Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 978-0-312-34949-3

Stephanie Plum and the gang are back in LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN. The book starts off with Stephanie doing a favor for Ranger, the extraordinary bounty hunter. He needs a bug planted on Stephanie’s ex-husband Dickie Orr. Stephanie is paying too much attention to the unsavory task to question why Ranger needs this bug planted and is overtaken by events when Dickie disappears and the murders begin. The fact that Stephanie was seen attempting to strangle Dickie the day he disappeared makes her a person of interest to the police and to Joyce Barnhardt, Dickie’s current girlfriend.

In addition to avoiding the police, Joyce, and assorted mysterious bad guys, Stephanie has to catch some bail jumpers to keep the money coming in. This time around she is after the local grave robber and a taxidermist whose specimens contain unusual surprises. With a little help from Lula, Grandma Mazur, and the RangeMan Staff, Stephanie eventually gets her fugitives, leaving behind her usual trail of incinerated buildings, bizarre injuries, and miscellaneous havoc.

Although most of the usual characters appear in LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN, you see less of most of them. There is not funeral home visit, Uncle Sandor’s buick appears only briefly, and Bob the amazing barfing dog is largely absent. Instead, Evanovich continues the more serious bent she began in TWELVE SHARP. By cutting out some of the usual plot devices and a lot of the romance, Evanovich makes room for a better mystery. Those of you who have enjoyed the romantic, funny capers of previous books will be disappointed, but those of you who have always wanted a stronger mystery will be pleased.

Favorite character? Since Bob the dog doesn’t appear much, I have to go with Grandma Mazur. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Yes.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

Available at Amazon!

ISBN 0-312-30634-2

Plum Lovin’ is a Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers novel. This is a really cool concept. Evanovich has created a great series around the character Stephanie Plum that has numbers in the title (One for the Money, etc.). The Between-the-Numbers books use the same set of characters and background but have a different flavor to them. They move a little more into the supernatural realm and feature characters with strange abilities in holiday themed books (but they don’t impact the happenings in the number books). Plum Lovin’ is a Valentine’s Day book and has a cupid like character named Annie Hart, who helps lonely people find true love.

Diesel, a sort of supernatural bounty hunter, reappears in this book to make a deal with Stephanie Plum, non-supernatural bounty hunter and notorious klutz. Stephanie is looking for Annie Hart who has a big ticket bond. Diesel has Annie Hart under wraps because she is being stalked by the “unmentionable” with unusual powers that Diesel is searching for. To get Annie, Stephanie has to take over her matchmaking workload and help Diesel get his stalker. As usual, hilarity and chaos ensue as Stephanie, Lulu, and Diesel help hopeless people find true love. Or at least get a date for Valentine’s Day.

This is not a very long book and doesn’t have a complicated or very mysterious plot. I tend to describe Evanovich’s books as romps, because they really are funny adventures. Neither of these things diminish my enjoyment of the book, however. I love the Stephanie Plum books because they make me laugh. Yes, she uses the same bodily function and sex jokes in every book, but space them out so they don’t seem repetitive. Nothing perks up a grey day like Bob the dog eating a sofa or Grandma Mazur at a funeral home viewing.

Favorite character? Grandma Mazur, with Bob as a close second. Did I guess it? Not a mystery. Will I read another? Absolutely.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

Available at Amazon!

In an ideal world, every book by every author should stand on its own and be reviewed that way. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. Motor Mouth is Evanovich’s second book in the NASCAR themed series featuring Alexandra (Barney) Barnaby and Sam Hooker and, unfortunately, the series is such that it invites comparisons to her Stephanie Plum series.

First, the NASCAR series has very similar characters – central male/female characters with an on-again-off-again relationship, lovable lunkheads who need to be rescued, on-call sidekicks ready for wild and crazy adventures, and even a big dog who eats everything. Sound familiar?

Second, the stories are similar. I describe the Stephanie Plum books as romps instead of mysteries. You follow the characters through a series of misadventures that just keep snowballing throughout the book – and the same is true with Motor Mouth. This progression of bad-to-worse situations is the best part of this book, in my opinion.

The similarities between the two series would be fine, if only the NASCAR series was as good as the Plum series. But somehow it isn’t. The characters aren’t as lovable, the adventures aren’t as fun, even the dog isn’t as enjoyable. And, most importantly, the laughs aren’t there. Everyone who laughed out loud at the misadventures of Stephanie Plum is going to be very disappointed with Motor Mouth.

Is this a horrible book? No. If this is the first Evanovich book you read, you will probably enjoy it and then search out her better books. However, if you are a Plum devotee, prepare to be disappointed. If you can, put the Plum books completely out of your head and try to read this without any expectations.

If you haven’t read any of the Stephanie Plum books, skip this series and run out and get them now. I haven’t read anything as funny as those books in years and I all but stop strangers in the street to recommend these books. What are you waiting for?

Mystery Book Reviews by Reviewed By Liz.com ©2006