Book Review: Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich is the second book in the Lizzy and Diesel series. Lizzy Tucker's once normal life as a pastry chef in Salem, Massachusetts, turns upside down as she battles both sinister forces and an inconvenient attraction to her unnaturally talented but off-limits partner, Diesel. When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust.Diesel's black sheep cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, also wants the Stone. His motives are far from pure, and what he plans on doing with the treasure, no one knows. Never far and always watching, Grimoire has a growing, vested interest in the cupcake-baker-turned-finder-of-lost-things. As does another dangerous and dark opponent in the hunt, a devotee of lawlessness and chaos, known only as Anarchy. Treasures will be sought, and the power of lust will be unmistakable as Lizzy and Diesel attempt to stay ahead of Anarchy, Grimoire, and his medieval minion, Hatchet, in this ancient game of twisted riddles and high-stakes hide-and-seek.

Wicked Business is a good follow up to Wicked Appetite. Lizzy is a little more comfortable with the idea of being an 'Unmentionable', and the characters have mostly been introduced and fleshed out enough that they feel like old friends. Lizzy and Diesel are on the hunt, following a series of clues. However in this round the stakes seem to be higher, and the danger level certainly is. Lizzy's boss and co-worker are both players in this round, and Glo's misfiring attempts at magic made me laugh out loud a few times. Hatchet is a combination of humorous and scary weird, and Wulf has me doubting his nefarious intentions on several occasions, and Diesel's flirty is getting much more obvious. The mystery and scavenger hunt part of the story leaves some questions unanswered, which was a little annoying, but was well done.

Wicked Business is exactly what I was expecting. It was a fun, fluffy read with a good about of humor and unfulfilled flirtation and lust. A sweet weekend read that has me looking for my copy of the third book, Wicked Charms (which is waiting for my attention on my Kindle with many other books).