Finger Lickin' Fifteen: a Stephanie Plum Novel
by: Janet Evanovich
Published by: St. Martin's Press
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Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum helps her “assistant” bounty hunter, ex-”˜ho Lula, with a barbecue contest in this hilarious entry in the Stephanie Plum series.
Stephanie and cop boyfriend Morelli are at odds–the Ranger asks Stephanie’s help in untangling a series of burglaries of some of his security clients. It seems as if the alarm codes are being used–the alarm systems are turned off and on properly, and only certain odd things are stolen. Is it someone on his staff? Stephanie ends up spending a lot of time with the dangerously seductive Ranger.
Lula has witnessed a murder. A celebrity chef in town for a barbecue contest has his head chopped off with a meat cleaver, right in front of her. A reward is offered and Lula, Stephanie and Connie from the bond office decide to try to capture the killers. It should be easy as the killers have identified Lula and keep ambushing her.
Lula thinks the killers will come to the big barbecue contest and enters it, with Grandma Mazur helping.
How many cars are destroyed in this outing?? I think three…set on fire by an arsonist that Plum is trying to bring in; two of the cars are Ranger’s Porsche Cayennes. Then there are the barbecue explosions, two grills and a pressure cooker! Cross-dressing fireman Larry, a close friend of Lula’s, helps out by cleaning the exploding pressure cooker barbecue sauce off the walls, cupboards, and ceiling of Stephanie’s kitchen. Larry also helps out by providing a barbecue sauce recipe.
The final cook-off is probably the funniest segment I have EVER read in a book. OR, maybe it was the fight scene at Plum’s parents house with Lula and Larry (dressed as Julia Child) at the dinner table, and obnoxious dinner guest Peter Pecker, invited to meet single Stephanie as a potential mate.
Warning: Don’t read Evanovich while eating because you will choke with laughter!
Armchair Interviews says: Funny, funny, funny—and great storytelling as always.
Author’s Web site: http://www.Evanovich.com
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