Janet Evanovich Entertains Again
A Review of the New Stephanie Plum Novel "Finger Lickin' Fifteen"
Jul 23, 2009
In wildly popular Janet Evanovich's fifteenth Stephanie Plum novel, Finger Lickin' Fifteen, readers find Stephanie up to her eyeballs in barbeque sauce as a food channel celebrity is murdered while in town for a barbeque contest. Worst of all, Stephanie's friend (a former hooker now turned assistant bounty hunter) Lula witnessed the crime and the perpetrators are now after her.
As if that weren't bad enough, Stephanie's on-again, off-again relationship with sexy cop Joe Morelli is definitely "off" as the two of them pout after a petty fight. To complicate matters further, Stephanie is hired by her handsome and dangerous friend Ranger to help find the person(s) responsible for breaking and entering into some of Ranger's clients' properties while still maintaining her day job of hunting down her neighbhorhood's finest light criminals (who never go down lightly).
As Lula tries to evade the killers, and Stephanie tries to keep her mind on her jobs and her hands off irresistable Ranger, Lula and Stephanie's grandmother decide to enter the barbeque contest themselves - and neither can cook! The results are hilarious and the hijinks mount as Stephanie's poor hapless family is dragged into tasting the world's least tasty barbequed ribs again and again.
Eventually, Stephanie decides which man she wants in her life (and bed) while the food celebrity's killers are brought to justice. One spoiler that readers should be able to guess immediately anyway is that no, Lula and Grandma Mazur do not win the barbeque contest. Not even close.
While fans of serious mysteries may shun lighthearted mystery novels like Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Evanovich shines once again through her imminently readable and laugh-out-loud style that keeps readers coming back again and again. New Stephanie Plum novels are consistently on the bestseller lists, and thankfully for her fans, Evanovich cranks out new novels at a fast pace.
In addition to this series (which features a number in each title), Evanovich has penned a few holiday Stephanie Plum mysteries and has re-released some of her earlier romance novels (think funny chick lit versus Harlequin). In recent years, she has written a few new romance novels as well, although her mainstay is definitely the Plum series.
Readers looking for a well-crafted whodunit in the vein of traditional mystery genre may be turned off by the silliness and improbability (as well as predictability) of Finger Lickin' Fifteen, but those looking for a fast, fun read should definitely check out this book.
Finger Lickin' Fifteen was originally published by St. Martin's Press on June 23, 2009. The retail cost of this book is $27.95.
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