Plum Lucky

 

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Reviewed by Gerti

I had never read a book by Janet Evanovich before, so picking up this book was a little like getting on what I thought was an elevator and finding out it was a rollercoaster. “Plum Lucky” is a comic thrill ride, filled with quirky characters that were both horrible and hysterical at the same time. I had a great time reading it!

The protagonist is a woman named Stephanie Plum, who works for her uncle in the bail bonds business. The story is told from her point of view, which sounds as though it might limit the amount of information coming in to the reader, but that is by no means true. Stephanie has a funny family, led by her Grandma Mazur, who has just found a duffle-bag filled with money. The problems come in as the original owner of the money, and the man who stole it from him, both try to get their money back from Grandma. She however has taken the windfall, bought a Winnebago, and gone from Trenton to Atlantic City to gamble.

Since Stephanie is good at tracking down scofflaws, her mother enlists her aid in finding her errant grandmother, but Stephanie is “Plum Lucky” to have a bunch of people who help her out. Those people include the other staff of the bail bond business, office manager Connie and former whore now (almost) high fashion model Lula. The cast rounds out with a cop boyfriend for Stephanie, another sexy people tracker named Diesel, a mad mobster named Delvina, a leprechaun thief named Snuggy, and a racehorse headed for the glue factory named Doug. There are people who talk to horses, people wearing tinfoil on their heads, and people shooting rocket launchers. It’s a mad romp as Stephanie and her crew try to bring Grandma back home alive and well, return the money to the mobster, but also have enough money left to pay for Doug’s operation so he isn’t put down.

Does “Plum Lucky” make me want to look for another book by Evanovich? Yes, because it’s so plum crazy, but also very entertaining. No brain cells died in the reading of this book, meaning it was as easy to digest as a bowl full of Cool Whip. And while there was very little mystery involved in the novel, it was as much fun as a girl’s night out. To top it off, I read this St. Patrick’s Day themed book the day before the holiday, so it seemed like Evanovich and I are meant to be. Can’t wait to see if she can keep up the manic action and wit in her next book! I feel “Plum Lucky” to have finally found this author!