Another dose of mayhem and mystery with Plum

I’ll be the first to admit that all of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels follow a similar plot formula, but I still get a kick out of them.

In “Turbo Twenty-Three,” Stephanie Plum is still struggling to make ends meet working for her cousin, Vinnie, as a bounty hunter. With the questionable help of former ‘ho Lula, she manages to get into some strange situations while chasing FTAs.

Her love life hasn’t changed. Neither Morelli or Ranger are willing to make a commitment. Stephanie really isn’t ready either.

One night, Stephanie and Lula are hoping to capture hijacker Larry Virgil when things go awry. Larry spots them and steals Lula’s precious Firebird. She gives chase using the Bogart Ice Cream truck he’d just stolen. After the inevitable crash, the cops open doors and out rolls a dead body covered in chocolate and nuts.

It’s Arnold Zigler, head of Bogart’s human resources.

Almost on cue, Ranger shows up. His Rangeman Security Co. has been hired by Harry Bogart to find out who has been sabotaging their ice cream factory. They’ve experienced tainted ice cream, broken freezers and other problems, but Zigler’s death has him terrified.

Bogart insists that his arch rival and cousin, Mo Morris, is behind the treachery, but Ranger has his doubts so he has Stephanie work in the factory to gather information. She meets a decent kid working the loading dock, the very unhappy Bogart Ice Cream Clown, and inventory manager Gus, but learns nothing about the sabotage.

Next, Ranger gets her into Mo Morris’s factory with the same results. The next day, Gus is found dead in the freezer at Bogart’s. This way more serious than an industry rivalry so Ranger digs deeper into everyone associated with Bogart. That’s when a man she is sure is the Bogart Clown breaks into her apartment and nearly kills her.

As the case finally begins to come together, Ranger learns that Bogart’s problems began after Kwan Soon was hired to make things more efficient, but the operations started to fail.

When Bogart’s wife takes a sudden vacation to Disney World, and Harry disappears, Ranger knows where to find him. Someone has Harry Bogart running scared.

In no time. Ranger and Stephanie board a private jet and head for Disney World. She’s thrilled, but the theme park doesn’t really suit Ranger’s personality. He does learn that Kwan Soon is behind the sabotage and deaths in order to force Bogart to ship drugs in his ice cream cups. Now Ranger has to find Soon and put him out of business.

Meanwhile, Stephanie and Lula manage to bring in a few FTA’s on their own, but others require a little help from Ranger or his men. Nothing in Stephanie’s life is simple or straightforward.

Ever the entrepreneur, Lula has come up with a “fool proof” idea for a reality show based on Naked and Afraid. Set in Trenton, it will star Lula and Randy Briggs. Briggs is a “little person” with a big attitude who doesn’t get along with anyone, but thinks the idea could make him rich. Just the thought of Briggs and Lula being naked creeps Stephanie out, but she can’t imagine them being filmed roaming Trenton at night.

Things come to an unexpected climax when Stephanie tries to apprehend the “clown,” but is hit by a car. She wakes up strapped to a cold mortuary slab. Kwan Soon tells her she’ll soon die in the cold and be out of his hair for good, but before she succumbs to the cold, Lula and Morelli arrive.

Soon and his gang are arrested and Stephanie survives with a broken leg. Never fear, she’ll be healed and ready for more misadventures in the next book.

AT A GLANCE
BOOK:
“Turbo Twenty-three”
AUTHOR: Janet Evanovich
PUBLISHER: Bantam
PUBLISHED: Nov. 15, 2016
PAGES: 344

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