Smokin' Seventeen

This is the latest offering from Janet Evanovich in her Stephanie Plum mystery series. I waited on the hold list for MONTHS at the library for this one. So long, in fact, that her 18th both comes out in November. Guess I better put in my request for that one now.

Stephanie Plum is once again the target of a bad guy. Someone is leaving dead bodies, some even labeled for her, on the bail bonds office construction site. Also, an angry mobster and a former bondee would both like to see her six feet under and are trying their darnedest to put her their. On the relationship side of thing, Stephanie is having trouble choosing between Morelli and Ranger (What else is new?) and her mother keeps trying to set her up with a new guy who quickly becomes relentless. What is Plum to do?

This was just so-so for me. These books are pretty fluffy for the first half and then in the second half I get more into trying to figure out whodunnit. In this one, I figured it out really early on (which never happens) and so I kept hoping I would be proved wrong but it didn't happen. Evanovich has quite a formula for this series and they are all extremely similar, right down to phrasing and character descriptions. It only took me a couple hours to get through so I'm glad I read it but if I have to wait months for the next book, it wouldn't be the worst thing.

Rating: * 1/2

P.S. November 1st?! How did this happen?