I’m a Joe Morelli fan. Ranger’s hot, but he’s definitely no long-term bet for Stephanie Plum, New Jersey’s most inept, but luckiest bounty hunter. I state my bias on the love triangle right up front, so fellow fans of the Plum series – of which To the Nines is the ninth book ­ know where I stand.

For those of you unfamiliar with the books, Stephanie Plum is a thirty-something Jersey girl who became a bounty hunter out of desperation and somehow managed to make it a career through luck rather than skill. Her exploits as she tracks and captures “skips” bonded by her cousin’s bail bonds company are heavy on eye-rolling humor and cartoonish violence. These books are not high art ­ told from Stephanie’s POV, the prose is simple, almost juvenile in places. However, the books are usually very funny and entertaining. This is certainly true of To the Nines, which, I’m happy to say, is quite a bit better than the last entry in the series. That one, Hard Eight, almost had me convinced that Evanovich and Stephanie had jumped the shark.

The aforementioned love triangle is one of the main themes in all of the books. Joe Morelli is Stephanie’s on-again, off-again boyfriend and a vice cop in Trenton, New Jersey. Morelli is hot, a little dangerous, wholly dependable (though he wasn’t always), and in love with Stephanie. But she scares the hell out of him ­ or more precisely, her job scares the hell out of him, because she is so patently unsuited for it (she keeps her gun in the cookie jar). In this matter, Morelli and I are in complete agreement. I’m glad she keeps the gun in the cookie jar, because it would be really dangerous for her to actually try to use it. The two have a rollercoaster relationship, but in To the Nines, Stephanie and Morelli are definitely together as a couple.

Ranger is Stephanie’s bounty hunting mentor who always gets his man with a minimum of fuss. Ranger took a liking to Stephanie early in the series, and took her under his Batman-esque wing (Stephanie refers to his mysterious home as the Batcave). A “will they-won’t they” sexual tension soon developed between the two, complicated by the ever-changing relationship between Stephanie and Morelli. A resolution of sorts occurred between Stephanie and Ranger in the eighth book in the series and I suspect the improvement in this novel is directly related to the near elimination of that plot line. Don’t get me wrong, Ranger features heavily in To the Nines, and his relationship with Stephanie is far from settled. Their usual flirtatious banter is in evidence, but it doesn’t take center stage, and this proves to be a good thing. I’m sure I would say that even if I weren’t rooting for Morelli.

The plot is actually quite complicated for a Plum novel, and there is much I cannot reveal without spoilers. It begins with a basic but different kind of skip trace – Samuel Singh is an illegal immigrant working for a U.S. company under a visa bond underwritten by Vinnie, Stephanie’s cousin and boss. Since a visa bond is a new possibility for companies who want to hire non-U.S. citizens, Vinnie has gotten lots of press about it. Now Samuel has disappeared (presumably with his fiancee’s dog), and unless Plum Bail Bonds can produce him before his visa expires in one week, Vinnie’s out a lot of money and a lot of credibility. He assigns Ranger to the case and asks Stephanie to assist (with Lula, a former prostitute turned file clerk – and frequent Stephanie sidekick, in turn assisting Stephanie). Mayhem ensues as the intrepid Stephanie and Lula follow what clues they can find to figure out what happened to Sam Singh and Boo, the dog. Stephanie’s mostly worried about the dog.

In the meantime, Stephanie’s got family trouble. Her sister is about to give birth and Mrs. Plum is having heart palpitations over her refusal to marry the father. Stephanie’s father is threatening to move out of the house because there isn’t enough room (especially not enough bathroom) for all the people living there. To top things off, someone broke into Stephanie’s apartment, left her flowers and photos of a dead person, and she’s getting creepy email. Convinced she’s being stalked, she packs up her hamster Rex and moves in with Morelli for protection. Ranger and his mostly scary ex-paramilitary employees (the Merry Men, Stephanie calls them) guard her during the day, with Morelli guarding her at night.

Vinnie’s refusal to trace any more skips until Sam Singh is found keeps the action humming and focused. This is a plus, since some previous Plum novels jumped so quickly from secondary plot to secondary plot that you could barely follow along. This story builds more like a traditional mystery, with the added bonus of there actually being two mysteries in one: What happened to Sam (and Boo) and who’s stalking Stephanie are distinct from each other in their development. The team (Steph, Lula and Connie, Vinnie’s office manager) also travel to Las Vegas, which makes for a fun departure from the usual “all Jersey, all the time” locale.

There are some laugh out loud moments in this book and, while the series’ comic relief regulars all appear, Lula has the spotlight. Her attempts at becoming supermodel skinny by trying one fad diet after another are really funny. I was also amused by the airport/airplane scenes where Lula and Stephanie take turns having “airport rage” brought on by endless lines, security checks, lack of food, and general anxiety. Ranger’s Merry Men take a beating in To the Nines in their efforts to protect Stephanie and it’s usually not because of the bad guys.

But while the expected and usual comedy is present, there is also a darker feel to To the Nines reminiscent of earlier Plum novels. The more recent books in the series focused more heavily on the love triangle than the actual cases ­ this one returns the series to its mystery roots. The real mystery at the heart of To the Nines isn’t revealed until about 250 pages into the book. And when Stephanie is put into a life-or-death situation, for once she can’t count on luck (or Ranger) to help her out. It was somewhat gratifying to realize during those scenes that as Lucy Ricardo-esque as Stephanie often seems, she has in fact learned a lot during her tenure as a bounty hunter and isn’t afraid to use what she knows when the chips are down. It made me feel a bit better about her career choice.

While To the Nines wasn’t my favorite in the Plum series, it definitely delivered both good laughs and a decent mystery, as well as showing some depth to Stephanie. I enjoyed the ride and I’m going to be there for the next one, as well, still rooting for Morelli. To the Nines stands on its own, but if you haven’t read any of the books yet, I’d advise you to start at the beginning of the series for maximum enjoyment.