Book 51: Seven Up

Seven Up
Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum returns in this gung-ho adventure, one full of surprises but true enough to the series to meet and perhaps exceed the expectations of Stephanie's loyal fans. Though the writing is true to form and the mystery at hand full of originality and surprises, Evanovich falls back on some familiar plot devices in this seventh book. It is familiar by now that Stephanie will go after an "easy" capture and discover something much more to the story- the stress on how easy Eddie DeChooch should come in seems old and like a procrastination instead of a worthwhile addition to the story's humor. Readers should know by now that Stephanie is frequently in over her head, and Evanovich may be better served simply cutting to the chase. Once the book settles down, however, and readers are thrown into the story, Evanovich proves that she has plenty of interesting and new tricks up her sleeve. Trenton is rendered with crystal clarity and loyal readers will recognize local hot spots and general geography. This strong sense of setting is mirrored by strong internal consistency within the series- Mooner and Dougie return for a brilliant encore, as well as the familiar cast of characters that surround Stephanie at work and at home. A couple of innovative plot twists as well as a strong sense of humor underlying the book make this one definitely worth reading, but more interesting is the slightly stronger focus Evanovich puts on Stephanie's family and personal life in Seven Up. Little-mentioned sister Valerie makes an appearance that shifts the action to the Plum household more often than usual as a side story develops not as a distraction but instead as a compliment to Stephanie's bounty hunting dilemma at hand. What Seven Up proves is that Evanovich can still spin a worthy mystery but that it is instead her characters that drive the Plum mysteries. Despite some plotting problems that make the resolution slightly unclear in spots, Evanovich's unbelievably strong and reliable supporting cast, as well as her willingness to study Stephanie outside of her job alone, make Seven Up a worthy addition to the Plum canon and a must-read for Plum fans. Halfway through (to date), the series is as strong as ever and I cannot wait to see what lies in store for Stephanie.

Grade: A-