Off the Bookshelf: FORTUNE AND GLORY, by Janet Evanovich

 

A Stephanie Plum novel.

Tantalizing Twenty-Seven

Aarrgghh! I almost didn't read this one. When I searched for the next upcoming Stephanie Plum novel in the library, they didn't list it by the number -- usually the number is in the title. Fortunately, I saw the book in the store and realized the subtitle had the number. NOT a nice trick to pull on loyal readers.

This is another madcap Plum adventure, swinging rapidly from danger to insanity and back again, and swinging rapidly between Morelli and Ranger. Warning: Stephanie gets her hair cut and tries on a new "look." Could she finally be growing up?

The book picks up where twenty-six left off -- meaning the treasure hunt and trying to dig up the clues left by Grandma Mazur's recently departed ex-mobster new husband. And of course, there are a few crazy guys gunning for Stephanie and Grandma because they think Grandma has the missing clues. Plus the usual assortment of Lula-isms and frustrating run-ins with lunatic criminals who have broken their bond and need to be captured and returned to the authorities. Stephanie delivers what's expected, with a lot of satisfying chuckles along the way. (But honestly, haven't you learned by now that when you let Grandma drive a fancy car ... someone or something won't survive the experience?)

Off the Bookshelf: MISADVENTURES OF THE LAUNDRY HAG: SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET, by Jennifer L. Hart

This is a fun, kind of snarky, kind of slapstick, kind of scary suspense story told through the eyes of an overwhelmed SEAL wife.

Maggie and her hero husband, Neil, and their two boys are settling into civilian life. Thanksgiving is coming and the demanding in-laws are not only descending on the house, but they're bringing business guests and dictating the menu and redecorating the house. Can you tell that nothing Maggie does will ever be good enough?

In the middle of this, Maggie is trying to get to know the neighbors, who all seem far too upscale for her. A new friend is trying to be helpful and somehow Maggie finds herself signed up to be the cleaning lady for their snooty hostess. Yes, she needs some extra income, but right now?

Before she knows it, Maggie is in the middle of a murder investigation, the unwitting alibi for the suspect husband. She investigates and keeps tripping over more bodies and some pretty unsavory characters -- and arrested, when she did nothing wrong. Except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh yeah, and there was the time her van died and she needed to get the Thanksgiving menu shopping done, so she walked to the grocery store pushing the wheelbarrow to carry all the groceries -- and the wheelbarrow got stolen while she was in the store. And then found with a dead body in it.

Whew! This is a romp and a clever suspense tale, full of humor. And poor Maggie seems doomed to be everybody's cleaning lady -- at the behest of the police who think she might, possibly, somehow, be helpful.

Sounds like more stories are coming!

Off the Bookshelf: TWISTED TWENTY-SIX, by Janet Evanovich

The latest Stephanie Plum misadventure of suspense and humor and wackiness and near-misses.

This time, Grandma Mazur isn't just causing trouble on the sidelines -- she IS the center of the trouble that poor Stephanie has to untangle.

Grandma ran off with a retired mobster and eloped on a cruise -- and 45 minutes later he died of a heart attack. Now, his nutso-nasty sisters are after Grandma, determined to get his money -- his ex-wife is after the money -- and his pals think the dead groom handed off some very valuable keys (no one says to WHAT exactly) to Grandma before he died. Of course, Grandma doesn't know anything about keys -- she's just planning all the fun things she's going to do with the money, once the will is read.

If she ever survives to hear the reading of the will. Because everybody wants those keys, and everything thinks Grandma has them. And the mobsters, even the retired ones in Trenton, are pretty determined and nasty folks. We're talking windows broken, fire bombs thrown through front windows, house break-ins and searches, attempted kidnappings, Stephanie getting shot ... on and on.

Typical Stephanie Plum craziness. Along with a bunch of wacko bail jumpers she has to deal with, aided by Lula with her plus-sized sense of humor shoved into a size 8 eye-popping wardrobe. Poor Stephanie is ready to quit the whole thing -- only she still doesn't know what she wants to do when she grows up. If she lives long enough to grow up.

Off the Bookshelf: LOOK ALIVE TWENTY-FIVE, by Janet Evanovich

Guilty pleasure time!

And let me once again extol the joys of having online access to the library. I was able to place an order to reserve this newest Stephanie Plum adventure (mis-adventure, romp) months (and months and months) in advance, and then I got a notification on release day to come get it.

Things seem to be getting a little more serious for Stephanie, with people vanishing, presumed either dead or snatched by aliens. At least, that's Lula's theory. Stephanie and Lula end up managing an odd little deli in a bad part of town. A bail bonds customer skips town and the deli becomes the property of her cousin Vinnie's bail bonds business.

Rumors abound and the hot sauce and other condiments fly when Lula gets into the sandwich-making groove. She refuses to give customers what they order, insisting they'll like her version better. Ahhh .... NO. As usual, the situation progresses from strange to bizarre, and Stephanie gets in messy trouble. She ends up with 24-hour Rangeman surveillance until the disappearances of the managers at the deli are solved. Because Stephanie is the new manager. Just how does a grunge rock star and a proposal for a cannibal deli TV show tie into all this weirdness? Read it and find out.

Oh, and a milk-snorting-out-your-nose warning: Don't eat and drink while reading. Your sinuses will thank you.