In this 29th book in the comical 'Stephanie Plum' cozy mystery series, the bail enforcement agent has to rescue Connie Rosolli, the office manager of Vinnie's Bail Bonds.
The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the series is a plus.*****
Stephanie Plum works as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie's bail bond business in Trenton, New Jersey.
Stephanie and her sidekick Lula - a voluptuous former ho - are comically inept at picking up bail jumpers, but usually get the job done in the end.
As the story opens, Stephanie and Lula arrive at the bail bond office one morning to get new FTAs (failures to appear) and find the office closed.
This is highly unusual since office manager Connie Rosolli always arrives early with a box of donuts for the staff.
When Stephanie and Lula get into the building, Lula checks out the kitchenette and indignantly exclaims: "There’s no coffee brewing. I’m not supposed to start my day like this. I got a routine. My morning has expectations, if you see what I’m saying.”
It's clear SOMETHING is terribly wrong and an ominous incoming call reveals the awful truth. Connie's been abducted and the kidnappers want a ransom: a collectible coin used as bail bond collateral by a dry cleaner who was arrested. The coin isn't in the bond office storeroom, which shows signs of being searched. It appears the kidnappers nabbed Connie as she opened the office and looked for the coin but didn't find it.
Stephanie speculates that a petty thief stole the coin when he came in for bail, and she hunts down the perp. It turns out the thief sold the item to a coin store who sold it to a collector, and things get very complicated. As usual when Stephanie needs help she calls Ranger, a gorgeous Cuban-American hottie who runs a security service called Rangeman. When Stephanie's mission to rescue Connie - and then another abductee - gets dangerous, Rangeman provides backup and protection.
In addition to having an ongoing flirtation with Ranger, Stephanie has a boyfriend named Joe Morelli, a handsome Italian cop she's known since childhood. Stephanie often hangs out with Morelli, watching TV and eating pizza.
In between trying to satisfy the kidnappers, Stephanie and Lula hunt for bail skips. These include a panhandler, a blackmailer, and Morelli's scary grandmother Bella, who's accused of arson. Bella is notorious for giving 'the eye' to anyone she doesn't like, and her curse has been known to cause boils on men's privates.....and worse.
As usual in these books there are car crashes, fires, explosions, shootings, and so on. To add to the mayhem, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur - who carries a big gun - likes to tag along with Stephanie and Lula while they work.
All this leads to a climax that's especially exciting (if a tad gruesome).
The Stephanie Plum books are formulaic but fun, good 'palate cleansers' between darker tomes.
Rating: 3 stars
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