Marblehead Stars Again in Latest Janet Evanovich Novel

Those looking for a summer beach read with a setting close to home are in luck.

“Wicked Charms,” the latest novel by bestselling author Janet Evanovich and set partially in Salem and Marblehead, recently hit bookstores.

Evanovich’s books, including the 20 titles in the “Stephanie Plum” mystery series, have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. “Wicked Charms” is the latest book in the Unmentionable Series.

The narrator is a woman named Lizzy Tucker, a chef from New York City who moves to Marblehead after her aunt dies and leaves her a house.

Lizzy goes to work at a Salem bakery, where she has a habit of stumbling into mysteries.

In the latest novel, Lizzy and her partner, Diesel, are on a quest for pirate treasure that takes them from Salem Harbor to the coast of Maine.

In a 2010 interview with Patch, Evanovich said she chose Salem and Marblehead as the setting for the first Wicked novel because she thought the history of the two towns would add a fun element. Evanovich, who lives in New Hampshire, said her daughter has a historic house in Marblehead.