I did the previous three in this series in the abridged audiobook version because I couldn't let go of the great Lori Petty reading. I was excited for actually getting a full length story and I don't know how I feel about it now. It was fun and I laughed out loud a few times, but did the other books have this level of absolutely unnecessary fat shaming through out and I just missed it because it was cut in the abridgment? And I loved the character of Sally, a straight drag queen, doing it for the performance art who seems to revel in being pretty and happy with the place he's found, but his treatment by other characters was pretty disgusting. The mystery over all was okay. I figured out the personal line (the threat against Stephanie) very early on, but the other case didn't give us the right clues early on, so there was no way to figure it out until very late in the story, so I don't feel like it was well constructed. Still I'd have given this three stars for being what expect from this kind of book and how much I enjoyed the ludicrous "team" Stephanie takes out with her several times. But I'm knocking off a star for the fat shaming and icky sexual politics. Things that maybe could be given a pass based on the book being almost 20 years old, but I'm not feeling generous.

Another typical fun ride with Jersey Girl Extraordinaire Stephanie Plum. Always a lighthearted romp.

Yay! So glad I read through to this, the fourth book in the Stephanie Plum series. Within the first 30 pages, I knew I would enjoy it more than the previous three (and they themselves weren't bad at all).

For one, the "I brushed my teeth, put on nighties, fed my hamster, got in bed and fell asleep" coverage is greatly scaled back (though, it was a minor gripe before, anyway). Instead we're treated to more action, more plot. I found myself loathe to stop reading for any reason (sleep, work, etc). Always a good sign.

Whereas Lula wasn't all that big of a draw to me in Three To Get Deadly, I loved her here. She was a hoot! I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, usually because of that character. I also liked Sally and his outlandishness (though I suppose in Steph's world, the extraordinary is ordinary). Really, the whole supporting cast was a pleasure to follow.

As for Stephanie and Joe Morelli.....well. They are a riot. I find it kind of cool that their "relationship" has progressed at a slow burn throughout the series thus far. Makes every interaction they have all that more special. ^_^

I also rather enjoyed Stephanie's coming more into her own as a bounty hunter. There are fewer HUGE coincidences, and more instances of Plum taking matters into her own hands...as well as being more cognizant of the danger and risks she faces in her line of work.

In sum: the book was funny, with endearing characters and a compelling mystery. I told myself that I'd take a break after this book (to get a taste of something different), but now I'm not so sure I can keep to that. (Yay! lol)

Another bounty hunter adventure of Stephanie Plum. This novel finally broke the dry spell in Stephanie's sex life. It was funny, sassy, chick and entertaining!

Lula is slowly driving up on my list of kickass female characters.

I had a lot of fun reading this book! This is the second time that I’ve read this series, and I must admit, I am laughing just as hard now as I did the first time around.


Lula and Stephanie Plum’s team work has become something of a force of nature.

“Drop your gun, you punk-ass old coot,” Lula yelled. “you don’t drop your gun, I’m gonna bust a cap up your ass!”

Vinnie, the slime ball cousin that owns and operates the bond agency that they work at, has begun to pop up in the books more often now. His character is a perverted and bluntly alternative sexual freak that boils Stephanie’s blood. His role in this book is to down right piss her off

Vinnie was 5’7, looked like a weasel, thought like a weasel, smelled like a French whore and was once in love with a duck.

Joyce, the Barbie doll on steroids slut that Stephanie caught riding her ex-husband on her dining room table, has been employed by Vinnie, and Stephanie is smoking out her ears. The rival between them is hilarious and brutal. Joyce is a sneaky and sexually manipulative character that clearly has no lines drawn, nothing she wouldn’t do to get her way.

“Yeah, but remember that Joyce person came in real early on Tuesday morning,” Lula said. “And she and Vinnie were locked in his office together for almost an hour, and they were making those weird barnyard sounds.”

Sally! I love his character. Sally is a heterosexual drag queen. His wardrobe would make Joyce’s pale in comparison. With all the corsets and bling bling, his face is famous. Sally and Grandma Mazur share several moments that just crack me up.

“Sally’s a drag queen,” I explained to Grandma.

“No kidding,” Grandma said. “I always wanted to meet a drag queen. I always wanted to know what you do with your dingdong when you wear girl’s clothes.”

Another moment ..

We all stared at his crotch, and Grandma said what Lula and I were thinking.

“I thought that bulge was your dingdong,” Grandma said.

“Jesus,” Sally said, “who do you think I am, Thunder the Wonder Horse? My gun wouldn’t fit in my purse.”

Joe Morelli and Ranger continue to play interesting roles in this book. I won’t discuss the progression, but it’s fun!

I recommend this book to anyone in need of a good laugh…anyone who has a certain someone they want or desperately want to punch! Ha! This book contains quite a bit of adult language and more detailed sexual content. (I’d like to say yay!) I do not recommend this book to anyone that is not an adult.

Happy reading!

I had the *hardest* time getting into this book. I have read the previous 3 Stephanie Plum books - which I thoroughly enjoyed & couldn't stop reading - but this time it took me forever to finish.

I think my main problem with reading it was that I have been super busy & when I haven't been busy I've been tired & this book didn't suck me in like all the other books had.

Evanovich still made me laugh - she has a great sense of humor & an amazing way with words but I'm assuming my lack of interest to finish the book was because I've been worn out.

I am proud to announce that Stephanie finally got some action from Morelli - Woo Hoo! :) (What a lucky girl!!)

I think my next read shouldn't be a Stephanie Plum book. As much as I love Evanovich & she always has me laughing I just think reading a Plum book one right after the other is making them not *as* good to me. I think I'll take a break from the SP series for a month or two & then start up again!

Meg vagyok lepve, de most csak négyes. Imádtam, hogy a sok évvel ezelőtt olvasott korábbi részek azonnal beugrottak, és a feléig nagyon jól szórakoztam. Utána úgy éreztem, hogy ugyanazokat a köröket futjuk, ugyanazokkal a poénokkal. Túl is van írva, a végét meg kissé összecsapta a szerző. Azért persze Mazur nagyi, meg Lula csúcs, és Sally figurája is jól sikerült, Stephanie bénázásáról nem is beszélve. Olvasnám is tovább, ha tudnék eléggé angolul...

My favorite of the series so far… Evanovich is really nailing down these characters and I am finally starting to get attached!! Funny, action packed with a quirky cast of characters!!

Okay, I’ll admit it. Stephanie Plum is my secret vice. When I’m feeling frustrated or depressed, when I have writer’s block or I’m dealing with the boss from hell, nothing will cheer me up like a one of Janet Evanovich’s goofy and brilliant comic mysteries.

In case you’ve never met Stephanie, she’s a cute, disaster-prone Italian-Hungarian young woman, born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, who gave up her job in lingerie sales to work for her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie as a bounty hunter. When suspects who are awaiting trial skip bail, it’s her job to track the them down and bring them in, thereby earning a share of the bail money. Stephanie has a gun (which she keeps in her cookie jar), a hamster (named Rex), an BBW in-your-face ex-hooker friend (named Lulu), a weakness for donuts (which she consumes by the box), a live-wire grandmother (who loves attending funerals), and two sexy guys who find her hot but who’ll never, ever commit: snarky cop Joe Morelli, to whom she lost her virginity behind the counter in an ice cream store, and suave and mysterious fellow bounty hunter Ranger.

The plots in the Stephanie Plum books tend to be delightfully convoluted. Four to Score is no exception. Stephanie’s hired to find an ex-waitress who’s accused of stealing her sleazy boyfriend’s car. Maxine has disappeared, though, and it’s clear that someone else is looking for her – someone who’s murdering her co-workers, scalping her mother, and cutting off the fingers of her friends. Meanwhile, coded clues keep showing up in unpleasant places, leading Stephanie on a gruesome scavenger hunt. Stephanie enlists the help of six-foot-five transvestite rock star Sally Sweet, who’s a whiz with ciphers, only to have her car and her apartment firebombed by Sweet’s wanna-be boyfriend.

This is just the start. However, the mystery isn’t really the point in a Stephanie Plum novel (even though the plot in this one was very neatly executed). One reads these books for the characters, the dialogue, the absurd situations and the humor. Oh, and the sexual innuendo. There’s nothing explicit about these tales but there’s a lot of delicious lust simmering below the surface. In this particular installment, Stephanie and Joe actually do the deed (or so we’re told). When Joe’s witch of an Italian grandmother gives Stephanie the Evil Eye and tells her she’s pregnant, that’s close to the last straw. But this is a Stephanie Plum novel, so of course there’s more frantic hilarity to come.

Apparently there are now twenty-seven books in the Stephanie Plum series (which is a bit scary). I’ve read about a third of them. You’d think that the offbeat characters and bizarre situations would get old, but somehow Ms. Evanovich keeps it fresh. Still, this early installment was one of the best I’ve read.

It’s pretty difficult to capture the tone of a Stephanie Plum novel in an ordinary review, so I’ll leave you with a snippet from Four to Score to enjoy.

“Uh oh,” Morelli said.

“What uh oh?”

“You have that look … like you’re redesigning my kitchen.”

“You don’t have a cookie jar.”

Morelli looked at me like I was from Mars. “That’s what you were thinking?”

“Well, yeah.”

Morelli considered that for a moment. “I’ve never actually seen the purpose for a cookie jar,” he said finally. “I open the box. I eat the cookies. I throw the box away.”

“Yes, but a cookie jar makes a kitchen homey.”

I got another one of those Mars looks.

“I keep my gun in my cookie jar,” I said by way of further explanation.

“Honey, a man can’t keep his gun in a cookie jar. It just isn’t done.”

Looking for a hit of pure entertainment? Try Stephanie Plum.

Oh, a new character! Sally, a 6'8" transvestite. Just another member of Stephanie's gang and they all gel. Love it!

Entertaining mystery listening

2.5 stars rounded up. I just didn't connect with this character or the plot. I'm aware that there are many positive reviews (why I selected it in the first place), but I simply didn't find the story all that enjoyable. The humor and Stephanie Plum's witticisms seemed forced, and the relationship between her and Morrelli, the hunky cop, just made things worse. Now I know.