Hard Eight

Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is being stalked by a rabbit. He has Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon with him. They threaten violence, both bodily and sexual. This is only because she promised her mother's neighbor she would try to locate the lady's missing granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

Mrs. Markowitz is concerned because her granddaughter Evelyn is missing. If Evelyn has kidnapped her daughter Annie and they are not found, Mrs. Markowitz could lose her home to cover a child enforcement bond. Stephanie reluctantly agrees to locate Evelyn Soder. Evelyn has lived in the Burg section of Trenton, New Jersey, all her life. It should be easy to find her, right?

If you have read any of the earlier Stephanie Plum mystery novels, you know better. Stephanie stumbles her way around, uncovering facts and clues both because she is looking and because someone is now looking for her. One of the local "businessmen" is sure she knows facts she's not revealing. He sends a couple men in a bear and rabbit costume to shake her up and tell what she knows. Stephanie doesn't know what she knows. She can't convince Eddie Abruzzi that she is clueless of the Soder women's whereabouts.

As usual, I often found myself chuckling out loud at this novel. Evanovich's writing style in the Stephanie Plum novels is humorous. Stephanie, Morelli, Grandma Mazur, Lula, Mr. and Mrs. Plum (Stephanie's parents), her sister...all these characters could come out of our lives where families and friends are tight knit. Ranger remains the mysterious man Evanovich wants him to be. Their ongoing story is endearing. Stephanie's attempts to bring in fugitives skipping on their bail bonds are a hoot.

The mystery in this novel is weak and rather strange. Abruzzi is a paper character, the typical mob boss who claims his property. While the subtle attacks on Stephanie's nerves are interesting (nothing like finding five tarantulas on your car's passenger seat) the overall stalking and frightening are overdone and silly. The novel is not up to par with the earlier ones in the series, yet still fun.

Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations

The Series:

One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to Get Deadly
Four to Score
High Five
Hot Six
Seven Up
Hard Eight
Visions of Sugar Plums
To the Nines
Ten Big Ones
Eleven on Top
Twelve Sharp
Plum Lovin'
Lean Mean Thirteen
Plum Lucky
Fearless Fourteen
Plum Spooky
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Sizzling Sixteen
Smokin' Seventeen
Explosive Eighteeen

Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews