Janet Evanovich's "Plum Lucky"

I spent a pleasant afternoon reading Janet Evanovich's zany "Plum Lucky."

This is the shortest of the Stephanie Plum series. A self-styled leprechaun steals a million dollars from a Trenton mobster. The money is subsequently picked up by Stephanie's grandmother, who promptly buys an RV, hires a driver/body guard, and heads for Atlantic City with the leprechaun hot in pursuit.

Rangerman's Diesel is after the fake Irish imp. Since Stephanie has promised her mother that she'll round up Grandma, she goes with Diesel to Atlantic City to find her grandmother, the thief and the money.

As usual, there are a number of hilarious, if highly improbable, scenarios as the group figure out how to earn enough money to pay off the ransom for grandma and a horse (don't ask...)

For the umptyninth time Stephanie's car is destroyed during a shoot-out with the bad guys. That seems to be a signature piece of every Stephanie Plum book.

It is refreshing, in a way, that this time Stephanie is paired with Diesel, who seems to offer little attraction to Stephanie. We get to concentrate on pure action and hyjinx rather than on Stephanie's angst over whether Morelli or Ranger will be her main squeeze.

Liz Nichols