 First edition | |
| Author | Janet Evanovich |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Stephanie Plum |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Preceded by | Plum Spooky |
| Followed by | Sizzling Sixteen |
Finger Lickin' Fifteen is a 2009 novel by Janet Evanovich, the fifteenth in the Stephanie Plum series. [1] [2]
Stephanie's friend Lula witnesses the murder (by decapitation) of celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle. When Chipotle's sponsors offer a $1 million reward for the capture of the killers, Lula decides to enter an upcoming BBQ cook-off contest, deciding that the most likely suspect is a rival chef. Despite her complete lack of culinary skills, she is joined by Stephanie's Grandma Mazur, their friend Connie Rosoli, and a reluctant Stephanie.
Several of Ranger's clients' homes have been burglarized, leading him to suspect one of his men. He asks Stephanie to resume her job at Rangeman, as a pretext for snooping around. He also offers to lend his considerable skills as a bounty hunter to helping her do her regular job.
While Lula attempts to perfect her "skills" as a chef, she is attacked several times by Chipotle's (extremely inept) killers, but manages to escape each time, though she is forced to move in with Stephanie, and later with the Plum family, and her prized Pontiac Firebird is destroyed by a poorly-constructed car bomb.
On the day of the cook-off, one of the killers, "Marco the Maniac" is caught trying to flee to the airport. He identifies his accomplice as the cook-off's emcee, a vice president of the sauce company that employed Chipotle. The emcee holds Lula hostage at gunpoint and confesses: Chipotle was having an affair with the company president's wife, who planned to divorce her husband and carry half his assets to a new company founded with Chipotle. The killing and the reward were intended to be a publicity stunt that would both rid them of Chipotle and generate media attention to the company. Lula manages to disarm and subdue the emcee, though she has to accept that she won't be getting the reward.
After patient investigation, Stephanie identifies Ranger's thieves as two teenagers who were turned down for jobs at his company, then decided to finance their own company by robbing Ranger's clients, with hidden cameras planted over the clients' security keypads. When Ranger and his men burst into the rival "company"'s office, they find all of the stolen jewelry and valuables stored there; the teenagers were so inept that they used the cash they stole to rent the office space, but had no idea how to fence the stolen property. Ranger does not usually display emotion, but admits to severe embarrassment at being "almost ruined by two goofy kids."
Having solved both her problems, Stephanie decides to resume the "on" stage of her "on-again/off-again" relationship with Joe Morelli.
Janet Evanovich is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The novels in this series have been on The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debut at #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list and eleven of them have hit #1 on USA Today Best-Selling Books list. She has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, and her books have been translated into over 40 languages.
Stephanie Plum is a fictional character and the protagonist in a series of novels written by Janet Evanovich. She is a spunky combination of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, and—although a female bounty hunter—is the opposite of Domino Harvey. She is described by the author as "incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary".
One for the Money is the first novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was published in 1994 in the United States and in 1995 in Great Britain. Like its successors, Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly, One for the Money is a long-time best-seller, appearing for 75 consecutive weeks on the USA Today list of 150 best-selling novels, peaking at number 13.
Two for the Dough, published in 1996, is the second novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Like others in the Stephanie Plum series, Two for the Dough was a best-seller, spending 36 weeks on the Top 150 list.
Three to Get Deadly is the third novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and was first published in 1997. It won the 1998 Dilys Award.
Four to Score is the fourth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and her friends and family in New Jersey. Written in 1998, it is set mainly in Trenton, but also includes Point Pleasant and Atlantic City.
High Five is the fifth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was written in 1999.
Seven Up is the seventh novel by Janet Evanovich in her series featuring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was published in 2001.
Hot Six is the sixth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and was written in 2000.
Hard Eight is the eighth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was written in 2002.
To the Nines is the ninth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Written in 2003, it's the second book in a row that doesn't revolve around a criminal bond, and the first to take Stephanie out of New Jersey and into the neon glitz of Las Vegas.
Ten Big Ones is the tenth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was written in 2004.
Eleven on Top is the 11th novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was published in June 2005, and quickly became a #1 best-seller, remaining on the USA Today list of 150 best-selling novels for 19 weeks.
This is a list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 2000s (decade), as determined by Publishers Weekly. The list features the most popular novels of each year from 2000 through 2009.
Twelve Sharp, published in 2006, is the 12th novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. The hardcover version appeared at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List in the week of July 9, 2006, while the paperback release has also been in the top four spots in 2007.
Lean Mean Thirteen is a 2007 novel by Janet Evanovich, the thirteenth in the Stephanie Plum series. It was released on June 19, 2007.
Fearless Fourteen is a novel written by Janet Evanovich, the fourteenth in her series featuring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was released on June 17, 2008.
Plum Lovin' is a 2007 novel by Janet Evanovich. It is the 14th book in the Stephanie Plum series.
One for the Money is a 2012 American crime comedy film based on Janet Evanovich's 1994 novel of the same name. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson, the screenplay was written by Liz Brixius, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten Smith. It stars Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara, Debbie Reynolds, Daniel Sunjata and Sherri Shepherd. The story revolves around Stephanie Plum, a broke and unemployed woman becoming a bail enforcement agent, going after a former high school crush who both skipped out on his payments and is a murder suspect.
Sizzling Sixteen is a 2010 novel by Janet Evanovich, the sixteenth in the Stephanie Plum series.