High Five

Stephanie Plum has a serious and dangerous job as a bail enforcement in bail enforcement. She works for her cousin Vinnie who puts up money for individuals who are in trouble with the law but then skip their hearing. Vinnie doesn't want to lose his investment, so he pays Stephanie ten percent of the bail if she finds them by the date given.

Stephanie needs the money to pay her bills because she was laid off from her position as lingerie purchaser. She doesn't have training and often makes risky and foolish decisions. At times, she has to call in her mentor, Ranger, when she is in trouble or even her love interest, Joe Morelli, who is a policeman in their home city of Trenton New Jersey.

In this book, Stephanie's family is worried because her Uncle Fred is missing, and everyone thinks that Stephanie should find him. She would rather just focus on the cases that she is assigned but agrees to gather information about her uncle. She is very surprised to find photographs of a dead body in garbage bags in her uncle's desk and as she searches for her uncle, more dead bodies show up.

In the meantime, she captures a "skipper" who is a very angry midget but as strange as it might seem, he ends up moving into Stephanie's apartment with her when his is damaged.

Janet Evanovich has created a strong character base for her Plum novels and in this one, Stephanie's parents and grandmother play key roles in the plot. Her parents like routine and are often disgusted, worried, or upset by the antics of their daughter and her gun-toting grandmother.

Grandma Mazur likes Stephanie's love-interest, Joe Morelli who is a Trenton police officer and is always trying to encourage the relationship even when Stephanie is hesitant. She knows that Morelli never wants to get married, but she cannot help but being attracted to him. He keeps showing up for dinner at the parents' house and when Stephanie is in trouble. So does Stephanie's mentor, Ranger, who is very private and secretive but fascinates everyone because of the fact that he seems to appear and disappear with perfect timing, while never really revealing anything about his personal life or business dealings.

Stephanie is terrorized by Rameriz, a mentally ill fighter who has been threatening and chasing her for some time. She is disgusted by Joyce, her enemy since childhood who Stephanie caught having sex with her husband shortly after their marriage. Joyce is now her bounty hunter competition who also works with Vinnie.

Lulu, the ex-hooker turned filing clerk is also a key player in this novel as she accompanies Stephanie on adventures as companion and co-worker.

"High Five" includes witty dialogue, a plot that twists and turns, hilarious characters and suspense that prevents the reader from putting the book down until you reach the very last page. It is fast-paced, sassy, and filled with situations that capture every single moment of your attention.

I highly recommend "High Five" as well as the other books in Janet Evanovich's Plum series.