One for the money Book

I. LOVE. THESE. BOOKS. SERIOUSLY. I am obsessed with this series. And you know when your brain keeps telling you that this is ridiculous, there must be a hundred books that are written better, or a better mystery, or whatever? Well, I don't care!!! This series is my ultimate guilty pleasure. I was hooked with the first one and have read the entire series thus far - including all the stupid mini books in-between. Now, those mini books I could do without and they always feel like an attempt to make sure they even got the loose change in my pockets, but I still get them anyway because it is like a fix until I can get the real thing. So what is so great about them? Stephanie - hilarious. I laugh out loud (a rarity for me when reading a book) constantly when reading these books. I love the murder mysteries which are often at least a step above the formula ones. I love the triangle between Ranger and Morelli and Stephanie. That is something that often gets old for me in other books or TV shows, etc. but for some reason, it just doesn't get old here for me. 13 books in and I am still captivated by the tension between the three. I love the setting - being from CT and living in NY and knowing people from Jersey - she nails that dead on! I mean, an exaggeration of it but still.... And the quirky characters. I love that. I like books that the people are really odd and funny. But it still has to be believable - I hate odd just for the sake of odd - like, hey look at me - I'm wacky - wocka wocka!! But these characters are so outrageous and I still find myself being able to believe it and go along with the book. Do things get repetitive? Sure, I mean, she blows up a car in every single book. But for me, that makes it all the more funny - I can't help it, I laugh every single time. I love how she is so clumsy and crazy and manages to get things done in spite of herself. I love how she is always battling her weight - that constant struggle between carrots and carrot cake! I love her family, the situations she gets in, her friends, her grandmother.... Really, did I mention I love these books? I can't explain it, but I am compulsive about buying the next one as soon as it comes out in paperback and I have kept the entire set and read it through again a few times. I feel that the story just gets better and better as you know the characters more and she doesn't have to spend time introducing them, she can just get on to the chaos. I tried to talk my mom into reading these books and she just couldn't get past the introduction to Morelli (which IS pretty odd - basically two kids experimenting - I just ignore it and skipped beyond it and was able to enjoy the rest of it) and all - I think she was a little too uptight (sorry mom!) to enjoy the whole feel of the series. If I had to sum up the series, I think it would have to be Funny, fast and loose!