"Twelve Sharp"     by  Janet Evanovich

             Review #180

             A Stephanie Plum Mystery.

Stephanie Plum, the not terribly competent bounty hunter tries to bring in some small-time criminals to lower the number of outstanding cases.  She gets us up to speed on her life as a bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ; her ever-eccentric family; and her co-workers in her cousin's bail-bond office. It doesn't take more than a few pages.

The main focus of this mystery is the disappearance of Ranger’s daughter.  Ranger, one of the two men in and out of Stephanie's life (the other is Morelli the cop), is accused of kidnapping his daughter.  He has disappeared and a woman who says she is Ranger’s wife stalks Stephanie.  Uncertain of what’s going on and certain that Ranger didn't kidnap the girl, Stephanie tries to help solve the crime.

As usual, Evanovich uses all of her considerable arsenal here, wisecracking humor and set pieces about cars, neighborhoods, family matters, and the funeral parlor (now with new directors). However, she has added celebrity stalking and identity theft to sketch a scary bad guy, and she creates in Ranger's daughter, Julie, a spirited 10-year-old version of her mesmerizing father. The ending is downright terrifying,

This book has humor, but, I must admit it scared me too!  Good read!