Stephanie Plum is slowly learning the bounty hunter trade but she's got a long road to haul before she'll be ready to tackle the really mean dudes.In the meantime, "Two for the Dough" opens with Stephanie looking to collar Kenny Mancuso, a bail jumper who's almost a family member, black sheep cousin to her erstwhile policeman boyfriend, Joe Morelli. When Mancuso's trail leads to Spiro Stiva's funeral parlour, Stephanie is surprised to learn that Stiva wants to hire her for his own case - finding 24 bargain basement caskets that have gone missing from a rental garage lock-up! When Stephanie discovers notes from Mancuso threatening her unless she starts to mind her own business and Stiva also wants to hire her as a $100 a day bodyguard to protect him from Mancuso as well, she knows the case runs much deeper than she first imagined.
For those that have read Stephanie Plum's debut in "One for the Money", it will come as no surprise to learn that the mystery is pretty thin gruel and the ultimate solution is easily plumbed (ouch!) by any attentive reader. The mystery, of course, is only the context in which Evanovich loving portrays the comedic antics of Stephanie Plum and Grandma Mazur, the frankly hilarious ethnic stereotypes of New York Italian family relationships, the off-the-wall one liners of Stephanie's long-suffering father, and the stumbling but burgeoning romantic relationship between Plum and Morelli.
Enjoyable lightweight reading easily dashed off in an afternoon on the beach! The thing that will probably slow you down is re-reading passages aloud to the people around you so you can explain what was making you laugh!
Paul Weiss
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