Book Review: Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

Title: Three to Get Deadly
Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First line: It was January in Trenton.

Three to Get Deadly is the third book in Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Stephanie isn’t thrilled with her latest FTA – “failure to appear.” Her cousin Vinny has given her the assignment of bringing in Moses Bedemeir, otherwise known as Uncle Mo, The Burg’s favorite candy salesman. He was arrested for “carrying concealed” – which in Trenton is barely a crime. Stephanie takes the case, even though she knows it will make her extremely unpopular with residents of The Burg.

What she assumes to be a quick trace turns out to be a complicated case, in which dead drug dealers seem to turn up everywhere Stephanie turns. This doesn’t endear her to her old flame, vice cop Joe Morelli, who has reasons of his own to be interested in Uncle Mo – and Stephanie.

These books were really made to be experienced on audiobook. With a cast of characters that includes the likes of Grandma Mazur, Ranger, Lula, Vinny, and the always hot Joe Morelli, these books are hilarious. The reader, C.J. Critt, does a fantastic job of doing all the voices, making you see each character in your head as you’re listening. I drive my kids nuts when I listen to these books, because I’m continually laughing out loud, but unable to tell them at what, because more often than not, it’s one of Lula’s more colorful, profanity-laced exclamations that has me giggling. These books are the perfect light reads (or listens) to break up my Outlander series marathon. I’m planning to listen to Four to Score before I move on to Drums in Autumn.