One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

          Stephanie Plum #1

           This is the book that started the long running series about a Jersey girl who turn bounty hunter. It hit the bestseller list last February when it was turned into a movie.  I’ve read a number of these books, and truly enjoy them.  They are generally fast paced and laugh-out-loud funny. Anybody who doesn’t love Lula and Grandma Mazur are simply lacking a funny bone.

          Stephanie Plum is unemployed. Her car is repossessed and she is both facing eviction and running out of items to pawn. While at dinner at her parent’s house her mother mentions that cousin Vinnie is looking for help at his bail bonds office. Stephanie stops in intending to apply for the filing clerk job only to find it is no longer available.  However, one of their bond enforcement officers is out and they are desperate for someone to pick up the slack. And Stephanie becomes a bounty hunter.

          She is after a guy she knew in high school, a local cop accused of murder. He is on the run because he didn’t do it, but cannot prove it. After several attempts to bring him in, he and Stephanie decide to join forces. She will help him prove his innocence and he will allow her to bring him in for the $10,000 bounty. 

          Stephanie’s learning curve is pretty steep, but very entertaining. And, of course, the SUV she is driving during most of the tale is totally destroyed. This book set the pattern for all the other books in the series to follow, but it’s a good one.  Why mess with success?