Smokin’ Seventeen
"Despite being on book number seventeen, she is still coming up with new and ingenious situations for Stephanie Plum to find herself in, and for some reason these never seem to tire."
Synopsis:
Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie's name is on the killer's list.
Short on time to find evidence proving the killer's identity, things get even more complicated for Stephanie when family and friends decide it's time for her to decide between long-time off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop, Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert, Ranger. Stephanie's mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both, and choose a former high school football star who has just returned to town. Stephanie's sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir "bake-off". And Grandma Bella, Morelli's old world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts "the eye" on Stephanie.
With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie's life looks like it's about to go up in smoke.
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Review:
Evanovich always delivers a high standard. Despite being on book number seventeen, she is still coming up with new and ingenious situations for Stephanie Plum to find herself in, and for some reason these never seem to tire. The books are very light hearted and the crimes totally unrealistic, but this seems to make them even more appealing for some reason. Plum continues to live a charmed life, avoiding all those wanting to kill her, struggling to survive as an exceptionally poor bounty hunter and still torn between Morelli and Ranger. Her family, Granda Mazur in particular, are fantastic characters, although even with her parents not playing major parts, they have priceless reactions to many situations. Lula, as ever, is the literally larger than life sidekick. Evanovich is one of the few authors who manages to keep me smiling right the way through the book. Even small things such as the names of restaurants have been given a lot of thought and are completely fitting for this style of book (Cluck in a Bucket). As usual, Stepehanie and Lula are chasing after a few bond hoppers with some rather strange characteristics whilst also trying to avoid at least one person who is trying to kill Stephanie. Added to this is Stephanie's complicated love life. Yet throughout all of these there is an obvious absence of any gratuitous violence, swearing or anything overtly sexual which seems a rare occurrence these days, but works perfectly without any of these. Another great plot and book from Evanovich. She has really put Trenton on the map!