Despite a likable protagonist in Stephanie Plum, One for the Money is an uninspired, stupid mystery told in 5th-grade-level prose. Escapist reading doesn't have to be this simplistic. See Ron Roy's A to Z mystery series for a greater challenge.

Excellent! This series has potential. Great lead and the supporting cast has great potential. Stephanie Plum is funny, stubborn and stronger than she realizes. She seems to have a little Spenser in her but so many do. She stood up to a couple really bad guys. Evanovich kept the mystery until the very end. Looking forward to number two.

This is a Humor Cozy Mystery, and this is the first book in Stephanie Plum series. I have been reading the Stephanie plum series as I find them not in order. I have to say this book is so good, and it shows how Stephanie gets into bounty hunter as will how she meets her two lovers. I have to say this one is not as funny as the other books in this series I have read.

I remember reading it and not liking it when it first came out, but the details were fuzzy. OMG. This book is extremely sexist and degrading toward women. The main character is inept, and people (even people who are supposed to be her friends and family) speak to her as if she is just some T&A. A rapist is constantly stalking her in this book. Her love interest is a man who she lost her virginity to in HS and he wrote about it on the walls of a Sub Shop and a stadium. In this book he also talks down to her, handcuffs her naked to a shower and ogles her, and throws her car keys in a dumpster so she has to go looking for them. He is disgusting. This book is disgusting. I can't believe the series is a bestseller and they are making a movie now and she has written 19 sequels to it. Excuse me while I vomit.

Maybe if I haven't read Charley Davidson's series first, I would have loved this book more. But sad to say, I can't help but compare Stephanie's humor to Charley. It was kinda fun and entertaining but not that much.

The name Janet Evanovich is one that I have seen a lot in the last few months and it stuck me. A few weeks ago, I discovered this series and honestly, I’m wondering now how I didn’t know it existed before. I would’ve definitely started it already if I knew about it. But better late than never.


We have Stephanie Plum, a broke recently unemployed and divorced woman who is in desperate need of a job. There’s a bounty on Joe Morelli so she decides to become a bounty hunter and have him arrested. Her history with Morelli only fuel her resolve to catch him. However, the book soon becomes a mystery and Stephanie is trying to solve it in a way.


The book was short and fun to listen to. But I would’ve judged it better if I had read it. Not to say the narrator wasn’t good because she was. She had a distinctive voice that a woman like Stephanie would probably have. But. The problem here is me and this is not the sort of book I prefer to read in this format. Assuming that it is like Sophie Kinsella’s books but with mystery added to it, I simply thought that the audio would be good enough. Sadly, I didn’t connect with the characters nor “go through” the events with Stephanie. I will read the next book to give it a fairer shot.


Stephanie was entertaining and I liked her. Plum was stumbling in New Jersey trying to catch the criminal while obviously she knows nothing about how it’s done. We see her learn and work on improving her skills. The grandma was another highlight of this book. The chemistry between her and Joe was obvious. Their banter was amusing.


One for Money was a fun light read. I recommend it if you want a break from heavy books and want to enjoy a humorous story with likable characters. Don’t assume you’ll meet a new favorite – you won’t. Don’t think it’s an exceptional mystery either – it’s not. it’s simply, like many said already, a “popcorn book”.

I'm so glad I'm done with this. I spent the entire book, starting from about page 20 with my eyes scrunched, forehead creased and a "WTF" expression smeared on my face. I'm gonna sue Evanovich for the Botox I'll surely need. Here's the thing, this protagonist is DUMB and I mean DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMB. I realize it's 1994 and Dog the Bounty Hunter hasn't materialized, but surely one wouldn't enter the bounty hunting profession without at least a minimal amount of research on what's involved in apprehending fugitives. Stephanie Plum is just so DUMB about this that the entire book I rolled my eyes. So yippee - easy money, I'll go catch a murderer. Hmmmm, I don't know how to do that so I'll just try to be cute. Oops, okay that's not gonna work and I'm so dumb I give myself away right away so my suspect knows I'm after him. Guess I gotta go to bounty hunter school? Oh wait.. do I need like, a gun or something? Or like, mace? Hmmmm, or maybe like, some training? Ya think? This was the dim-witted crap I just could not STAND throughout. Just one thing after the other seemed so fake and forced. Then after most of her money is gone and she's worried about paying rent what does she purchase? A blender!!! Like, OMG, you HAVE to have a blender before rent to make daquiris! More dumb stuff - upon finding white powder, what does the cop do, tastes it. Duh - anyone with an ounce of sense knows that in real law enforcementyou don't do that. It could be anthrax, arsenic, and duh - you don't taste drugs! Onward with more dumb crap - So some rapist psycho boxer is after you and you're so worried and so careful that you come home to your apt and... don't notice a window open? Seriously? You have GOT to be kidding. A guy you kinda know gets blown up. Your reaction? "I didn't have to worry about Morelli finding out about the accident damage." Wow, how thoughtful. It was just such triffle, nonsense stupid girl lit that I was annoyed the entire time and really wanted Stephanie to be killed. Not a good start for me and definitely not going to be a fan of this series (understatement of the year)

A predictable but fun & sometimes funny escape read. Stephanie Plum finds herself in all sorts of predicaments that she can't handle yet somehow makes it out alive with her team of guardian angels. The dialogue, characters and descriptions had me laughing all the way through to the end of book. I will definite put the author, Janet Evanovich, on my easy beach reads list.

Hollywood is in the process of making One for the Money by Janet Evanovich, staring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum. With luck it will be half as good as the book, a box office success, and therefore inducing them to develop the rest of the series. Right now Evanovich is up to Smokin' Seventeen (with a few holiday side specials). Because of the movie, I’m sure more people will be picking up this book, the first in a series, as JE does a hilarious job of blending Stephanie Plum’s character as ‘balls of brass’ woman inside a cute, ditzy amateur who is desperate enough for money to try her hand at bounty hunting. The first assignment for this former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey? Tracking down the man who ‘stole’ her virginity. It is amazing how she can make her heroine both dumb and smart, but JE pulls it off.

I’ve talked with some people who were disappointed because they feel SP is not this shrewd, savvy, experienced investigator. If you are looking for hardboiled female detectives (all of whom have won a Shamus award) try Karen Kijewski’s Kat Colorado series, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone alphabet soup, Sara Paretsky’s Chicagoan V.I. Warshawski, or Linda Barnes’ Carlotta Carlyle, a Boston PI (who is, incidentally, a 6’1’’ redhead! Oh my.).

While I like clever female protagonists, I, personally, can take a little inexperience in my heroines, especially if she is as spunky as SP. Evanovich’s dialogues crackle with many LOL moments and the characters come alive. Yes, beware, there is a little violence towards women, because despite the humor in this book this is a murder mystery.

Check out the actors:

Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum
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Jason O'Mara as Morelli
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Daniel Sunjata as Ranger
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Sherri Sheppard as Lulu
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and Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur
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I read this a long time ago. I enjoyed it and eventually will continue with this series.

Slightly above average. 2.7 stars

Nice and entertaining light read with lots of humor, although a bit outdated by now.

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Relativ anspruchslose, spannend-lustige Unterhaltung, nur mittlerweile ein wenig angestaubt.

This, fittingly, was my introduction to Evanovich. The woman has a way with characters! These people seemed so real, so human, so flawed, so vulnerable, and often so damn funny, I hated to close the book. Luckily, there are many more in the series for me to read.