Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-nine

At the start of bestseller Evanovich’s fast and fun 29th outing for Stephanie Plum (after 2021’s Game On), the Trenton, N.J., bail bondswoman arrives at work one morning to find Connie Rosolli, the ever dependable office manager at Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, gone and the storeroom ransacked. Stephanie later receives a phone call demanding that she turn over a special coin that a recently murdered client gave to Vinnie, her cousin and boss, as collateral and that’s now missing. If she fails to find the coin within 24 hours, Connie will suffer the consequences. Assisted by her feisty grandma, Mazur; her doughnut-eating, pistol-packing colleague, Lula; and her occasional lover, Ranger, owner of a high-tech security firm in downtown Trenton, Stephanie checks out several eccentric individuals, including a comic book collecting geek with a penchant for role play and an accountant turned panhandler and pickpocket. Never mind the surfeit of shifting characters and motives, or the late arrival of the bad guys and their nefarious doings. Perky, fast-talking Stephanie’s nonstop monologue of zany events keeps the pages turning. This fetchingly frivolous entry may not be Evanovich’s best, but it satisfies. Agent: Celeste Fine, Park and Fine. (Nov.)