Book Review: "Plum Lucky" by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is one of my favorite characters; she often doesn't have a clue and has the tendency to attract odd situations and even odder people, but she is a go-getter and gets the job done. Her job? She's a bonds bailsman in Trenton, New Jersey. She works for her cousin Vinnie who gave her a job after she lost her former job as an lingerie buyer. She has no prior experience, but she is gutsy and she is slowly gaining experience and doing a somewhat better job.

Janet Evanovich has two Stephanie Plum series. One is the regular series that has a number in the title; by the way there are 14 Stephanie Plum books as of today. The other is a "Between the Number" series. As much as I love the regular Stephanie Plum books, I always look forward to these "Between the Number" books because in addition to Stephanie's regular wackiness there is an added element: the paranormal.

So far, all the "Between the Number" Stephanie Plum novels have feature Diesel and his search for disruptive Unmentionables. I just don't know what to explain first, Diesel or the Unmentionables. I'll go with the Unmentionables they are easier to explain, I think.

Unmentionables are humans who have a little something extra special about them. The Unmentionables are not all psychics in case that's what you are thinking, no they have powers like the ability to give someone hives or in Diesel's case track Unmentionables like a bloodhound.

Diesel is a big guy who dresses as though he has been homeless for quiet some time, but he smells like "sex and fresh-baked cookies and a hint of Christmas." This combination sounds odd, but it works for Diesel. Basically, he and Stephanie have the same job, she tracks down people who jump bail and he tracks down people who are misusing their extra special talents.

Stephanie's Grandma Mazur, her mother's mother, is one of the oddest people in her life. In "Plum Lucky "Grandma Mazur finds a bag of money at the end of a rainbow and is determined to keep it, because everyone knows that when you find a stash of cash at the end of the rainbow its yours. Zigmond Kulakowslo, an Unmentionable, who claims he is a leprechaun, also claims that it's his money and he wants it back. So now you know how Diesel fits into the story, let me tell you about some other folks in Stephanie's life.

Joe Morelli, a vice cop, is Stephanie's boyfriend, at least most of the time he is. In this novel, he is off on an undercover assignment so we don't see him much. Ranger, a true bad-ass, is Stephanie's ....you know I don't exactly know what he is to Stephanie. I do know that Ranger has a bug planted on her so he can monitor her every movement. In the beginning, Stephanie didn't care for that, but she has found herself in two many odd and dangerous situations where she needs help to get out of it that she is slowly appreciating that fact that someone knows where she is and is looking out for her.

When Ranger is out of town he puts Tank, his second in command, in charge of monitoring Stephanie. Tank is huge at six and half feet and he is Lula's lover. Now Lula is a former whore, who now works for Vinnie Plum. Stephanie's cousin, as a file clerk. Lula often goes with Stephanie when she is tracking down someone. Now let me see who have I left out...Oh, Connie is the office manager at Vinnie's office and she goes on some of Stephanie's more interesting adventures.

Okay, now that I've done some background work I can tell you this is one of Janet Evanovich's more interesting books. So, Grandma Mazur has a bag of cash and is being chased/harassed by a short man in green pants who thinks he is a leprechaun. She goes to Atlantic City; where else would a elderly New Jersey woman go with all that money?

You've got to read the book to find out if Stephanie finds Grandma before Zigmond gets to her; whether Diesel catches Zigmond and straightens him out; and who are those guys chasing Zigmond and why?

This book is a great read, just be prepared to laugh a lot.

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Other books reviews by Genie Walker:

A Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Remains of the Dead by Wendy Roberts