Dirty Thirty - Review

Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, # 30)

By: Janet Evanovich

Publication: October 31, 2023 by Atria Books

336 pages

Genre: Adult, Humor, Mystery

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--Stephanie Plum, Trenton’s hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered a freelance assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day.

With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, Stephanie is taking care of Bob, Morelli’s giant orange dog who will devour anything, from Stephanie’s stray donuts to the upholstery in her car. Morelli’s absence also means the inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie’s life when things inevitably go sideways. And he seems determined to stay there.

To complicate matters, her best friend Lula is convinced she is being stalked by a mythological demon hell-bent on relieving her of her wardrobe. An overnight stakeout with Stephanie’s mother and Grandma Mazur reveals three generations of women with nerves of steel and driving skills worthy of NASCAR champions.

As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It’s a good thing Stephanie isn’t afraid of getting a little dirty, too.

I always say that Stephanie Plum books aren't ones that I take too seriously. They're fun, filler books for me. The overall storyline progresses so slowly that not much has happened in the overall arc over the last several releases. But the gists of the events stay the same. 

Morelli is out of town testifying on a case, so Stephanie is babysitting Bob, Morelli's dog. But Morelli being missing means this book has much more of Ranger on the page. He's helping Stephanie hunt down Nutsy because his business was providing security for the jewelry store that got robbed, and Ranger doesn't like unsolved mysteries concerning his business.

Stephanie only had 3--maybe 4--skips to hunt down in Dirty Thirty, aside from working to find Nutsy who the local jewelry store owner thinks might have robbed him. Lula is always present on her adventures, but Lula is convinced she's being stalked by Grendle (from Beowulf). After Lula's apartment has a fire, she moves in with Stephanie--who temporarily moves in with Ranger. It's complicated. 

One of the best scenes of the whole book is the chase scene with Stephanie's mom driving on their stakeout. It's one of those things that you can't see Stephanie's mom doing, yet it also completely fits in with her character at the same time.

As for that overall story arc I mentioned earlier, Stephanie finds herself in a dilemma at the end of the book that will potentially move us along a little bit. I'm hesitant to get too worked up about the supposed cliffhanger because, in typical fashion, I doubt much will be solved or wrapped up in the next book. We shall see.

Either way, Dirty Thirty was entertaining and exactly what I expected it to be when I picked it up. I actually had a chuckle out loud with this book which bumps it from my typical 3-Star rating to a 4-Star rating. Have you read (or listened to) Dirty Thirty? What did you think? Let me know!