One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) (1994 original; edició 1996)

Suspend most of your beliefs in regards to reality and you will enjoy Stephanie Plum and her naïve and bumbling beginning as an amateur bounty hunter. After her cousin Vinnie temporarily loses an agent he hires down and out Plum to take his place. She has absolutely no experience but she's desperate. She's already hocked a few appliances to keep the rent going and her car has just been repossessed. Her first case for $10,000? Who does she need to bring in, you may ask? Her old childhood nemesis, Joe Morelli. They have history dating back to a high school indiscretion that took place behind a case of cannoli and then gossiped all over town. Plum is still embarrassed all these years later. Now Morelli's a cop on the run accused of murder. Self defense he claims. Armed with pepper spray and an unloaded gun she doesn't really know how to use, Stephanie Plum sets out to capture Morelli by stealing his car and stalking him across Trenton. He's not that hard to find. She keeps running into him all over town. Problem is, every time she tries to apprehend him, he gets her all hot and bothered instead.
Speaking of being bothered, here's where I really get bothered. Stephanie is viciously attacked by a sexual deviant boxer named Ramirez. This madman comes close to raping her and yet, Joe is able to climb into her apartment through a window. As someone who was nearly a rape victim, why would she leave a window open? That doesn't seem to be as important as collaring Morelli and getting her ten grand. Will Stephanie keep her cool and get her man? ( )

Nice humor - light reading mystery. ( )

I have read all of the Stephanie Plum novels so far and I just love these books. They are a very easy read and are something to read when you just wanna relax after a long day. They are just so humorous and I love all the characters, especially Grandma Mazur. It has a little bit of everything thrown in, while still being lighthearted.

I would recommend these books to anybody. ( )

Stephanie Plum is like you and me. She has money trouble, her car just got taken away by the repo man, and she's behind on her bills and rent. So, upon hearing that her cousin Vinnie's got an opening at his bail bonds company, she reluctantly goes there so she pull herself out this financial abyss.

And so Evanovich begins her hilarious Stephanie Plum series. The thing that differentiates this book from many others in the genre is that Stephanie is a normal person. She's not a sleuth or a PI. She's a bounty hunter trying to learn the trade and stumbles into much of the information she receives to help catch Joe Morelli, the rogue cop who she must bring back to justice.

Another plus is that Evanovich is a master at hiding the finale in this book. Once I finished the novel, I just closed it and said, "WOW!" It was totally unexpected.

All that being said, the book is extremely well written. Evanovich has a flair for description and the reader feels as if he/she is there with Stephanie, sniffing out the clues to catch Morelli. Another bonus are the hilarious minor characters, Lula and Jackie. They are a couple of prostitutes Stephanie meets. Their confidence and brashness is a nice contrast to Stephanie's timidity.

So, to conclude, if you haven't read this yet, you are truly missing out on one of the fresh new voices in the mystery genre. ( )

This was a book club reading. While I did enjoy it, there are other series similar to this one that I enjoy better. I will say that there is humor in this book which I appreciated. Not sure if I will continue reading the series. ( )