Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovitch

This one will make soda come out of your nose.

Janet Evanovitch delivers again. More than 15 books into the series and her formula works as well as Law and Order...except perhaps more accurately: Law and Disorder. I was thrilled to see it on the shelf a mere four days before a dreadfully long plane ride and had to exert a massive amount of willpower to wait those four days to read it. It was worth it.

Given that Plum Spooky is a Between-The-Numbers Novel, Diesel makes his fourth unannounced appearance in our heroine’s apartment. Stephanie Plum, our whirling-dervish of a Bounty Hunter, quickly learns that her assignment and his overlap...in the form of his Dracula-like cousin, Wulf Grimoire, who has partnered up with her skip, Martin Munch. Together they are going to first take over the Jersey Swamp and then take over the world. As I read I couldn’t help but have visions of Pinky and the Brain made human.

The usual suspects come along for the ride, and we’re always glad they do. Lula, the rotund ex ‘ho, has left her diets behind in this book but catches a cold she blames on Tank, her fiance. If you’ve read any of the previous novels you can imagine that Lula sick is, in itself, an amusing concept. If you haven’t read any of the previous novels...stop reading this and start with One For The Money. Trust me. Morelli’s cousin is kicked out of his own house and takes up residence on Morelli’s couch - with would throw a wrench into Stephanie’s relationship with Morelli if Diesel hadn’t already. Ranger is, as always, enticingly on the periphery, bugging Stephanie’s cars and trying not to laugh at her...and there is much to laugh at because along with Diesel there is also a Monkey.

That’s right. One of her previous skips has gotten married and taken her honeymoon, leaving her pet monkey, Carl, for Stephanie to babysit. In addition to the humor Evanovitch always delivers, Carl proves to be a useful addition to the Plum Task Force.

I didn’t find myself spooked, as the title promised, but at one point I was laughing so hard I almost dropped my book...and I’ll take that any day.