Plot or Premise

This is the second book in the series about Stephanie Plum, new bounty hunter. This time around, her first love’s distant cousin, Kenny Mancuso, is supposed to be a relatively easy pickup. Sure, he shot a guy, his best friend, but he’s not all that bright. Except that he’s fresh out of the army and suddenly wealthy.

What I Liked

I liked the expansion of the role by Plum’s grandmother, even though I thought she was over the top in the first one. Here, it’s funny, as she is out of control. She goes to a funeral with a closed coffin for a guy who was shot, and she opens the coffin to see what he looks like. Another dead guy has a strange-looking ring so she touches the hand and the finger comes off. Don’t even ask about her shooting a gun. The love story with Morelli moves along a bit until he screws up (as all men do) and the brakes come on hard. Add in the sub-plot of 24 missing coffins, and the read is a riot. An improvement over the first book, and further expansion of some nice supporting characters.

What I Didn’t Like

There are a few too many guys running around with no real explanation, and the major baddie Kenny does a pretty good job of going wherever he wants to despite a large number of people looking for him (remembering that he wasn’t too bright to begin with).

The Bottom Line

Another great one in the series.