Sunday, December 22, 2013

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich


Genre:  Adult Detective
Stephanie Plum Series, Book 8.5

Description (taken from Janet Evanovich's website):
It’s four days before Christmas and things are not looking merry for fugitive apprehension agent Stephanie Plum. She hasn’t got a tree. She hasn’t bought any presents. The malls are jam-packed with staggering shoppers. There’s not a twinkle light anywhere to be seen in her apartment.

And there’s a strange man in her kitchen.

Sure, this has happened to Stephanie Plum before. Strangers, weirdos, felons, creeps, and lunatics are always finding their way to her front door. But this guy is different. This guy is mysterious, sexy–and he has his own agenda. His name is Diesel and he is a man on a mission. Diesel is unlike anyone Stephanie has ever met before in her life. The question is, What does he want with her? Can he help her find a little old toy maker who has skipped out on his bail right before Christmas? Can he survive the Plum family holiday dinner? Can he get Stephanie a tree that doesn’t look like it was grown next to a nuclear power plant? These questions and more are keeping Stephanie awake at night. Not to mention the fact that she needs to find a bunch of nasty elves, her sister Valerie has a Christmas “surprise” for the Plums, her niece Mary Alice doesn’t believe in Santa anymore, and Grandma Mazur has a new stud muffin. So bring out the plastic reindeer, strap on your jingle bells, and get ready to celebrate the holidays–Jersey style. Visions of Sugar Plums–the world of Plum has never been merrier!

What a great way to get myself into the spirit of Christmas, right?  We've got Stephanie Plum who's too busy to buy a Christmas tree and too broke to buy Christmas presents.  Doesn't that describe us all?

Diesel randomly shows up in Stephanie's kitchen one day and decides to follow Stephanie around.  He's there as some muscle, to offer advice, to talk her into buying a Christmas tree, and to give the Plums something to talk about over dinner.  Meanwhile, Stephanie's trying to find Sandy Claws, the guy who skipped out on bail.  What crazy story follows her in this short tale?

This book was a super quick read and had lots of slapstick humor.  With Ranger being out of town on business and Morelli busy with work, we don't see too much of them.  Which is a nice breather.  It's kind of a fun tale to read right before Christmas to get yourself in the reluctant Christmas mode.  My only drawback is this book introduced supernatural themes that haven't been introduced before.  You can't do that to me and get away with it.  Gah!  But then again, maybe it's the whole aspect of Christmas: that has some supernatural part to it even though we ignore it.  I don't know; I'm reaching here.

A nice Christmas read.  And a quick plunge into Stephanie's world before reading the next novel.

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