Sizzling Sixteen

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich (NY: St. Martin's Press, 2010).

Some of the books in this series are not as good as others, but this one is excellent with lots of laughs. Stephanie Plum is taking a breather from Joe Morelli, her on-again off-again flame, but he steps in to raise an eyebrow now and again. Ranger is still around as well, and there's plenty of the usual tension between him and Stephanie.

The plot revolves around Stephanie's attempts to save her employer's life by raising the money he owes on a gambling debt. Stephanie doesn't even like Vinnie that much, but he's family and he's given her a job that she actually enjoys, so she, Lula (former hooker and lackluster file clerk), and Connie (busty office manager) plot and scheme to get the money and rescue Vinnie since no one else will and they want to keep their jobs. It turns out that Vinnie has been scammed and, worse, his scammer has been scammed as well, so there's lots of drama, anger, and explosions. Stephanie's grandmother is up to her usual tricks as well--trying to see bodies at funerals even when the caskets are supposed to remain closed.

Oddly, toward the end, Evanovich seems to be hinting that this might be the last of Stephanie's adventures. Stephanie says she's getting tired of bounty hunting, and she and Morelli appear to be getting back together as the novel closes. Could this be it? I hope not!