Peaches And Screams by G. A. McKevett (2002, Paperback)

P.I., Savannah Reid, has a drunk for a mother and a father who is on the road trucking more than he is at home. She and her maternal grandmother helped raise her 8 younger siblings, but as soon as they all grew up, Savannah moved from her small southern Georgia town of McGill to San Carmelita, CA. where she joined the police force and then a few years later opened her own P.I. agency. With business being on the slow side she decides to go back home and be a bridesmaid for her sister Marietta who is getting married for the third time. Shortly after her arrival, she finds that her brother Macon is accused and charged with killing Judge Patterson. Savannah knows that her brother is a lot of things, like a thief and a liar, but he is not a killer. Savannah has some of her friends fly in from California to help with the investigation. It is no surprise that she finds a lot of suspects who wanted the judge dead.

Ms. McKevett is a wonderful writer and instead of the usual California setting she takes you to a small town in the south where things are quite different. The characters are colorful and kooky, if not eccentric at times. Plenty of humor abounds plus a real good mystery to keep you guessing.