Two for the Dough

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-two-for-dough-stephanie....

What happens when you are offered $10000 to search for coffins? Well you take it, duh! This is exactly what happens to our great Plum in the second installment of the Stephanie Plum series, Two for the Dough. Plum is still getting the hang of the bounty hunting thing searching for a man who shot a friend of his. But by chance, due to crazy Grandma Mazur’s obsession with funerals, Plum is offered a job to find 24 missing coffins. But it comes to Plum’s attention that the man she was already looking for might be involved with the coffins and he just happens to be related to Joe Morelli, fellow cop and Plum’s old fling.

I actually show more think I like this book more than the first one. I ended up with the abridged version yet again which means I missed plenty but the basics. Still doesn’t mean this was any less amazing. It was funnier and the plot was a little more action packed and fast paced. Evanovich did such a great job, yet again. Plum is still unlearned, but she is getting things done with help from friends and non-friends. I like that even though Plum seems to attract trouble, she pulls through things like you wouldn’t believe. I love that she isn’t an absolute expert at it yet. It is nice to follow her through her experience. The way she goes about things is a bit unconventional, but she gets things done.

As much as I love Plum though; Grandma Mazur stole the show for me in this book. Even when a scene is supposed to be sad or awful even, the things she does and say had me in tears from laughing so hard. For instance, as I mentioned, she has a thing for going to funerals. She follows the obituaries in the newspapers like no one’s business. It is her weird form of entertainment. Now as you can guess there are rules at these viewings, but she always manages to break them. For example, there was a closed casket viewing of a man who was shot, but Grandma Mazur wanted to see the bullet holes. So she just happened to trip on the rug, hit the lid of the coffin and it just happened to pop open. Then there was the scene with the mailed penis. Don’t even get me started on the Jewish penis. I know this is weird, but trust me, it was funny. Grandma Mazur is a relentless, conniving, gun-slinging old lady. And you are going to love her for it.

The bad guy Kenny was creepy as hell and I couldn’t believe he was related to Joe. I think Plum handled him well even though I think was silly trying to take him down on her own. But she had help in some unlikely places. I like Joe sometimes, but like Plum, you can’t get over the feeling he always has an agenda. He always seems to know where Plum is on her stakeouts, what she is doing. When she found out how, I love the way she took her revenge. Worst way for any man, funny as hell to any woman.

Overall, don’t miss this book. Actually, don’t miss this series. Like I said, this was better than One for the Money which I completely loved. We get to know more of our characters. We get more action. We get more laughs. Also anything that involves an old lady pulling a gun out of her purse during a chase is pure gold as far as I am concerned. show less

It was an enjoyable reading. Sometimes I had to laugh out loud on the one hand Stephanie would like to be a hero and is stomping straight into a mess on the other hand she is acting like a coward and has to take her grandma with her as a kind of protection. Unfortunately she abandons her granny into dangerous situations, whereas the old lady seems to enjoy those situations and can be really tough. Nevertheless without the help of her 'might to be lover' she wouldn't be able to solve the case and couldn't get out of some delicate situations.

Why did I wait so long to start reading this series? My husband doesn't know what to think when I'm reading, I'm scared one minute and laughing so hard that I nearly pee my pants.

Part of me thinks I am Stephanie Plum. I'm pretty clumsy and somewhat incompetent, especially if I was a bounty hunter. It's so easy to see myself in this character. Morelli and Ranger are both hot and dangerous - I'm leaning toward Ranger being her love interest...he reminds me a lot of my husband. Always there in the background watching and protecting.

And while I'm not from Jersey and we in the mid-west don't have the same fascination with funerals, I could appreciate Grandma Mazur and her friends. Hysterical.

I'm devouring this series and I'm several book show more reviews behind.

In a nutshell, slimy undertaker, missing coffins, arms dealers, bad guys and of course Stephanie is in the middle of things being blown up, shot up and driving the 53 Buick. show less

This is one of those times where I remembered liking a book more the first time I read it. Re-reading it, I found I'm just not a big Evanovich fan. She has a style of cutesy, short and abbreviated writing style that doesn't suit me. I will say at least it's easy to read and quick to breeze through.

There IS genuine humor that works - I laughed out loud a few times - but some of it comes off as forced and a little contrived. Stephanie is motivated by the greed of success, but I don't see much else about her as a realistic character. Morelli is probably the best part, as he's amusing too but his dialogue is well constructed (the scene with Ranger and the truck was probably the best part of the book.) I know many love the Grandmother, and show more she is cute, but she's also stereotypical - as is the mother and father.

These books are fun - the plots are creative enough for this type, the humor is real, the writing easy to digest, characters enjoyable to a point....but it doesn't have a deep core or that much substance other than some predictable staples. show less

I can’t believe a ditzier bondsperson could ever exist than Stephanie Plum. She’s off on another attempt to earn her living hunting down bail jumpers in and around the neighborhood she grew up in. She knows many of her clients, knows they are really bad news, and goes after them as only she can.

This time, a cousin of her mentor and nemesis Joe Morelli has skipped his court date after shooting his friend in the face. Naturally, Joe wants him, too, for information on a gun-running case he’s working. Stephanie tries to team up with the guy she refuses to trust and cannot get off her mind. You can guess how that goes.

Add in the bad guy’s high school bestie and current funeral parlor operator who hires Stephanie to find missing show more caskets. Stephanie stumbles through her misadventure, avoiding harm by sheer luck and finding her man in spite of herself.

Grandma Mazur is back to help out. And maybe help Stephanie finally land a man, something that would thrill Stephanie’s mother to no end.

The mystery and the chase in these stories always seem to play second to Stephanie’s family, relationships, and life style. It is a strategy that works beautifully to showcase the humor found between the book’s covers. show less

This is the second book in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. In this one, neophyte bounty hunter Plum goes after a guy accused of kneecapping his buddy and takes a side job involving tracking down some missing coffins. Needless to say, it all gets more dangerous than anticipated.

I think I liked this one a little bit more than the first one. Partly that may be because I knew exactly what to expect from it going in, but it also had some very dark humor that actually made me laugh in places, which One for the Money didn't so much. Still, like the first one, this can only be described as "brain candy." And, honestly, it's not even really high-quality brain candy. It's like the literary equivalent of Circus Peanuts. But, god help me, I can show more eat a whole bag of those things. show less

Second in the series - even better I thought. Stephanie picks up her 'bounty huntering' a notch and starts to get the hang of the gig. Still bumbling, but at least she's starting to take the job more seriously. Makes her more relatable, I think.Best part: Grandma Mazur. She's a kick in the pants, and Stephanie's the only one who seems to understand her grandma.The whole Italian/Jersey scene is hilariously funny - as is the fascination with funerals and viewings. Still working on figuring out Morelli - wish Stephanie would share a little more details about what she thinks of the guy.