Wicked appetite / Janet Evanovich

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Tucker was surprised to inherit Great Aunt Ophelia's house in Marblehead, MA, just outside of Salem, but even more surprised to hear that her own superior cupcake baking skills came from being an Unmentionable. Diesel, agent for the Board of Unmentionable Marshalls, or BUM, drops this information bomb in order to use Lizzy's ability to find empowered objects, specifically the Seven Stones of Power. BUM needs to have possession of all seven stones, each representing a deadly sin, before the "other side" collects them and brings about Hell on Earth. It's hard to find a reliably humorous author, but Evanovich always delivers. Stephanie Plum fans will recognize Diesel, Wulf, and Carl the monkey from the "Between-the-Numbers" series, and they'll also recognize some of Lizzy's characteristics, like compulsive eye-rolling, blasting her hair dry, and destroying multiple fancy black cars. But for this reader, those distractions soon fell away, and the book was only put down briefly for mealtimes.