Two for the Dough

Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is still new at being a bounty hunter. She is 30 years old or so, divorced, downsized from a department store buyer, small, and lives in "the burg" of Trenton, New Jersey. She is looking for Kenny Mancuso. Kenny has just gotten out of the army and has shot his friend in the knee. His bail was covered by Stephanie's Uncle Vinnie. When Kenny did not go to court, Stephanie starts looking for him.

Joe Morelli, the policeman with a history with Stephanie, soon is working with/against her. There is more to this case than she realizes. Guns have been stolen from an army base. Kenny may be involved. One of Kenny's high school friends was Spiro Stiva, now an undertaker. When Stephanie visits him to ask about Kenny, he gives her another job. He wants her to locate some stolen caskets.

This first person narrative is written with Stephanie's panache. While trying on shoes at the department store, she is frightened by a threatening visit from Kenny. She still buys the shoes. She drags her grandmother along when she visits the funeral home. Grandma Mazur does inappropriate things, like opening closed caskets. Joe keeps showing up. Is he protecting Stephanie or is he trying to revive old history? Or maybe it is some of both?

This is another fun mystery. We are given glimpses of the truth, yet it comes together well in the end. Stephanie's reaction to her traditional parents, her slightly eccentric grandmother, and Joe kept me smiling. She isn't just trying to track down the "bad guy", she is dealing with everyday life as well. And she is learning more about herself and being a bounty hunter in the process.

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