To the Nines (Stephanie Plum Series #9) Book

You know how it is when you are reading a "mystery" and you know who the bad guy is the moment you meet them, but the good guys can't see it - ever?! It's so frustrating, and frankly, I've had my moments of wondering about the intelligence level of all of these people.. It was so freaking obvious!! Maybe it's the New Jersey water or something.

If you're born in Jersey, you know how to rise to a challenge. Bring on the Mob. Bring on bad air. Bring on taxes and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and macaroni at every meal. Nothing defeats us in Jersey.

Except for the most obvious serial killer in Jersey. I mean, this guy practically yelled "It's ME!" at the top of his lungs and they still didn't get it. Maybe it's all the macaroni. All those carbs will make you lethargic.


Too bad they don't help you understand how to get a clue!

So, Stephanie has to find a guy who skipped out on his bond, along with kidnapping a little dog. She also seems to have a serial killer fixated on her.

The good news is that this case takes her, Lula, and Connie to Las Vegas. Lula in Las Vegas is something I want to experience. She's good enough just being in Jersey. And, she's on a protein diet. Lula on a protein diet is really fun!

"This is the best diet. I can eat things on this diet that I haven't been able to eat in years."

"Like what?"

"Like bacon."

"You always eat bacon."

"Yeah, but I feel guilty. It's the guilt that puts the weight on."

Sure, that's what does it. The guilt.

Lula's protein diet means she walks around with meat in her purse. She's a dog's best friend these days.


Lula's the alpha of the pack

With the serial killer stalking Stephanie, she has both Morelli and Ranger trying to keep her safe. Ranger has his men doing 24 hour bodyguard duty, but they keep meeting with unfortunate accidents. Not serial killer accidents - Stephanie accidents.

I went outside to call Ranger.

"About Cal..." I said. "He's sort of out of commission."

"Used to be you destroyed my cars," Ranger said.

"Yeah, those were the good old days..."

Stephanie's developed quite the reputation.

It was my mother. "I heard you shot someone," she said. "You've got to stop shooting people. Elaine Minardi's daughter never shoots anyone. Lucille Rice's daughter never shoots anyone. Why do I have to be the one to have a daughter who shoots people?"

I think Stephanie is going to give her mom a coronary before this series is over. The poor woman just wants a daughter who works at the button factory and marries a nice Italian man. Is that asking too much?

So, this book was more fun than the last one and has all of the crazy antics, awesome side characters, and insane family stuff that I've come to expect from the series. I'm moving on to book 10 and I think I am starting to get a New Jersey accent at this point. I've also been thinking my hair is a bit too flat. Needs some poofing up!