As I work my way through the Stephanie Plum books, it makes me question whether I would ever want to visit New Jersey. They are all guns, firebombs and mobsters ending in at least one or two cars getting blown up along the way. Takedown Twenty is the next book in the Stephanie Plum series and is nearing the end of available books.
Uncle Sunny has gone missing in Trenton and it just so happens that he is related to half of the Burg, including Morelli. In fact, he is Morelli’s Godfather. Unfortunately he failed to appear in court and Stephanie is after him. In turn, that means Stephanie is not liked by most of the burg, including Grandma Bella. Morelli doesn’t hold it against her, he knows she is doing her job and lets her go about her business.
At the same time, Stephanie is asked to do a personal (yet professional) favor by Ranger and help investigate a recent string of murders involving women being left in dumpsters. Stephanie works to help Ranger with the help of Grandma she learns about each of the older women who were killed. The one key linking them together is a Sunflower that has been left for them the day they were murdered.
With the help of Grandma, Stephanie is on a mission to kill two birds with one stone as all of the gossip centers around Uncle Sunny & the seniors at the senior center dish out their weekly BINGO gossip. Stephanie also wins a crock pot that makes her question what direction her life is going.
Takedown Twenty is full of twists and turns in Stephanie and Morelli’s personal relationship as well. With Bella out to get her, Stephanie is careful to not step on toes but decides she is ready for commitment with Morelli, until she gets to his house to tell him. The usual back and forth occurs, but overall they start to lean in a positive direction.
I’m getting kind of sad that I’m almost out of Stephanie Plum books. Granted, I really do need a break from them. They are such an easy read and very easy to pick up and put down without getting too confused.
Grandma Bella is “scary” but also becoming another one of my favorite characters, especially after this book where she breaks out her lucky Mets hat and joins in the party at Morelli’s. As much as everyone wants to be scared of her, I could see her being a sweet old lady somewhere along the line in these books.
I really liked how Takedown Twenty is showing Stephanie to realize that she needs to figure out her life. I feel like at some point the Ranger/Morelli back and forth needs to end or at least lean in one direction. It’s a lot of fun, but after twenty books it’s nice to see it sort of settling down a little bit… but not too much.
With only one book left to go, I probably should start planning for what to read next. What are your thoughts? What are some other good, yet easy, reads you’ve found?