Book 34: One for the Money

One for the Money
Janet Evanovich

This book is a nice, quick little read and makes an excellent foil to, say, the more heavy style of James Joyce. Though it is not in any sense heavy or even especially brilliant, One for the Money is fun and delivers a fresh take on the somewhat formulaic mystery genre. Though its plot is interesting and unique enough to deserve attention, it is main character Stephanie Plum who drives the book and makes it enjoyable. Stephanie's narration is continually excellent and throws in perfectly timed humorous barbs to lighten the mood. These side jokes, while disrupting serious moments in the text, are far from disruptive and make the book a fun experience despite its occasionally heavy subject matter. Stephanie is relentlessly endearing and her continual hopeless incompetence never even borders on infuriating. Instead, most likely because she actively narrates and does so with a sweet and immediately likable voice, Stephanie is a comedic heroine who laughs right beside the reader at her multiple failures and mistakes.

Unfortunately, the book is not all simply fun and games. A major subplot of the narrative involves stalking and near-rape, a subject that I feel is a bit too heavy for this kind of light treatment. Evanovich is being remarkably true to the fact that Stephanie is a woman and faces additional dangers because of her gender, but the specific treatment of the story arc is dominated by Stephanie's desire to be strong in the eyes of her peers and future bounties and her subsequent reluctance to bring the offenses against her to light. Additionally, Stephanie is unable to hung Joe Morelli without becoming attracted to him, a side story that seems patronizing. So much of this becomes a weight dragging down the usually lighthearted tone of the narration. There isn't really a sense of tonal balance. These are not the only flaws of the action, either; while mysteries are notable for their convoluted plot twists, often accumulating within the final ten pages or so of the work, this one crams far too much into its final pages. There are sufficient twists to keep the story interesting, but the final angle gets far too sharp far too quickly for comprehension, feeling pushy and somewhat unrealistic, alluding to a minor conversation too late in the book to be a recuring theme or true hidden clue. Despite a lack of refinement in the genre and its somewhat lighthearted treatment of the very serious subjects of rape and harassment, One for the Money is a promising start to the Stephanie Plum series and one could do far worse for a quick, mostly light, summer read.

Grade: B+