoiler:''Fat-Free and Fatal'']] and [[spoiler:''Every Body On Deck'']]. [[IdiotBall You have to wonder what exactly they were expecting to happen]], hiring a private investigation agency with a good track record.
97	* DisposingOfABody: Someone attempts this in basically every book.
98	* DoesntLikeGuns: Tammy, though she'd learned how to properly use one.
99	* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm: Dirk sometimes. Savannah wonders whether that makes it more entertaining or annoying to tease him.
100	** This is brought up again in ''Buried in Buttercream'' when Savannah tells someone sarcastically, "what a sad story" and he thinks she's being serious. She decides that it's annoying to taunt people who don't understand sarcasm. She says something else sarcastically and ''that'' one he gets.
101	* DomesticAbuse:
102	** Comes up a lot. Happens to someone very near and dear to Savannah in ''A Decadent Way to Die''; is a major plot point in that book.
103	** Several minor characters are losers that do this, but the most featured one is [[spoiler:Tammy's boyfriend, Chad.]]
104	* DoomedAppointment: [[spoiler:Francie Gorton]] arranges to meet Savannah in ''Sour Grapes'', but someone overhears the phone call, and feeds [[spoiler:Francie]] false information to make her ''believe'' she's still meeting Savannah. Instead, she's met by the killer.
105	* DontYouDarePityMe: Savannah tells her Granny something to this effect after her wedding is postponed a ''second'' time.
106	* DrivenToMurder: Usually goes along with PlayingTheVictimCard.
107	* DrivenToSuicide: Umber Viola, almost, in ''Killer Gourmet'': [[spoiler:she was abused by her stepfather since she was young, and when she couldn't take it anymore she hired someone to kill him, and she couldn't live with herself after that. Savannah found her standing at the edge of a pier with all her belongings piled up and a note labeled "to Mom" on top. She was able to talk her down though.]]
108	* DumbBlonde: Inverted. Tammy is a very intelligent blonde.
109	* ElectrifiedBathtub: The way one murder is committed.
110	* EmbarrassingFirstName: Savannah's sister Cordele points out that them being [[LocationThemeNaming named after Georgia towns]] is pretty stupid - she says that Savannah and Atlanta are good names, and at least you can shorten Jesup to Jessie, there's not much you can do with Cordele.
111	* EveryoneIsASuspect: Sometimes it's a twist ending, sometimes you think "it can't be that person, it's too obvious", sometimes the person themselves orders their own murder, but it's pretty much always unexpected.
112	* EvilLaugh: Dr. Jennifer Liu is noted as having one of these.
113	* EvilTwin: Discussed. In a police office out of town, Savannah and Dirk meet a doppelganger of Kenny Bates. Like Kenny, he works at the desk and is a CasanovaWannabe. Savannah refers to him as Kenny's "evil twin". They meet another doppelganger in Alaska.
114	* FatAndProud: Size is only a number to Savannah, and not something to judge someone by. She used to worry about her weight, but realized that she'll lead a much happier life if she doesn't make fitting into tiny jeans a life priority.
115	* FatSlob: What some characters see Dirk as, even Savannah. He ''does'' fit a lot of it... beer belly, poor table manners, crude language/mannerisms, leaving wrappers everywhere...
116	* FootDraggingDivorcee: When Marietta's all set for her third marriage, she claims that her fiance's current wife is trying to drag out the divorce to mess up the wedding.
117	* FosteringForProfit: Dirk was only adopted from the orphanage because his adopted dad just wanted free physical labor for his business.
118	* FriendOnTheForce: Dirk to Savannah.
119	* FriendToAllChildren: Savannah is good with kids, and she also notes a few times that Dirk is as well, particularly in ''Killer Gourmet''.
120	* GasChamber: How [[spoiler: Barbie Matthews]] is murdered in ''Sour Grapes''... [[CruelAndUnusualDeath trapped in a trunk with insecticide...]]
121	* GilliganCut:
122	--> With Dr. Liu's latest report and professional help within reach for Atlanta, things were defnitely looking up.\
123	''(next page:)''\
124	Things were in the crapper. Although Atlanta was across the room, officially attending the meeting between them and Angela Herriot, she hadn't spoken a single word.
125	** And in another book:
126	-->''"I'll betcha with some women along - gals who ain't been discombobulated, that is - we're gonna find us some murder weapons."''\
127	''(break on page)''\
128	''"Okay, you boys were right. There ain't no weapons here."''
129	* GladIThoughtOfIt: Used a couple times, usually with Dirk.
130	* GranolaGirl: Tammy, who is obsessed with eating healthy.
131	* GrannyClassic: Granny Reid, who was Savannah's real maternal figure growing up: kind and selfless, an amazing cook, and a giver of great advice. She'll gladly scold one of her grandchildren if they need it, though, and she even got in on the action once by tasering a man that got into a fight with Savannah's crew (who was beating them even though it was four against one).
132	* GratuitousJapanese: In-universe example. In one book, Savannah's on the news for defending herself at a grocery store when a man attacks her after a little disagreement. Tammy feels the need to give commentary, naming (in Japanese) every karate move that Savannah used, so Savannah resolves to lay off the karate lessons with Tammy for a while.
133	* GreenEyedMonster: Though Savannah and Dirk aren't a couple [[spoiler:for the first dozen or so books]], Savannah finds herself jealous at times when she thinks there might be another woman (and then she notices that she thought "''other'' woman" as if she and Dirk ''were'' a couple.)
134	** Dirk also shows jealousy when Savannah goes back to Georgia for Marietta's wedding, asking Savannah if she was going to meet up with any high school buddies.
135	** Let's just say that both Dirk and Savannah are very obviously jealous when there's even a ''hint'' of one of them liking someone else.
136	* HenpeckedHusband: Poor Butch never gets a break from Vidalia bossing him around.
137	* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: True for some characters and noted by Savannah.
138	* HiddenWire: Used quite a bit. Ryan and Gibson's are better than Dirk's, though: Dirk's actually shocks Tammy once.
139	* HiredGuns: There's a few instances of someone paying another person to kill someone.
140	* HisNameIs: In ''Killer Honeymoon'', Savannah holds the dying woman in her arms and asks who shot her. The woman says "William..." and Savannah says, "William shot you?" The woman says no, repeats William's name again, and dies. [[spoiler:It turns out that William ''hired'' someone to shoot her.]]
141	* ICallItVera: Savannah likes to name her plants, such as a bougainvillea named Bogey (after Creator/HumphreyBogart).
142	* ImprovisedWeapon: In one book, Savannah thinks she's out of luck because the killer's got her cornered, and her gun is out of reach. Luckily, Atlanta sneaks up behind the killer and whacks them with her guitar, breaking it.
143	* IncrediblyLamePun:
144	** On one case, a ring with a star-shaped marking becomes important. When showing a drawing of it to Bloss, Savannah can't help but say, "What about you? Does this design ''ring'' a bell with you?" He isn't amused.
145	** Dirk and his "extra-large package" holiday DoubleEntendre. Savannah tells him "don't you dare say it", but he does anyway.
146	* InsultBackfire: In ''Murder a la Mode'', Savannah tells Brandy "You're such a ''[[SarcasmMode sweet]]'' person." [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm Brandy is thrilled at the compliment.]]
147	* InsultToRocks: There's two instances where Dirk describes someone as a "pussy", and Savannah protests. When asked if she's objecting to the language, Savannah replies no, that as a cat lover, she's objecting to the association.
148	* IsTheAnswerToThisQuestionYes:
149	** In ''Cooked Goose'', Savannah asks Dirk if he wants some ice cream. Dirk responds with "Do bears sh-" before [[CurseCutShort Savannah cuts him off]], telling him there's a minor in the house.
150	** In ''Killer Gourmet'', Dirk asks Savannah if she wants to join him in questioning people in the interrogation room. Her response is, "Does Victoria's Secret have fancy bloomers?"
151	* ItNeverGetsAnyEasier: This is said several times.
152	* ItsAllMyFault: Tammy blames herself for [[spoiler:her ex-boyfriend shooting Savannah]].
153	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Dirk. He's got a rough-around-the-edges, grumpy sort of personality, but when you get to know him he's loyal and loving, and he loves kids.
154	* JoggersFindDeath: Happens a couple times in the series.
155	* JustFriends: Savannah and Dirk, though [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone can tell]] that they're perfect for each other. Even though the two of them know they have some feelings for each other, they consider themselves best friends. [[spoiler: Dirk finally [[RelationshipUpgrade proposes]] to her in ''A Decadent Way to Die'', and she says yes.]]
156	* KickTheDog: A teen knew that his sister's boyfriend was a bad guy even before the guy murdered someone, because he literally kicked the family's dog for no reason.
157	* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: Happens in [[spoiler:''Bitter Sweets.'']]
158	* KillerCop: [[spoiler:Titus Dunn]], killer cop ''and'' cop killer.
159	* LameComeback: Jesup's husband-for-a-couple-days, Bleak Manifest, gives us "You suck worser!"
160	* LargeHam: Marietta in ''Peaches and Screams''. True, she was left at the altar, but her fiance ''was'' technically still married to his wife, and this was going to be her ''third'' marriage.
161	--->'''Marietta:''' None of you've got a lick o' sense! None of you have any idea the pain I'm going through here. The soulish agony.
162	--->'''Waycross:''' (singing) ♪ [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Nobody knows de trouble I see...]] ♫
163	* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: In ''Killer Honeymoon'', Savannah's gang gets in a fight with a guy and they're losing when it's ''five against one''. They're saved by Granny Reid and a taser. Dirk announces afterward that they should never speak of that humiliating moment again.
164	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Savannah and Dirk's relationship, more or less.
165	* LocationThemeNaming: Shirley Reid named all nine of her children after Georgia towns: Savannah, Alma, Waycross, Marietta, Vidalia, Jesup, Cordele, Macon, and Atlanta.
166	* LoonyFan: In ''Hide and Sneak'', [[spoiler:"Kitty Z". She was obsessed with Ethan Malloy, one of his biggest fans, and sent both he and his wife photoshopped pictures of the other in an attempt to break them up. When that didn't work quickly enough, she kidnapped his wife and toddler son (murdering the nanny in the process), and intended to kill his wife and earn his affection by claiming she rescued his son from the person that had killed his wife.]]
167	* LostWeddingRing: At [[spoiler:Savannah's]] second attempt at a wedding day, one of her sisters accidentally throws out the groom's ring, requiring the bride to go back and hunt it down right before walking up the aisle. It is after she finds it that she also finds her wedding planner dead.
168	* LyingToThePerp: Done a couple times, with occasional success.
169	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: When [[spoiler:Savannah is shot]], she looks at her wound, and tells the guy that he's ruined her grandmother's nightgown. Not to sound tough or anything - she's genuinely upset about it and reacts to that before her injury.
170	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Happens several times in the series. One of them is [[spoiler:Francie Gorton]], who, according to the coroner, could have either fallen or been pushed into a stone cellar. Another is in ''Every Body On Deck'', when the murder is made to look like a car accident on a bad road.
171	* MaliciousMisnaming: Tommy Stafford refers to Dirk as "Dirt" and "Kirk".
172	* MallSanta: Savannah accidentally [[GroinAttack injured]] one, mistaking him for the criminal that dressed as Santa.
173	* MamaBear: Don't harm anyone Savannah considers family or is protecting as part of her job, because she ''will'' pay you back double. For example, in ''A Decadent Way to Die'', after [[spoiler:Tammy's boyfriend hurts her]], Savannah drops in to pay him a visit. She kicks the door in on him hard enough to break his nose, gives him a kick [[GroinAttack in the spot men least like to be kicked]] bad enough to require surgery, and holds her gun to his head, threatening him to never even ''text'' [[spoiler:Tammy]] again.
174	* MarriedAtSea: [[spoiler:Tammy and Waycross get married on a cruise ship]] at the end of ''Every Body On Deck'' as their baby is born.
175	* MeaningfulName: Anthony Villa (rich owner of a vineyard), Barbara "Barbie" Matthews (several-time beauty pageant winner), Tammy Hart (one of the most gentle and kindhearted people Savannah knows).
176	* MixedMetaphor: Dirk does these sometimes, and Savannah calls him out on it. She does it herself sometimes, though: "That's a horse of a different feather."
177	* MomentKiller: At the end of ''A Decadent Way To Die'', [[spoiler:during Dirk's proposal to Savannah... "I love you, Savannah. I loved you from the minute I met you. You walked into that station house with your uniform on. And I said, 'Wow! Look at the rack on that one and...' Oh, sorry, that's not very romantic, but... well... anyway..." Fortunately, he continues on with the sweet things, and so the moment is smoothed over.]]
178	* MotiveRant: Occurs in nearly every book.
179	* MurdererPOV: Happens several times, especially earlier in the series, but always keeps the murderer's identity a secret.
180	** In ''Cooked Goose'', the murderer's identity is eventually revealed to the reader during his POV, though Savannah and friends don't know it yet.
181	* MysteriousInformant:
182	** Tammy started as this in the first book.
183	** There's one in ''Cooked Goose''.
184	* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Gets inverted more than played straight.
185	* NotAMorningPerson: Savannah. Dirk, too, to a somewhat lesser degree.
186	* NoTellMotel: Unfortunately, many of Savannah's cases involve the Blue Moon Motel at some point.
187	* NotInFrontOfTheKid: One time, Savannah asks Dirk if he wants ice cream, and Dirk replies, "Do bears sh-" Savannah cuts him off, saying that there's a minor in the house and he should watch his language.
188	* NotWithThemForTheMoney: Robyn Dante in ''Poisoned Tarts''.
189	* ObsessivelyOrganized: One character has it, and the breaks from his usual routine/cleanliness are what help Savannah and friends realize he was murdered, and how.
190	* OfCorsetHurts: Savannah realizes this when she enters a medieval-themed, reality television show.
191	* OldDog: [[StockAnimalName Colonel Beauregard]], Granny's old hound.
192	* OnceAnEpisode:
193	** There will usually be a scene where Savannah assists Dirk with an ordinary stakeout. Often will be the first scene of a book.
194	** In nearly every book, Savannah has one of her siblings or her Granny coming to visit her.
195	** There will almost always be a cookout with the members of the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency. This is the last scene most of the time.
196	* ParentalNeglect: Macon Reid Sr. is a truck driver that only bothers to come home just once a year. Shirley Reid spends all her time under the Elvis picture at the bar. Life for Savannah and her siblings was greatly improved when their grandparents took them in.
197	* PerpSweating: The San Carmelita PD even calls their interrogation room the Sweatbox. Dirk's pretty good at pulling off interrogations in there.
198	* PersonalRaincloud: Discussed in ''Hide and Sneak''; Savannah says this to Dirk:
199	-->''"I was thinking you're kinda like that. Wherever you go, the sun can be shining to beat the band, but no. You just sit there, generating your own clouds, cooking up your own personal rainstorms, thunder, and lightning."''
200	* PlayingTheVictimCard: One character even goes so far as to say that if she plays the victim card for a jury, claiming that the teenage girl her husband was fooling around with was ruining the family with the affair, she'll get off unpunished for murdering the girl if there's even one woman on the jury.
201	* PromotionToParent: Before they moved in with their grandparents, Savannah, the oldest of nine, became the "mother" of her younger siblings. When people say she doesn't know what it's like to be a parent, she often cites this as a reason that she does.
202	* PunBasedTitle: Every title is one, and most are puns that have to do with food. ''Just Desserts'', ''Cooked Goose'', ''Corpse Suzette'', ''Death by Chocolate'', ''Cereal Killer''.... to name a few.
203	* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Gibson, described as such word-for-word a few times.
204	* RaisedByGrandparents: Savannah and her eight other siblings were raised by their loving Grandma and Grandpa Reid.
205	* RealMenEatMeat: The first book claims Dirk considers anything that hasn't recently said "moo" (including fruits, vegetables, pastas, and whole grain products) to be "sissy food".
206	* RearWindowInvestigation: Savannah's done quite a few of these. When someone points out to her that it's breaking and entering, she says it depends on how you look at it, or calls it "the search for truth", or claims that it's all in how you phrase it.
207	* RelationshipUpgrade:
208	** At the end of ''A Decadent Way to Die'', [[spoiler:Dirk admits his love to Savannah and proposes to her. She says yes.]]
209	** [[spoiler:Tammy and Waycross]] announce their engagement at the end of ''Killer Gourmet'', and [[spoiler:they get married as their baby is born in the next book.]]
210	* RichBitch / SpoiledBrat: The Skeleton Key Three from ''Poisoned Tarts''.
211	* SaveTheVillain: Well, it's archenemy, not villain, but in ''Cooked Goose'', Bloss has a heart attack. An ambulance is on its way, but in the meantime, he needs CPR. Dirk says that with it being Bloss, he just can't do it. So, despite how much she hates Bloss, Savannah steps in - but she lets Dirk know that he owes her ''big'' time.
212	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: As she isn't on the police force anymore, Savannah shouldn't have a lot of the information she gets, but she ''does'' have connections with a cop and the coroner...
213	* SeeYouInHell: At one point, [[spoiler:Titus Dunn]] says to [[spoiler:Captain Bloss]]: "We're both dead. But you're goin' to get to hell first, buddy... [[TakingYouWithMe just a few seconds before me.]]"
214	* SeriesContinuityError:
215	** Book 1 says that Savannah never knew her biological father, and that Stepdad #3 was a truck driver. In book 5, Savannah's biological father is Macon Reid, a truck driver, who she ''certainly'' knew, and there are no references to her mother ever having multiple husbands. It is also said in that book that Savannah only has one brother, Waycross. Two or three books later, we meet Macon Reid Jr., one of Savannah's ''two'' brothers.
216	** In ''Cooked Goose'', Vidalia's youngest twins are named Noel and Merry for their near-Christmas birthdate. In ''Buried in Buttercream'', they're named Peter and Wendy.
217	* TheSheriff: Sheriff Mahoney of [=McGill=], Georgia in ''Peaches and Screams''.
218	* ShipperOnDeck: Savannah (and pretty much everyone else) thinks that Tammy and Savannah's brother Waycross would make an adorable couple (and they do become one.)
219	* SmokingGun: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in one book, when Jennifer Liu says "Since when was a crime ever solved with a smoking gun, anyway?"
220	* SpecialPersonNormalName:
221	** The reason that Bleak Manifest chose his new name is because his birth name is Milton Pillsbury.
222	** One of the bad guys decided that he wanted to be called Snake instead of his given name, Maximillian Fernando Schneider.
223	* SpinOff: ''Murder in Her Stocking'' is a spinoff about Granny Reid solving a mystery when Savannah and her siblings were children.
224	* StockAnimalName: Granny Reid's dog is named Colonel Beauregard. In a later book it's revealed that ''all'' the dogs she's owned have been named Colonel Beauregard: each is given a different first name (e.g. Colonel Abraham Beauregard), which is quickly forgotten.
225	* StraightGay: Ryan and Gibson. Many characters, when first meeting them, do not realize that they are gay, Savannah included. When Granny Reid learns that they're gay, she comments that she would never have guessed it because they're so masculine.
226	* SupremeChef: Antoine.
227	* SuspiciouslySpecificTense: Happens a ''lot''.
228	* SweetHomeAlabama: Sweet Home Georgia, that is.
229	* SympatheticMurderer: Notably [[spoiler:Sydney]] in ''Death by Chocolate''.
230	* TakingTheHeat:
231	** [[spoiler:Ford Chesterfield]] in ''Killer Calories'' makes a FalseConfession to protect [[spoiler: his sister Phoebe]], the real killer.
232	** [[spoiler:Anthony Villa]] in ''Sour Grapes'' also does so, though he ''was'' somewhat involved. Once he's brought to jail, however, [[spoiler:his wife tries to turn it around and claim that he's completely innocent, so that he can get out of jail.]]
233	* TalkingYourWayOut: Toward the end of ''Murder a la Mode'', Savannah gets pushed down a flight of stairs by the killer and is injured. The killer's standing over Savannah with an axe, prepared to kill her. It's only through talking her way out of it, and Tammy's timely arrival, that Savannah survives.
234	* TallDarkAndHandsome:
235	** Ryan frequently gets described this way, word for word.
236	** Titus Dunn in ''Cooked Goose'' is described this way once.
237	* TeamMom: Savannah is this to pretty much everyone. It's actually pointed out by Granny Reid in ''Killer Gourmet'':
238	-->''"You've had a mother's heart almost from the very beginning of your years. Sadly, [[PromotionToParent you had to]]. But it's done you good in the long run. And you've done a lot of good for others because of your early trials. You've played the motherhood role for so many orphaned souls who've crossed your path."''\
239	Savannah considered her words, then said, "I guess I've always felt maternal toward my brothers and sisters, but..."\
240	"And those two cats, which you rescued from the pound, and all the critters you had before them. And the thousands of people in need who you encountered when you were a police officer, and even now in the work you do. How many tears have you wiped away? How much good advice have you handed out? How much practical, everyday help did you offer to people? How many wounds have you bound and how many broken hearts have you ministered to? Thousands, Savannah. That's how many. And if that ain't bein' a mother, then I don't know what is."''
241	* TechnicalPacifist: Savannah prefers to stop the bad guy without violence, but she will harm if she needs to, and only will shoot to kill if the bad guy is trying to kill her or someone else.
242	* ThroughHisStomach: Savannah discovered long ago that the way to ''anyone's'' heart is through their stomach - not just men.
243	* ThemeTwinNaming: Vidalia has two pairs of twins. The first twins are [[MotherGoose Jack and Jill]]ian, and the second are Noel and Merry (born around Christmas)... though many books later, it appears that the second set of twins' names has been forgotten, because now their names are [[Literature/PeterPan Peter and Wendy]].
244	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Savannah's siblings, when they come "visit" her.
245	* TilMurderDoUsPart: Occurs several times in the books.
246	* TitleDrop:
247	** Savannah comments that revenge tastes good, like sugar and spite.
248	** Lady Eleanor is baking and taste-testing a cake recipe called ''Death by Chocolate'' when she dies.
249	** Pete the soundman gives us this one: "Maybe someone smacked her on the head with it. Maybe Tess died... ''Murder a la Mode''."
250	** "This sure is a killer honeymoon we're having, huh, babe?"
251	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: If you're bribing Savannah, or she's bribing someone else, expect the price to be either a box of Godiva chocolates, or chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts.
252	* TurnInYourBadge:
253	** Savannah gets kicked off the police force. It was ostenibly for being "overweight and out of shape", but real reason was that Savannah, during the course of investigating a murder, realized that the chief had an affair with the victim's wife, and that made the chief a suspect.
254	** Ryan was dishonorably discharged from the FBI - on paper it was for "Gross Negligence of Duty", but [[HideYourGays that wasn't the real reason]].
255	* TwistEnding: Occurs several times in the series.
256	* ValentinesDayEpisodes: ''Sugar and Spite''.
257	* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Atlanta. She's not the typical "dim and good" character, however - she is whiny and obnoxious and selfish - but she's not wise in the matters of escort services and thirty-year-old men claiming that they're your soulmate.
258	* WardrobeWound: When Savannah [[spoiler:gets shot]], the thing she's most upset about is that her nightgown is ruined; it once belonged to her grandmother.
259	* WeightWoe:
260	** Savannah used to be worried about her weight, until she decided [[FatAndProud that she loves her body no matter what size]].
261	** Atlanta develops an eating disorder when she becomes obsessed with becoming a beauty pageant queen.
262	* WhatAPieceOfJunk: Dirk's Buick. By book 19 it was scrapped.
263	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: When Savannah meets a girl named Chicago and mentally smirks at the name, she reminds herself that she of all people can't judge, considering [[LocationThemeNaming her own family]]. In Savannah's defense, her own name is, while not exactly massively popular, not unusual for a girl's name, especially in the South. "Chicago", on the other hand, is practically unknown as a person's name, male or female.
264	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: With Savannah, it's snakes and especially spiders. With Dirk, it's heights... and chickens.
265	* YourMom: Savannah to Hillquist:
266	-->'''Savannah''': Yeah, yeah, yeah, and your mother looks like she fell outta the ugly tree and hit every limb on the way down.

Context Literature / TheSavannahReidMysteries