"Wicked Appetite," by Janet Evanovich

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Our local library had been hiding a Janet Evanovich that I had not yet read: "Wicked Appetite."  They fooled me by having it in the main fiction run, rather than the crime section.

This will only be a mini review, as I have recently written on Janet Evanovich with "Smokin' Seventeen."  "Wicked Appetite" is not a Stephanie Plum book - still my favourites of her prodigious output - but does feature a couple of characters who have popped up in Stephanie Plum books: Diesel, and Carl the monkey.  In this book Diesel enlists the help of Elizabeth Tucker, a baker living in Salem who has Unmentionable powers, to find the SALIGIA Stones (which represent the Seven Deadly Sins).  Think of the Sankara Stones with an attitude problem, and you will have a rough idea.  They have to find these stones before the bad guy, Wulf - who also guested in a Stephanie Plum novel - as the person who collects all the stones will have the power to "create hell on earth."

Since this novel only has them acquire one stone - representing gluttony - it's a fair bet that this will be the first in a series.  Salem is a nice change from the New Jersey of Stephanie Plum, and Lizzy Tucker has an entertaining friend in erratic, wannabe witch Glo.  The stones affect human behaviour, so there are some entertaining moments as the gluttony stone starts to affect Lizzy's actions and thoughts.  It isn't my favourite Janet Evanovich novel, but it is a fun and entertaining way to pass some time.