To the Nines by Janet Evanovich

Back for the ninth time, Stephanie Plum is let loose on a recalcitrant bail-skipper and finds herself up against some sinister killers in a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Las Vegas Strip.

Another Airbnb beach read. I don't think I've ever read Evanovich before, and was pleasantly surprised. Although this is #9 in the Stephanie Plum series, you can definitely hop in without prior knowledge and still enjoy.

The pros: A more diverse cast than is typical for these types of novels, which felt both true to the New Jersey setting and refreshing. Evanovich has a good sense of humor, so the novel doesn't take itself too seriously, either, which is always a plus. Finally, the heroine gets to enjoy two different love interests with no pressure to make a choice at the novel's end. Good for her!

The cons: A weird amount of fat phobia, actually? Which caught me by surprise. There are also moments when character diversity gets flattened into caricature, especially at the intersection of race/size/past history of sex work in ways that I don't think would have been funny when this was written, and certainly aren't funny now. Also, while Stephanie is a great protagonist in many ways, she is actually written as too smart to have it be fully believable that she missed the plot twist that the reader can clearly see coming at least as early as halfway through.

So, I don't feel a need to dip my toes in these waters again, but don't regret that I did.

What's not to love?
I did figure out the
killer by page 83,
but with Grandma Mazer
and Lula and Ranger
and their various schemes,
I was still tearing through
the pages.

There's no such thing as a bad Stephanie Plum book (at least this far in the series, with the possible exception of [b:Visions of Sugar Plums 6420 Visions of Sugar Plums (Stephanie Plum, #8.5) Janet Evanovich http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311983756s/6420.jpg 812053]), but there have been a few that were less-good. This is not one of them, possibly the best since [b:One for the Money 6853 One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1) Janet Evanovich http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316730230s/6853.jpg 1486401].There's real tension here, and plenty of genuine laughs (including the grossest visual I've read in months). Some of the long-term story lines get some actual advancement as well (finally!). There should be more to say, but I can't think of it. This is Evanovich at her best–which is a heckuva lot of fun.