Title: Turbo Twenty-Three

Author: Janet Evanovich

Turbo Twenty-Three is part of the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series. I have been a fan of this series for the past 5 years, but the series is much older than that.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series let me give you a brief overview of what these books are about.  Stephanie Plum is a former underwear salesman who is desperately in need of a job. Her cousin Vinney is in need of a bounty hunter to help bring in people who have skipped bail. Stephanie, who is in no way qualified, takes the job. Each book follows her through her hilarious antics to bring in these criminals with her sidekick Lula (a former prostitute), her on-again and off-again boyfriend Joe Morelli, and Ranger (her mentor and occasional employer/bodyguard/love interest).

I have read a lot of different reviews over this series over the years, and the biggest complaint I have heard is that it seems like each book is just a copy of the previous one. Each book in the series has the same characters, similar plot lines, same jokes, etc. For me personally, this is one of the reasons why I like this series so much. I consider books in this series to be ‘easy reads’.  Sometimes I want to read books that I am familiar with. I know the characters. I know that there will be a happy ending. I know that Stephanie is going to be going back and forth between her love for Morelli and her lust for Ranger. I know that I am going to end up laughing out loud at some of Lula’s antics.

I find it comforting. It’s like coming home to old family and friends.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  I always enjoy reading Stephanie Plum books because I find the characters so relatable. Stephanie doesn’t try to act all big and bad just because she is a bounty hunter. She admits to her faults and struggles with things that I feel like most females struggle with on a day to day basis. How is she going to pay her bills? Dealing with her mother and (hilarious) grandmother. Making sure she does her laundry and goes grocery shopping between catching the bad guys.

In this book Stephanie finds herself at the scene of the crime when a frozen man falls out of a dairy truck covered in chocolate and peanuts. Ranger has Stephanie go undercover at the ice-cream factory to see if she can get any clues about who would have wanted to hurt the frozen man. While working this job Stephanie has to deal with her grandma who is newly dating and Lula who is trying to make her own reality show “Naked and Afraid in Trenton”.

I really liked this book because we got to see a lot of Ranger in it; who is one of my favorite characters. The only downside is that we didn’t get to see a lot of Morelli. As always, Lula is her delightful self and is able to bring the comedy to normally very serious situations. The interactions between her and Randy Briggs while trying to film “Naked and Afraid” are hilarious and had me laughing out loud while reading at 2 o’clock in the morning.

I would recommend this book for anyone who normally likes to read mysteries/crime novels who isn’t afraid of a good laugh. This book has a little bit of everything for everyone. There is romance, comedy, crime, and mystery.