Wicked Charms

Wicked Charms is the third entry in Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton's Lizzy and Diesel series, a paranormal-cozy spin-off of the Plum universe in which Salem, Massachusetts pastry chef Lizzy Tucker has reluctantly partnered with the disreputable, frustratingly attractive Diesel to track down the SALIGIA Stones, each tied to one of the seven deadly sins. This one is greed: the Stone of Avarice has surfaced in connection with the legendary pirate Peg-Leg Dazzle's lost treasure.

The series' best trick is the Salem setting, which Sutton (a Lou Grant alum) leans into harder than Evanovich solo would. Sea-spray, the House of the Seven Gables, Wiccan storefronts, a magic monkey named Carl. The plot rolls forward at the breezy clip the cozy-paranormal subgenre demands, and the Lizzy-Diesel romantic tension stays in the slow-burn range without tipping into frustration. The villains, particularly Diesel's rival Wulf, are functional but a half-step thin.

Recommended for fans of cozy paranormals (Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books, the early Hollows novels by Kim Harrison) and for readers who already love Evanovich's humor but want a lighter, weirder spin. Books like Wicked Charms make great beach reads. Three stars, with the Salem texture earning the extra half.