One for the Money

The first of the Stephanie Plum Series, 1994.

This is a hilarious first-person narrative. The plot never stops, the pace and rhythm can keep you up all night finishing this book in one setting. Evanovich’s characters are funny, diverse, and well developed, and of particular importance to me, dynamic.

Stephanie is a nearly-broke out-of-work retail lingerie buyer. When she finds out how much money bounty hunters make, she blackmails her shit-head cousin Vinnie for a job. He owns a bonds and bails business, and employs a number of basically free-lance bounty hunters who track down the scumballs who try to skip bail.

Stephanie is skinny, untrained, and if it weren’t for the fact that she was born and raised and still resides in Trenton, NJ., you wouldn’t call her tough. She does have that natural jersey toughness about her, and a quick wit, and good friends, all of which manage to keep her alive.

Of course she is in over her head, of course there is a murder, and of course the bad guys would like to get rid of her. After all, these are the things that compel us to read books like these.

Evanovich nail 100% from me in every way. Everything I look for in a good novel. The characters are rich and believable with unique voices, the dialogue flows like real life, the situations are complicated enough to keep you guessing but not enough to be ridiculous.

The humor is dead-on; derived from the foibles of humanity, Stephanie’s wit, ironic situations and stupid people. Evanovich clearly achieves her goals of writing a funny, well-paced, suspenseful mystery with rich characters.

One for the Money gets 100 from me. I haven't read anything by Evanovich that would get less than a 99.
 
If you've never read any Plum, I highly recomend the 3-book starter set.

The Stephanie Plum Series By Janet Evanovich ---- 100

To The Nines was the first Evanovich book I ever read. I've read most of them now, as well as the Motor Mouth series. Evanovichis one of the best comedic novelists writing today, and one of my favorite authors.

Stephanie Plum has come a long way from out-of-work lingerie buyer in One For The Money, to accomplished bounty hunter in Two The Nines. Stephanie is smart and courageous and as always, out of her league. She isn’t built for this sort of business, but that hasn’t stopped her yet. It’s a good thing Ranger, Morelli and Lula do have the build for it.

These are first person narrated stories about how Stephanie learns to become a bounty hunter. She is just as much detective as bounty hunter really. Every book in the series is loaded with humor. I love the scenes where Stephanie is talking to low-lifes and their various creative failures (or successes) at evading her attempts to take them in for back child support or other bad debts. While there is always a good laugh or two at these little cases along the way, there is also always a big case, and a complicated murder to solve.

Morelli is her on-again off-again police detective boyfriend. Her mother is always after her to get a real job and a real boyfriend. Her grandmother, Grandma Mazur, thinks Stephanie is just fine, and would like to join her on her ass kicking sessions. Grandma Mazur reminds me of a New Jersey version of Estelle Getty from Golden Girls.

Lula is an ex-hooker, very large black woman who joins Stephanie as a never-official partner after just a couple of books into the series. She more or less ingratiates herself into the position, which is a very Lula thing to do. Ranger? Well, you’re safer not knowing, but he always manages to help, and he owns lots of weapons, has lots of skilled friends, and drives heavily armored vehicles.

This series gets 100 from me without hesitation. Evanovich is an excellent writer, very skilled, the plots are all compelling, the characters are interesting, dynamic, and original, and the plots; well, it is hard to put an Evanovich book down.

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Stephanie Plum Series