Review: Plum Spooky

In her 18th novel in the Stephanie Plum series and fourth in-between-the numbers novel, “Plum Spooky,” Janet Evanovich takes her heroine, Stephanie Plum, into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Not only to face the mud, townies, and the Jersey Devil, but also to stop a psychotic murderer from killing his next victim and to bring in her failure to appear (FTA).



Plum is a bounty hunter who lives in Trenton, N.J., and works for her cousin Vinnie at the bail bonds office. Plum Spooky takes all the characters from the series; Joe Morelli, Ranger, Lula, Connie, Grandma Mazur and throws them together with Diesel to create an in-between-the numbers novel that shouldn’t be missed.
This 309-page novel will have you laughing while Plum attempts to catch her FTA and keep her dignity in the process.

Morelli, her on again off again cop boyfriend makes a cameo in this novel with a problem of his own. His brother Anthony was kicked out of his house by his wife for having the “barn door open and the horse out to pasture, looking to get ridden” (39). Now Anthony has moved in with Joe, and as if dealing with a series of gang killings wasn’t enough, he has to keep tabs on his brother and keep from killing Diesel for sleeping in his girlfriend’s bed.

Evanovich doesn’t disappoint in this action-filled novel. From sinking in pools of mud in the dark in the middle of the Pine Barrens with Lula to getting tomatoes launched at her by one of her FTA’s, Plum’s days are not easy. With her getting kidnapped, having a hot stud who isn’t her boyfriend staying at her place, and attempting to collect her FTA’s without Lula shooting anyone, it’s a wonder anything get’s done at all. And of course a Plum novel wouldn’t be complete without something going terribly wrong with her car. Good thing Ranger is there with his endless supply of shiny, new black cars.

No wonder Evanovich is a New York Times best selling author. It’s hard to put this book down. Evanovich combines humor, action, sexuality, urban legend, takes a dab of the supernatural and whips it all together in this heart-stopping novel. Take Plum’s newest adventure with her and ride around through the Pine Barrens chasing bad guys – trust me you won’t regret it.