Review of "Dirty Thirty: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

In this 30th book in the comical 'Stephanie Plum' cozy mystery series, the bail enforcement agent is hired to find a diamond thief. The book works as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a big bonus.

****

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 cozy mystery opens, Stephanie needs extra cash, so she takes a freelance job from jewelry store owner Martin Rabner.



According to Rabner, he was robbed twice in the same day. First a bail skip named Duncan Dugan robbed the jewelry store's display cases.



Then the store's security guard, Andy Manley (aka Nutsy) absconded with the diamonds in the safe. Rabner offers Stephanie $1,000 to track down Nutsy, and Stephanie agrees.



Stephanie and Lula set out to round up bail jumper Duncan and security guard Nutsy, but things are more complicated than usual. Stephanie's boyfriend, Joe Morelli - a handsome Italian cop she's known since childhood - is out of town, and Stephanie is babysitting Joe's BIG orange dog Bob.



Bob eats furniture and car seats if he's left alone, so Stephanie takes the dog everywhere with her.....even when she's chasing down criminals.



There are suspicions that security guard Nutsy's diamond heist was connected to the mob, so - as usual when Stephanie needs extra help - she calls Ranger.



Ranger is a gorgeous Cuban-American hottie who runs a security service called Rangeman. Stephanie thinks of Morelli as her REAL boyfriend, but she's also very attracted to Ranger, and she's always waffling between the two men.

While Stephanie is looking for Duncan she comes across his friend Sissy, who has a soft spot for the inept bail jumper;



and Stephanie's pursuit of Nutsy leads to his mother Celia, a nice woman who has a house full of foster cats.



As the story unfolds, there are hospital escapades; veterinarian visits; trips out of town; cozy times with Ranger; attempts to catch bail skips; canine Bob's hijinks; and more. And as always, Stephanie gets her car wrecked; gets her house bombed; and gets a gun pointed at her.



As all this is going on, Lula becomes convinced she's being stalked by Grendel - a demon and man-eater who sneaks into her bedroom and steals her clothes. Stephanie's hilarious family makes an appearance as well. Grandma Mazur and Stephanie's mother - who drives a car like a Nascar champion - help Stephanie chase Nutsy on a motorcycle.



It's also fun when grave robber Simon Diggory tries to help Stephanie find the body of a murdered man.....in an 'unconventional grave' of course.



To add to the revelry, there's plenty of tasty food in the book, such as chicken salad on croissants; egg potato salad; chocolate cake; donuts; smoked salmon; deviled eggs; bagels; pastrami sandwiches; organic beef-flavored kibble; and more.







This a good addition to the series, a must read for Stephanie Plum fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, Janet Evanovich, and Atria Books for a copy of the manuscript.

Rating: 3.5 stars