FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN
by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.stmartins.com
ISBN: 9780312383282
$27.95

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s back for another wacky adventure in this 15th outing of the Plum series. Former hooker, now file clerk, bounty hunter wannabe Lula witnesses the decapitation of celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle and insists the only cop she’ll talk to is Joe Morelli, Stephanie’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. (At this point, they’re off-again.) Stephanie’s working part-time for the mysterious Ranger, trying to figure out how someone is accessing his clients’ alarm systems long enough to disarm them and burglarize. She’s also tracking felons for her cousin Vinnie but proves as inept as usual in this regard. Morelli figures the murder was a professional hit, but the killers have now targeted Lula, who manages to evade them, leaving blown up cars and buildings behind. When a million dollar reward is offered for the killers, Lula persuades Stephanie and her Grandma Mazur to help find them and split the reward.

With each book, Evanovich delivers humor, a zany plot, and outside-the-box characters. The teasing, triangular relationship between Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger continues with no end in sight. Characters are familiar and entrenched in personas and situations that do not change, although remain fun to read.