One for the Money

Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is out of work after years of being a lingerie buyer at a local Trenton department store. After six months of job hunting, she finally starts working for her cousin. He is a bail bondsman. She decides to be a bounty hunter. How difficult could the job be?

Her first job is to catch Joe Morelli, a policeman accused of murder. He did not show up for his hearing. If she can return him to the police, she will earn $10,000 and the ability to catch up her debts. Besides, she has a past with Joe that she would like to settle. Joe does not want to turn himself in. He wants to find the witnesses to the shooting that he claims was in self defense.

While trying to trail Morelli, Stephanie meets "the champ", boxing champion Bonito Ramirez. He has a penchant for hurting women. He decides Stephanie should be his next woman. She is inexperienced and quickly learns how much she doesn't know. Morelli protects her from Ramirez then evades her again, taunting her about her lack of skills or nerve. She learns to shoot. She is stalked by Ramirez. The boxer's business manager promises to keep Ramirez away. She steals Morelli's car. Morelli searches her apartment, leaving her handcuffed to her shower rail.

This is a good book laced with humor. Stephanie Plum is able to laugh at herself and makes us laugh with her. The mystery takes its twists and turns, keeping the reader in suspense until the end. The clues are there. If Stephanie can stay alive long enough, she might be able to put them together. If you like Robert B. Parker's Spenser or Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone, you'll like Stephanie Plum.

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