Two for the Dough, published in 1996

1996 in literature

The year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...

, is the second novel by Janet Evanovich

Janet Evanovich

Janet Evanovich is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to...

 featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum

Stephanie Plum

Stephanie Plum is a fictional character and the protagonist in a series of novels written by Janet Evanovich. She is a spunky combination of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, and - although a female bounty hunter - is the opposite of Domino Harvey...

. Like others in the Stephanie Plum series, Two For the Dough was a best-seller, spending 36 weeks on the Top 150 list.

Plot introduction

Stephanie Plum is still an inexperienced bounty hunter, so her boss and cousin Vinnie gives her an easy case: apprehend local boy Kenny Mancuso, accused of shooting his best friend in the knee and then jumping bail. Because Kenny is the blacksheep cousin of vice cop Joe Morelli, Morelli is on Kenny's trail as well.

Plot summary

While Stephanie is looking for Kenny, his friend is fatally shot in the head, which complicates the case. Lula, the hooker introduced in the previous book, One For the Money

One For the Money (novel)

One For the Money is the first novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was published in 1994 in the United States and in 1995 in Great Britain...

, gets a job as a file clerk at Vinnie's Bail Bonds company, but decides that being Stephanie's sidekick is more interesting than filing.

Stephanie talks to Spiro Stiva, the son of the owner of the local funeral home and a childhood friend of Mancuso. Stiva asks Stephanie to help him find the 24 bargain basement caskets that have mysteriously gone missing...along with various body parts.

As the book continues, Stephanie begins finding embalmed body parts in her apartment along with threatening notes. Then, a number of weapons go missing from a military installation. Eventually, Stephanie and Grandma Mazur find themselves locked in the basement of Stiva's Funeral Home and end up setting the place on fire.

Car Death

Stephanie's Jeep Wrangler, Sahara model, stolen outside of the Eternal Slumber funeral home on Stark Street, and most likely wound up in a chop shop.

Trivia

This book marks the introduction of the late Uncle Sandor's indestructible '53 Buick. It is a running joke in the series that Stephanie quickly destroys every car she owns, but the Buick has emerged unscathed as of Sizzlin' Sixteen.