One for the Money

One of the first modern cozy mysteries I have ever read, Stephanie Plum is zany, ridiculous, and laugh-out-loud funny. Basically, she’s a bounty hunter, and she gets her man and solves mysteries despite herself. Her Grandma Mazur is quite possibly one of the best sidekick characters ever invented. Funerals may or may not involve dead bodies, but Granny Mazur will be there anyway, even if it means stealing a corpse. Especially if it means stealing a corpse! Stephanie has a habit of losing cars and getting stuck driving a very old boat of a car (Big Buick), which deprives her… show more.

I used to commute to London for years and read a huge amount on the train journey in and out of that city. I remember one day I was sitting in the carriage and someone reached across the table between us and touched my hand. I looked up, and the person opposite asked me what I was reading. I asked them why they wanted to know, and they said, “Because you’ve been laughing all the way into London.”

I loved Stephanie’s method of wheedling a job out of Vinnie by threatening to air his dirty secrets, her Grandma’s obsession with… show more.

A list of badass women sleuths isn’t complete without Stephanie Plum. I love her humor and determination. And I adore her street smarts and emotional intelligence.

No, she’s not an intellectual heavyweight like some women I’ve mentioned. But I’d argue that her gift for always finding a way to save herself and catch the killer is its own kind of brilliance. And nobody writes a fun fight scene like Evanovich!

Okay, Evanovich has written seven million Stephanie Plum mysteries, but they are truly funny. Best start with the first one, when we were all young and had golden hair (highlights?).

The humor is smart and not sophomoric. I’m an improv comic and there is a difference between being juvenile and crude, and being clever. Check her clever Plum series out if you want to laugh. There are so many of them you could also use them to build that upstairs addition you’ve been planning.

An old friend gave me her much-thumbed copy of Evanovich’s One for the Money at a time when I was down.

I can’t tell you how much the book lifted me up—Stephanie Plum’s debut in the long-running series as a sharp, sometimes bumbling bounty hunter is laugh-out-loud funny. Her love interests only complicate matters: the dark, handsome, elusive Ranger, and Morelli, a cop on the run who Stephanie lost her virginity to when she was sixteen.

Of course, I raced through the numbers with Stephanie, right up into the books entitled twenty-something. Evanovich’s seemingly effortless writing style hooks the reader… show more.

Oldie, but a goodie. Even better, once you’ve read the first book, you’ll be relieved to find the adventures of Stephanie Plum, amateur bounty hunter, keep going.

If you like mysteries, comedy, and a little steamy romance, this is your series with plenty of books to read. The dinner scene with Grandma Mazur had me in stitches, as did… well, you’ll have to pick up a copy to see what I mean. 

You may have noticed there’s a bit of a theme here, well, other than that I love all these books, but this introduction to Stephanie Plum and her entourage is a great book that keeps me coming back when I’m in the mood for a laugh and a look at a family that’s even crazier than mine.

Stephanie is down and out, and out of desperation, blackmails her cousin into giving her a shot at bounty hunter. Experience? Who needs experience? Her first skip? An ex-cop she’s had more than a few run-ins with…usually without all her clothing.

Stephanie, her… show more.

In One for the Money, Evanovich sets the stage for a mystery novel series filled with wacky fun. Stephanie Plum goes to work for her cousin Vinnie as a bounty hunter with no experience in law enforcement. Her first case involves a Trenton cop and old flame, Joe Morelli, accused of shooting an unarmed man. On the face of it, she has no chance. With helpful mentoring from fellow bounty hunter and overall hottie Ranger, a series of disasters, and an impressive amount of determination, Stephanie pursues Morelli while he tries to charm the pants off her. Then there’s… show more.

While this isn’t exactly a typical mystery, I really enjoyed the story. Stephanie Plum is not your quiet, refined heroine. She’s smart and sassy, with a blue-collar background that gives her insight into how the world really works.

Reading this book helped me realize that my own character, Jamie, could break or maybe bend the mold of traditional protagonist. She’s no shrinking violet, much like the Stephanie character. Evanovich creates someone people can relate to and puts them in challenging situations.

One for the Money was the book that inspired me to try my hand at writing a humorous mystery. I love the zany characters and the element of exasperating romance, centered around a young woman, Stephane Plum, who is trying to make it in a man’s world as a bounty hunter. Some of the scenes are so hilarious, I read them out loud to my sister.