In the series of books centered around lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, there are a series of books centered around various holidays that fall in between the other books. Plum Spooky comes after Fearless Fourteen. Although it sounds like it’s centered around Halloween, I really didn’t find that it was anything out of the ordinary for this line of books. Other than the title, there was nothing that really spoke to this book being about Halloween. We’ve had books where crazy, almost supernatural people pop up in Stephanie’s life, so it doesn’t seem all that unusual for things like that to happen here.

Where other books in the “between the number series” could be considered novellas, Plum Spooky is a full-length book. This surprised me, as I was expecting a quick read.

Stephanie is on the lookout for a bail jumper by the name of Martin Munch when Diesel appears. If you’ve read the series, Diesel first came onto Stephanie’s radar in Visions of Sugar Plums. He’s super hot and at times seems to be a bit on the supernatural side. Stephani isn’t sure what to make of him. Diesel is on the lookout for a guy named Wulf Grimoire, who happens to have hooked up with Martin Munch. They are hiding out in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. If you live anywhere in the area, you’ll have heard the stories of the New Jersey Devil (and maybe even if you don’t live in the area). This sets the tone for the novel.

The regular characters in Stephanie’s life make appearances, but much of the novel is taken up with Stephanie and Diesel, and a monkey named Carl. Carl may or may not understand humans better than he lets on, but he’s a lot of fun. The two flirt relentlessly, and Stephanie does get tempted at times, but that’s a line she’s not willing to cross. It’s fun reading her thoughts on the subject, though.

I’ve gotten to the point where I just can’t take these books all too seriously and don’t expect them to be grounded in reality as it was more in the earlier books of the series. Plum Spooky is a bit of outrageous fun. Ranger appears at times, just to check on Stephanie. He’s mostly amused by her and serves as a bit of a warning to the others who enter her life that they better not get her hurt. He also bails her out of trouble, usually by giving her a vehicle once she’s destroyed or disabled her Jeep.

Morelli, on the other hand, seems to be most likely to win Stephanie’s hand. He’s sidelined in most of this book, having to deal with his brother Anthony, who is one of the black sheep in his family. Anthony has been thrown out (again) by his wife and is crashing on Morelli’s couch, but Morelli doesn’t trust his brother and enlists Stephanie’s help in getting the two reunited. Just add that to the list of things Stephanie has to do. However, it works as a plot device to keep Morelli out of the way while Stephanie and Diesel save the world.

I enjoyed Plum Spooky after taking a bit of a break from the series. Reading the books back to back has the story getting tired at times. It’s a good bit of light reading that had me laughing.

Previous book in the series (link): Fearless Fourteen