LOL Book-of-the-Month
June, 2002
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The Stephanie Plum series Recommended by Lady SylviaA Genre: Mystery/Detective/Humor If you intend to buy any of these books from Amazon, please click the links below to buy through the LOL Amazon Associates Program. It will have no extra costs to you, and you'll be helping LOL. For more info on LOL support, click here. After seeing so many hosers recommending these books and talking about the main characters, I HAD to get a hold of the books! Believe me, here in the UK, it can be very hard to get hold of certain American books, especially if you live in the sticks! But, thanks to a couple of generous hoser friends, I have the full set!
ONE FOR THE MONEY - Stephanie Plum is out of work. She has no money, her car’s repossessed, and the fridge is bare. In desperation, she takes a job, working for her sleazy cousin Vinnie, tracking down bail jumpers. Her first assignment is to get hold of Joe Morelli, a vice cop charged with murder one. Steph and Morelli are old friends, he having played choo-choo with Steph in the back of the baker’s shop where she worked as a teenager. He also has an overactive libido where Ms. Plum is concerned! Stephanie thinks this assignment is going to be easy for a beginner like her. No it’s not! Several things get in her way, among them a psychopathic boxer and cars blowing up. Plus odd complications, like a half-dead hooker on her fire escape, or Steph being handcuffed, naked, to the shower curtain rail.
TWO FOR THE DOUGH – Stephanie’s next case is to bring in a guy who has shot his best friend. While at a viewing at the funeral parlour with her Grandma Mazur, Spiro Stiva the undertaker, offers Steph a side job - to find 24 missing coffins. But Steph has a lot of help. Grandma Mazur tags along, packing a gun in her handbag, then Joe Morelli becomes involved. It’s his distant cousin who’s skipped bail. She also has help from a fellow bounty hunter; Ricardo Carlos Mañoso aka Ranger. The usual chaos follows Steph round like a shadow. But she copes, as only Stephanie can. Murder, mayhem and body parts in the mail notwithstanding.
THREE TO GET DEADLY- Stephanie has been asked to bring in Uncle Mo, a candy store owner who’s been accused carrying a concealed weapon. But this turns out not to be straightforward. As usual, murder, dead drug dealers, all sorts of weird goings on occur. Family and friends all help – Lula, a clerk in Vinnie’s office, who aspires to be a bounty hunter like Steph, Joe Morelli, a vice cop who lusts after her, and Ranger, ex special services and fellow bounty hunter, and pistol-packin’ Granny Mazur. Things look bad for Uncle Mo. Bodies turn up in his shop, Steph gets shot at, and no-one wants to turn good old Mo over to the cops.
FOUR TO SCORE – Maxine Nowicki is a waitress on the run. She stole her boyfriend’s car, posted bond, then disappeared. Steph agrees to do the job, but she has a score to settle first. She’s found out her sworn enemy has become a work colleague. Joyce Barnhardt and Steph’s husband – now her ex-husband – were caught polishing Steph’s nice new dining table 6 years before. Since then, Stephanie has hoped never to see her again. So, Steph goes in search of Maxine, with Joyce close on her heels. Riding shotgun are Lula, ex hooker and apprentice bounty hunter, plus Sally Sweet, a transvestite who’s not quite got the woman thing right. This is a pretty hectic adventure, as usual, but fun!
HIGH FIVE - Stephanie’s uncle Fred has disappeared, Grandma Mazur has got hold of a stun gun , not a good idea, a dwarf (Oh. Sorry. Little man) claims squatter’s rights to Steph’s apartment, and her cars keep getting blown up. Uncle Fred’s desk top drawer has some suspicious photos of a dismembered body in a garbage bag. Did Uncle Fred murder someone? Chaos and comedy rule as usual; and this book has one of the most delicious last lines/cliffhangers to be found!
HOT SIX – Steph has a case she certainly does NOT want. She has to bring in fellow bounty hunter and mysterious ex-Special Services agent, Ranger, accused of murder. He taught her all she knows, so she’s chasing the Master. Can she do it? Will she turn him in? Meanwhile, Steph is followed by two goons who are quite sympathetic to her dilemma; Grandma moves in with Steph, seriously cramping her sex life, and she’s got a new friend – Bob – a dog.
SEVEN UP – Hapless Stephanie Plum is at it again. Sent on a job to pick up a bail runner, she picks up an oddball or two, namely Mooner and Dougie; former schoolpals of hers, who have become involved in her case through cigarette smuggling. Then Dougie disappears, then Mooner disappears, so Steph has to call on Ranger to help out. Ranger and Steph gradually get cosier, and ……..well, read it and see what happens.
HARD EIGHT – comes out June 18th. A critic recently wrote about Janet Evanovich. “Depressed? Not Prozac! Read Evanovich!” It’s true! I have woken my DH a couple of times while reading the books in bed and trying SO hard not to laugh out loud! It’s impossible! Read them! You will not regret it!
See also
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