Fortune and Glory; Peachy Scream

 

Janet Evanovich dropped the number naming convention for book 27 of her Stephanie Plum series. It wasn't bad. I think she's getting tired of writing Stephanie, she introduced a new character in this one, a treasure hunter named Gabriela Rose, and it looks like Ms. Rose is going to be in the next book, so I think maybe she's ready to move on. I don't blame her, she's been writing Stephanie for a long time.

Stephanie is trying to help Grandma Mazur find the treasure that her late husband, Jimmy, left her clues for. He and the five other wise guys he was supposed to share it with each have a clue. Put the six clues together with the keys Jimmy left and the fortune is all theirs. Too bad two of the other wise guys are after Grandma and Stephanie. Stephanie and Joe are on the outs, so she hooks up with Ranger in this one, but it seems like Joe wants her back, and she gets jealous when she thinks Joe is dating someone else (seriously, just marry Joe already. This back and forth between him and Ranger is getting tiresome). 

"Peachy Scream" by Anna Gerard is the second Georgia B&B mystery, after "Peach Clobbered". It's Cymbeline's annual Shakespeare Festival, and Nina Fleet is hosting a group of amateur Shakespeare actors who will be performing Hamlet, including Harry Westcott, her nemesis from the first book. One of the actors, Len Marsh, dies under what might be suspicious circumstances (his glass had a weird residue in it that Nina takes to the coroner and has tested). Like the first book, Gerard did a good job of planting red herrings so not only was I guessing who the intended victim was, I wasn't sure who was innocent or guilty. 

And seriously, the town of Cymbeline sounds awesome and I wish it was real.