TRICKY TWENTY-TWO by Janet Evanovich [Book recommendation]

Book obtained from: Library New Books shelf, Audio book

Description: Stephanie Plum, the protagonist, is an inept but very lucky bounty-hunter. She also moonlights for her friend Ranger, a security expert and also bounty-hunter. In this 22nd book in the series, she's searching for a fraternity member who was arrested for beating up the dean of students at Kiltman College, and missed his court date.

Plot: Stephanie is searching for a fraternity brother, who is apparently “the supreme exalted zookeeper” [leader] of an Animal House type fraternity. A secondary story line intersects, with a terrorism angle.  The plot is somewhat improbable, but it does hang together.  One of the things I really like about Janet Evanovich is she can weave together several seemingly-unrelated plots which all come together at the end.

Characterization: The characters are reasonably well developed and had their own personalities.  Stephanie is still inept, extremely lucky, and very funny.  She really hasn't changed over 22 books, which is disappointing to many readers but I still find her funny.  The two main male characters, Morelli and Ranger, don't have much role in this book.  Lula and Stephanie's mother have larger roles, which is a nice change.

Setting: Trenton, New Jersey. The descriptions were good, I was able to picture every scene without it being over-described.

Other: There are several “facts” in this book which are inconsistent with “facts” from previous books [like the description of Ranger's headquarters], which makes me wonder if Evanovich either didn't write this book, or is having memory issues.  They don't detract from the story if you haven't read others in the series, but for fans like me who have read all the books, it did throw me out of the story, which was disappointing.  Some of the scenes are almost identical to scenes from previous books, just a few changes but definitely recognizable.  For example, this is at least the second book which begins with a lady threatening to jump from a high location.

Overall: A good, light mystery. Funny.  The audio book is read by Lorelei King and she's awesome, a unique and appropriate voice for each character.  This book is significantly shorter than the other books in this series.
 
Grade: B-