Many of us who enjoy returning to the world of Stephanie Plum do so not just because we love Stephanie, but because hers is a world full of colorful characters. It’s one hell of a rogues’ gallery, from two strong Alpha male heroes to quirky Grandma Mazur, from larger-than-life Lula to nemesis Joyce Barnhardt and the bad guys who invariably want Stephanie dead. Yet ironically, with all these people surrounding Steph, it’s the smallest character, the one who never says anything at all, who speaks volumes about her life: Rex the hamster.

For members of different species, Stephanie and Rex share an uncanny number of similarities. Neither of them likes hamster pellets, which Stephanie admits to having tried for breakfast (One for the Money 13), but they both love Butterscotch Krimpets, Helen Plum’s pineapple upside-down cake, Pino’s pizza, and a host of other foods. (Rex, of course, has the healthier diet of the two since he frequently eats the raisins, grapes, apple chunks, and carrots that Steph keeps in the fridge for him.) Stephanie has days where she feels like crawling back into bed and hiding from reality; Rex often retreats to his soup can. Like his owner, Rex harbors some affection for Morelli (who’s been known to feed him on occasion—love and food are pretty closely intertwined in the Burg). Both bounty hunter and hamster lead a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, with Steph’s apartment serving as sort of a central, frequently broken-into base, as Stephanie, with Rex more often than  …