Wicked Business (Lizzy and Diesel Book 2) by Janet Evanovich

Rating 3 out of 5
Title: Wicked Business
Author: Janet Evanovich
Series: Lizzy and Diesel Book 2
File Size: 961 KB
Print Length: 321 pages
Publisher: Review (June 19, 2012)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
Language: English
ASIN: B0082CXE7O
ISBN: B0061C1N5W  

Synopsis
Lizzy Tucker's once normal life as a pastry chef in Salem, Massachusetts, turns upside down as she battles both sinister forces and an inconvenient attraction to her unnaturally talented but off-limits partner, Diesel. When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust. Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences. On their way they'll leave behind a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and general mayhem.Diesel's black sheep cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, also wants the Stone. His motives are far from pure, and what he plans on doing with the treasure, no one knows . . . but Lizzy Tucker fears she's in his crosshairs. Never far and always watching, Grimoire has a growing, vested interest in the cupcake-baker-turned-finder-of-lost-things. As does another dangerous and dark opponent in the hunt--a devotee of lawlessness and chaos, known only as Anarchy. Treasures will be sought, and the power of lust will be unmistakable as Lizzy and Diesel attempt to stay ahead of Anarchy, Grimoire, and his medieval minion, Hatchet, in this ancient game of twisted riddles and high-stakes hide-and-seek.

My thoughts
Janes Evanovich writes screw ball comedies very well. She has made her career out on them. But this felt like a Stephanie Plumb novel, with a the setting, and names changed with a dash of magic to make it "different". It wasn't different, it wasn't new. In fact I felt if you swapped the names with the main characters from the Stephanie Plumb series then I could be reading a Plumb book.


This book is light and quick to read.  There are no surprises and everything is familiar (if you have previously read the Plumb Series). Best of all you don't have to think when reading this.

I did much prefer book one Wicked Appetite (click on the link to see my review) to this book, and while I will read book three something had better change or I might just forget this series (which should be roughly seven books long due to there being seven stones).


But I did still enjoy this book, as I said Evanovich does this type of thing well. I did snort and giggle here and there but admittedly those scenes included the monkey, a character named and an old guy who could bend spoons with his mind.

Would I recommend it?
Only if you had read Wicked Appetite and a Janet Evanovich fan.