Between the Plums (Visions of Sugar Plums, Plum Lovin', Plum Lucky) Book

While reading Hardcore Twenty-Four, I came upon Diesel - a character I didn't remember reading about before. Turns out he was in three "between the plums" books Evanovich had written, books I didn't know existed as I worked through the 24 Plum books.

Science Fiction authors often pen short stories so that they can try out new ideas, characters, settings, etc. without writing a whole book or series. Janet Evanovich seems to have decided to try this as well but she elected to write complete books.

Between the plums has the usual cast of characters, situations, and trappings of the other Stephanie Plum books. However, the plot focuses on Diesel, a semi-mystical character who tracks down other individuals gifted with special traits and skills.

While these three books are fun and entertaining, they fall short of the usual Stephanie Plum books in several ways. First, with all of the craziness of "the burg" going on, adding mystical characters seems unnecessary. While having a special skill like giving people hives is humorous, I found it too far fetched - even for a Plum book. Second, with the focus on Diesel, these books lack the usual relationship tension between Stephanie and Morelli and Ranger. Third, Evanovich doesn't "flesh out" Diesel as much as the other characters so you don't get the same "member of the family" feel you have with all of the other characters in Stephanie's life.

That said, these three books were quick and easy reads, explained Diesel's appearance in Hardcore Twenty-Four, and gave me something to read while waiting on Look Alive Twenty-Five.