71. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (Mystery) 316 p.

I’ve read so much about the Stephanie Plum books that when I got the chance, I had to try the first one. I didn’t love it, but it was worth reading.

Deep in debt and sinking lower every day, Stephanie Plum takes a job at her cousin Vinnie’s bail bond company as a last resort. If she can track down and apprehend former cop and alleged murderer Joe Morelli, she’ll earn a much-needed $10,000. Due to a few incidents in their mutual past, Stephanie isn’t exactly reluctant to see Morelli behind bars.

I usually find the kind of humour Evanovich uses funny, but I didn’t find this book all that amusing. I liked Stephanie’s very believable incompetence as a bounty hunter, and Morelli’s irritation with her getting in his way. She’s an endearing character, one who could easily have been annoying, but she wasn’t. She was stupidly blind; one of the most horrible events in the book was obvious from miles away, and there’s no reason she shouldn’t have seen it coming.

I enjoyed One for the Money well enough. I won’t go out of my way to read the next books in the series, but I’d pick one up to fill a few free hours.

Pages read: 20,535

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, A ~ Z Reading Challenge, Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum