Hot Six (2008)

In Hot Six, Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum mystery — the first to hit No. 1 on the hardcover fiction best-seller list — the bounty hunter gets caught up in a bizarre series of murders in her hometown of Trenton, N.J., where little old ladies show off their Glocks and Mafia activities seem more like disorganized crime. The usual suspects are back: Stephanie's sidekick, Lula, a bail bonds clerk who's always up for a fun evening of breaking and entering in the name of preserving law and order; Stephanie's commitment-challenged cop boyfriend, Morelli; and her ever-loyal hamster, Rex. Outrageous characters are the author's speciality, and she adds a few more to her gallery, including Stephanie's hilarious grandmother, who's just bought a stolen red Corvette with the hope of replicating her granddaughter's life of ''fast cars, fast men, fast food.'' Although the so-called plot eventually loses all credibility, a romantic triangle adds some tantalizing allure, and the humor is nonstop. B+