Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Stephanie Plum Gains Deductive Skills in Evanovich's 2009 Novel

Jul 10, 2009

Evanovich changes the characterization of her series heroine, Stephanie Plum, by presenting her as a highly competent detective rather than as a delightful ditz.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen is Janet Evanovich's 2009 addition to her popular Stephanie Plum mystery series. While this novel still retains all the basic plot elements that characterize Evanovich's other titles in this series, it also contains a troubling change in the characterization of its central character, Stephanie Plum.

When Stephanie's friend Lula witnesses a thug known Marco the Maniac behead television chef Stanley Chipotle, she becomes Marco's newest target. Lula persuades Stephanie to join her in a barbecuing competition that Chipotle was sponsoring, hoping to lure Marco into an appearance there and gain the million dollar reward that has been offered for his apprehension.

Ranger too asks for Stephanie's help with a problem. The reputation of his security company, Rangeman, has been compromised by series of robberies at his clients’ homes. Suspecting his own employees of the crime, Ranger wants Stephanie to gather information on his staff while working in the Rangeman office. Stephanie, who is at loose ends after an argument about peanut butter has derailed her romance with Joe Morelli, willingly takes on both new tasks.

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen provides comic delight as it details the continuing misadventures of Stephanie Plum, who manages to get doused with barbecue sauce, flour and paint during the course of this novel. Both Stephanie's apartment and at least three cars that she is driving explode. Stephanie consoles herself during these disasters with the realization, “Sometimes it was good not to have a lot of expensive stuff. Less to feel bad about when it got fire-bombed.”

Stephanie Plum's Deductive Skill

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen differs from the other series titles in its presentation of Stephanie as a highly competent investigator, whose deductive skills even Sherlock Holmes would praise. Not only does Stephanie logically analyze the factors that lead to these the robberies at the homes of Rangeman's clients, she also successfully predicts which houses will be broken into next. This change from her usual characterization as a delightful ditz is both unusual and unconvincing.

Stephanie Plum's Emotional Insight

Evanovich has, in the past, consistently presented Stephanie as a individual with few logical skills but strong emotional perceptiveness. True to this past characterization is the scene in Finger Lickin’ Fifteen which occurs when Ranger sends Tank, his second-in-command, to pick her up after she destroys yet another of the cars he has provided for her.

Tank tries to cheer Stephanie by showing her a photograph of his cat, claiming that looking at the picture always makes him happy. Later, Ranger himself has difficulty concealing his affectionate amusement at Stephanie’s recital of the events leading up to the destruction of his Porche. Noticing his reaction, Stephanie comments, “I suspected I was to Ranger what Tank’s cat was to Tank.”

Future Directions in Stephanie Plum's Characterization

All mystery series need someone on hand to solve a crime, and Stephanie Plum has played that role in each of Evanovich's novels. However, Stephanie's detecting style is more akin to that of Inspector Clouseau than that of Sherlock Holmes, a fact which provides a key source of the series' humor. If forced to make a choice, most readers would hope for her to return to the Clouseau role in future novels. Holmes is not known for being laugh-out-loud funny.

Book Details: Finger Lickin’ Fifteen. St. Martin's Press (June 2009). ISBN-13: 9780312383282

The copyright of the article Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen in Mystery/Crime Fiction is owned by Carol Thomas. Permission to republish Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.