Tricky Twenty-Two

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich possibly has the best cast of supporting characters of any series around.  Stephanie is no slouch but the gang that surrounds her is the wildest.

In this latest book of the series, Stephanie is still working for her cousin Vinny the bail bondsman who works for his father in law in the mob.  Her job is to find the people who fail to appear at court costing Vinny (and the mob) their money unless they are found.  Stephanie must find a college student who beat up the dean and is now on the run.  She could go it alone but since the files are all online now, the file clerk Lula is her assistant.  

Lula is a "big" beautiful former 'ho.  Her obsessions include shoes and food.  When Lula leave Stephanie literally holding the lunch bag, everyone knows there must be trouble.  Later, when a group of frat brothers lock geese in Stephanie's car, Lula releases them only to be rewarded by being pooped on.  Not to worry this just gives her a chance to change her hair color from lavender to bright yellow.  Lula is laugh out loud hysterical and my favorite character.  If I ever meet a 'ho, I hope she is just like Lula.

Another great character is Grandma Mazur.  Since her husband died, she lives with Stephanie's parents,  Her antics (especially with guns) has driven Stephanie's mother to drinking and Stephanie's father to mumbling.  Grandma Mazur is not ready for a retirement home.  She still enjoys a night on the town especially if it includes a wake or a funeral.  In this book, the widow is bored with her husband's wake so she bolts leaving Grandma Mazur enthusiastically greeting the mourners.

Finally, the men in Stephanie's life are hot.  Ranger a sexy bondsman turned security expert is eager to keep an eye on Stephanie and to add extra protection.  Not to be outdone, Joe a Trenton cop provides a relatively normal love life. Well, usually, sometimes....oh ok it is hot too!

I really don't care how the plot progresses.  I simply want to see what Lula and Stephanie get into and how Ranger and Joe get them out of trouble.  All this goes with Grandma Mazur running in and out and Stephanie's parents nearly blinding themselves with eye rolls.

I can't wait for Twenty-three.