One for the Money

Rating:
Summary: A fun debut for Cat
Review: First off, this is not the Stephanie Plum novel of the same name. This is the series debut of Cat Caliban, a Cincinnati grandmother who decides to liven up her widowhood by becoming a private eye. To assert her independence, Cat purchases a small apartment complex in a questionable neighborhood and, in the process of signing on two new tenants, stumbles upon a corpse.

The deceased is a homeless woman known only as Betty Bags, and while the authorities allow that it's odd for Betty to have been lured away from her home turf into Cat's vacant apartment to be stabbed with her own knife, they aren't all that motivated to give the matter their full attention. Cat is at once outraged by their callous dismissal of the woman's life and death and eager to get in some investigative practice, so she jumps right in. She enlists the aid of her three tenants, her cats, and a retarded youngster, and before long she is on the trail of Betty's killer.

Cat quickly learns that Betty was no ordinary bag lady. She was once a silent film actress, so Cat finds herself tracing Betty's fall from stardom to her final days as an activist for homeless rights. It seems all sorts of people could have wanted Betty dead. Was it the lawyer who carried a torch for the Betty he remembered as his high school sweetheart? The sheik who plied starlet Betty with extravagant gifts? The daughter Betty gave up for adoption but included in her will? The real estate mogul trying to rid his vacant properties of activist Betty and her squatter friends? Or somebody else entirely? To confuse matters even more, Betty's best friend winds up dead as well, and Cat must determine what secret she died to protect.

Cat's investigations are quite educational and entertaining, but I wish Cat didn't use such foul language all the time. It's not that I fear for my virgin ears, but Cat's constant cursing rings false, like Borton wasn't secure in Cat's uniqueness and felt a colorful vocabulary would add "character." Cat and her allies are an enjoyable crew, though, and I trust Borton will develop their true characters as the series unfolds.

(adapted from a "Skullduggery" review)

Rating:
Summary: Fun, fun, fun!
Review: I've read this one and the next two in the series! I have actually laughed out loud and can't wait to finish the fourth. In this first of the series, you get to know the characters in addition to a good story. They get better and better. . . You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Stephanie Plum the number one bounty hunter!!!
Review: Stephanie plum the number one bounty hunter! Janet did such a great job on, One for the Money. The excitment in this book was everlasting. It was a book you can't put down. One for the Money was a book I recomend to anyone that enjoys mystery books.
Stephanie was such an exciting lady. She did the craziest things, for instance steeling Joe Morelli's car. She even bought a gun and pepper spray to protect her since many men were trying to attack her. Stephanie was a lady you would want to work for you. She stuck to her task and did not give up. She put her mind to finding Joe and found him. She was motivated to any job or task she got.