Visions of Sugar Plums

I loved this book. I love how Janet Evanovich is able to keep you interested in a mystery, and still be humerous at the same time. When I read her books, It seems like while I am busy trying to figure out the mystery, you can also find me laughing out loud.

Visions of Sugar Plums is based on the Stephanie Plum series. But you don't have to have followed the series to be able to get into the book. It can stand alone very easily too.

This book is about Stephanie Plum. A fugitive apprehension agent. She is definitely NOT your typical agent. She is a Jersey girl, in every sense of the word. She readily admits she may not be the best agent. And, it may not be her dream job. She just wants to pay the rent.

This book starts out with her finding a strange man in her kitchen. He appears out of nowhere. One minute she is drinking coffee, the next minute this big slob of a man is standing there, nonchalantly, drinking beer in her kitchen. But don't worry, this has happened to her before. For the whole book, she is trying to figure out who he is, and what he wants. But her focus is also on catching Sandor Klausen before Christmas. After all, it IS her job. And, a girl has to be able to pay the rent. Stephanie is more scared she can't find time to fit in buying presents, a tree, and getting in the holiday spirit. You would understand this, if you met her family.

 I love the characters in this book. There is Stephanie, the main character. She is a bail bondsman who is always finding herself in trouble, in such amusing ways.

There is Diesel, the man who Stephanie found in her kitchen. A big hulky, hunky mysterious guy she can't figure out. Diesel is here to accomplish a job of his own.

There is Grandma Mazur who lives with Stepanie's parents. She is mostly spindle bone and slack skin. She keeps her gray hair curled tight to her head, and carries a .45 long barrel in her purse. Stephanie will get to meet her "studmuffin" boyfriend, nicknamed Sparky, in this book. One of my favorite scenes is with her and Mary Alice, Stephanies niece, who thinks she is a horse.  Grandma Mazur is convinced someone stole her teeth until Mary Alice confesses. She put the teeth in her stuffed horse, Charlotte's, mouth. But she decorated them with flowers, tiny rainbows, and colorful stars first. With permanent marker. Grandma Mazur calmly took the teeth from her, and put them back into her mouth. As she put it, after all, most of her friends have cataracts now anyway. They can't tell. Now every time she opens her mouth, it's all people can do to keep from laughing.

Then there is Joseph Morelli, Stephanies boyfriend. A Trenton cop. Morelli isn't someone you want to meet in a dark alley. Morelli is all lean hard muscle and dark assessing eyes. Stephanie and Joseph use to play choo choo when they were kids. He'd get down on his hands and knees, crawl between her legs, his head trapped under Stehanie's skirt. "You're the tunnel and I'm the train," he'd say. Now, older and back from the navy, Joseph lives two blocks away from Stephanie, and is still sniffing around her skirt.

Then there's Connie. Connie manages Stephanie's cousin Vinnie's , (the only reason she has this job), bail bonds office. Connie has big hair, big boobs, and a short fuse. And she could probally kick your butt from here to downtown Trenton. Good thing for Stephanie that they are friends.

Also there's LuLa. Lula is Stephanies best friend. Stephanie helped save her from a very bad situation once. Lula does filing for the bonds office. She was a ho in a previous life but has since amended her ways. Her wardrobe has pretty much stayed the same. Lulas a big woman who likes the challenge of buying clothes two sizes too small. She is hilarious.

Add to that a mother who drinks her four roses as she prepares the perfect must have dinners. A father who mostly just grunts. A sister who is now living with her parents. Divorced with two kids, and pregnant again - to an ambulance chaser, good guy lawyer.

And, in this book, there are an angry horde of midgets, or as they like to be called - little people. The little people dress up as elves, i a hoax to make Christmas gifts. And Stephanie and Diesel believe they are hiding their boss, Sander Klausen. Disel wants to contact Sander and warn him about Sparky. Stephanie just wants to arrest him and throw his butt in jail. After all, she has to pay the rent somehow. But first, they have to get through the angry "elves", which Lula is sure are really gremlins.

If you are looking for a holiday book with interesting funny characters, this book is for you. It is definitely a can't put down, stay up all night to read, book!