Review of "Hardcore Twenty-Four: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

In this 24th book in the 'Stephanie Plum' series, the Trenton, New Jersey bounty hunter becomes the target of zombies. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

When grave robber Simon Diggery doesn't show up for his court date, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has to track him down. Stephanie finds Simon taking refuge in a tree with his huge boa constrictor Ethel.



Simon explains that he was digging up a grave and accidently opened a portal for zombies, who streamed through screaming "brains" and tried to catch him.



Simon - fearing the zombies - says he'll let Stephanie take him to jail IF the bounty hunter will look after Ethel. Stephanie reluctantly agrees, which leads to various comic scenes, including Stephanie feeding the serpent hot dogs, barbecue chickens, and donuts.







Having dispensed with Diggery, Stephanie - accompanied by her zany, zaftig friend Lula - tries to track down other bail skips. 

These include Zero Slick, a nutty activist who blew up a building while he was cooking meth; and Edward Koot, who shot up a coffeehouse because his cup wasn't full enough.

As Stephanie goes about her bounty hunter business she wrecks several cars (one by exploding a groundhog); drops in for meals at her parents' house; and dilly-dallies with the men in her life: police detective Joe Morelli (her sexy Italian boyfriend); 

Ranger (a sexy security expert of Cuban heritage); 

and Diesel (a sexy blonde hunk with a mysterious job).

Meanwhile, dead bodies - both corpses in funeral homes and murder victims - are having their heads snatched. This head-pillaging seems to be the work of zombies who are collecting brains, and a couple of the zombies focus on Stephanie when she sideswipes an 'undead' with her car.



Thoroughly frightened, Stephanie and Lula try to elude the zombies, who smell like 'carnations and outhouse.' Lula thinks about creating bizarre (and horrible) scents to ward off the zombies, but they're too stinky to wear. There's plenty of action before the zombie situation is resolved, which is dangerous but hilarious.

As always, feisty, gun-toting Grandma Mazur is on hand. Grandma likes to go to funeral parlor visitations (for the corpses and the cookies), and is mighty annoyed that the headless bodies have closed coffins. Grandma also meets a man online (whose picture looks EXACTLY like the actor George Hamilton), and Granny is determined to meet the lothario in person - which drives Stephanie's mom bananas.


George Hamilton

For pet fun, Morelli's dog Bob is on hand, as is Stephanie's hamster Rex - who has a sleepover at Ranger's apartment - along with Stephanie (uh-oh!).

Some of the later books in this series have been disappointing, but this is a good one. It's fun AND au courant, since it features designer drugs; drones; and online catfishing. I'd recommend the book to readers of cozy mysteries, especially fans of Stephanie Plum. 

Rating: 3.5 stars