No. 11: A book with a number in the title
Explosive eighteen / Janet Evanovich
I Love the Stephanie Plum series, so this challenge entry was an easy choice. We’re allowed to have those!
I once stumbled onto this series when I was stuck on a train station: the trains were so majorly delayed that I finished the book I’d brought with me. What was I to do, but step into the bookstore and buy a new one? I picked up Hard Eight because it was the only book within budget that seemed a fun read. Turned out I hit the jackpot with it, and I’ve since dedicated a shelf of my bookcase to this series, collecting them one by one.
The individual titles can all be read as a stand-alone, because every book has a proper introduction of characters. And although the overall development is slow, there is development and change, so it’s even better to read it in order. Which I regularly do, as these books are part of my comfort reads: I’m on my way through the series again, and number eighteen was up next.
The books in the series are all numbered, starting with One for the Money. With the exceptions of parts 27, 28, and 29, which have the number in the subtitle, all others have the number in their title. I recently discovered I’m one behind, with no. 30 (Dirty Thirty) just released, so I’m off to the bookstore as soon as I wrap up this entry.
There are also between-the-numbers books, and two spin-off series: the Lizzie and Diesel books are equally solid fun, but I haven’t read the Recovery Agent yet.
Stephanie Plum is a New Jersey bounty hunter, forced into the job by lack of any other decent skills and appealing options. She works for her cousin Vinnie at Plum Bail Bonds, and the rest of the staff include Connie, who is a very Jersey Italian and related to half of the local mob, and Lula, who was a victim in Stephanie’s first ever case, and has since given up being an “erectile engineer” and is Stephanie’s sidekick, and whenever she feels like it, the office clerk.
Stephanie has two men in her life: Joe, a Jersey detective she’s in an off-and-on again relationship with, and Ranger, a delicious-smelling badass security agent, she’s had a few up-close-and-very-personal encounters with.
All these characters appear in all the books of the series. This also applies to Stephanie’s parents and her grandma Mazur. The books all contain a mystery, and weird criminals that need to be dragged back to jail. There are doors that require getting kicked in, cars that get stolen, flattened, or burnt. Joe’s dog, Bob, makes an appearance. As does Stephanie’s hamster, Rex.
This particular book picks up where no. seventeen left off: Stephanie returns from a trip to Hawaii. As she unpacks her bag, she finds a blank envelope containing a picture in it, and thinking she mistakenly picked it up when she bought magazines at the airport, she throws it in the trash. When there’s a news item about a murder at LA airport, she recognizes the victim as the man that had been sitting next to her. When she’s promptly being chased down by several people who are all after that picture, she realizes that the victim must have slipped that picture into her purse. Two fake FBI agents, two real FBI agents, a woman claiming to be the victim’s fiancée, and a murderer-for-hire, all want the picture.
On top of that, she has her archenemy Joyce Bernhardt squatting in her apartment, she has her car serial-stolen by a wanted criminal, and the search for a grave robber is not going well.
Then there is office drama, with the temporary office (a Winnebago parked in front of the remains of the already burnt-down office) going up in flames, and Lula accidentally drinking a love potion. A tan line on Stephanie’s ring finger causes drama with friends and family alike, everybody assuming there was a wedding, or at least a proposal, in Hawaii, and Stephanie refusing to talk about it. That might sound like a lot, but it’s easy to keep up with, and a fast read.
Stephanie isn’t a skilled bounty hunter, but she’s tenacious and lucky which gets her far. Often not in the most efficient or flattering way, but it’s the end result that counts.
Meanwhile, her relationship with Joe is solid at its core but neither is ready to commit which causes them to have the occasional break-up. Ranger is always available to help her out with replacement cars of mysterious origin. Grandma Mazur will always try to pry open a casket at the funeral home. Vinnie will always be involved in shady business. Eighteen books in, Stephanie still forgets to charge her stun gun, and hides her actual gun at home, safely tucked away in the cookie jar. Stephanie and Lula are still not able to kick in doors.
None of that matters, because this is a screwball detective and mishaps should happen. These books are a breeze and a total treat, and even though I’ve re-read most of them several times, they still make me laugh out loud.
Bookworm in the City 