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Book Review of Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, Bk 22)

Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, Bk 22)
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Another fun Plum book. Stephanie and her sidekick Lula are assigned to bring in Ken Globovic, but finding him isn't easy. His frat brothers claim they haven't seen him, so Stephanie starts checking with other people around campus. The dean he's accused of attacking wants him found and blames the entire fraternity. The biology professor and frat adviser hasn't seen him, but something about him bugs Stephanie.

Stephanie also gets pulled into a Rangeman operation, helping to provide security for a contractor and his wife. The wife is a piece of work, and when her husband is killed there isn't much grief. There are a couple pretty funny scenes involving her at two funerals. Stephanie' on again/off again boyfriend Joe Morelli is the cop assigned to the investigation. Things get complicated when two more bodies show up, killed with the same gun, and have connections to the Zeta fraternity.

Stephanie and Joe's relationship becomes off again, when Joe is suffering physical symptoms of stress and he decides to cut out everything stress inducing from his life. One of those things is Stephanie. She's hurt and mad and worried about him, but avoiding him is impossible. With Morelli, off again usually doesn't last long and I enjoyed the process in this one.

The ever mysterious and super hot Ranger is also present. With Morelli out right now, will Stephanie give in to Ranger's advances? It's always fun to see Ranger's protectiveness toward her. As happens in most books, Ranger provides cars when she needs one and they are nearly always destroyed, sometimes in unusual ways. This time it's two cars, one involving geese and the other fireworks. There are also two pretty sweet scenes when he takes care of her. I love how he can convey so much with a simple "Babe".

The mystery in this one is pretty convoluted, and offers plenty of chances for Stephanie to get into trouble. I enjoyed her search for Globovic, and what happens when she finds him. His reasons for jumping bail lead Stephanie on another search, ending with a crazy professor, fireworks and fleas. The final confrontation in this one was pretty fun with Stephanie's grandmother, mother and Lula getting in on the action.