In this 26th book in the comical 'Stephanie Plum' cozy mystery series, the bail enforcement agent has to protect her Grandma Mazur from threats of abduction and worse. The book works as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
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.
Stephanie is perpetually single, but she has two men in her life. One is her handsome Italian boyfriend, Joe Morelli, who's a Trenton cop.
And the other one is Latino security expert Ranger, who's sizzling hot and a huge temptation to Stephanie.
As the book opens, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur, a lively septuagenarian, marries her latest beau - Trenton gangster Jimmy Rosolli - in a Bahamas casino. Shockingly, Jimmy drops dead 45 minutes later, after a big win on the slot machines. Grandma then returns to Trenton, where she lives with Stephanie's parents, the Plums.
Grandma misses Jimmy but she's reveling in widowhood, since she's the center of attention at Jimmy's viewing, funeral, and wake. Not everyone feels sympathy for Grandma though. In Jimmy's will, he leaves everything to his wife (whoever that is when he dies), and the gangster's sisters and ex-wives are furious.
At Jimmy's viewing, his sister Angie Rosolli leans over the casket and shouts at Grandma, "You'll never get Jimmy's money. You don't deserve his money. I'll see you dead and buried before you get his money. That money goes to the family, not to some gold-digging whore." Grandma calls Angie a frump crone, and the lid of the casket slams down on Angie's fingers, like an act of God....or the result of the evil eye.
As it turns out, Jimmy's family isn't Grandma's biggest worry. Stephanie's boyfriend Joe Morelli tells her, "There are rumblings that something was lost beside Jimmy's life, and there's a lot of panic and finger-pointing going on by the La-Z-Boys [elderly gangsters who hang out in the back room of the 'Mole Hole' strip club]. Jimmy was known as the Keeper of the Keys, and the the keys seem to be missing."
The keys presumably provide access to something valuable, and the La-Z-Boys are convinced Jimmy slipped the keys to Grandma as he was dying. Grandma insists she knows nothing about any keys, but the La-Z-Boys threaten to abduct Grandma and torture her until she admits the truth.
Stephanie's mom ropes her into protecting Grandma, which means Stephanie must accompany Grandma to her two favorite pursuits: the viewings at Stiva's funeral home and her weekly bingo game. The grand prize at bingo includes a big rump roast, which results in shouts of cheating followed by chaos....followed by Grandma making off with the roast.
As always, there's disorder in Stephanie's life: someone throws a Molotov cocktail into the Plums' house; Stephanie's car burns up; Stephanie's apartment is ransacked; there are attempted kidnappings; and more. Naturally, Ranger steps in to help. He lends Stephanie a Porsche; provides a security team; gives Grandma and Stephanie panic button necklaces; and on and on.
In the midst of all this, Stephanie has to track down bail skips, and she and Lula are on the trail of a shoplifter; a gangster; and a man who attempted murder with a double cheeseburger.
In a funny scene, Lula gets soaked, strips down, and a bail-jumper is mesmerized by her giant nipples.
We spend lots of time with Stephanie's family, who are always entertaining. Stephanie's mom irons shirts and nips whiskey to calm her nerves; Stephanie's dad drives a cab to get away from Grandma Mazur; and Grandma Mazur carries a long gun and uses it.
Readers familiar with the Stephanie Plum books know the stories have a formula: Stephanie is torn between Morelli and Ranger; Stephanie takes care of her hamster Rex; Lula threatens to shoot bail-jumpers, eats lots of donuts, and reminisces about her life as a ho; and so on.
Some Stephanie Plum books are better than others, and this isn't the best of the bunch. Nevertheless, it will tickle loyal fans.
Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment