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S2:E5 - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (2012 Film)
35 Plays1 month ago
Join us as we kick off our Month of Mysteries with Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money and its 2012 film adaptation starring Katherine Heigl! We’re talking Stephanie Plum’s first foray into the wild world of bounty hunting—complete with quirky side characters, bad car karma, and more attitude than you can fit in an oversized handbag.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
- One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
- One for the Money (2012 Film)
- Monk TV Series
- Psych TV Series
- Will Trent TV Series
- Will Trent by Karin Slaughter
- High Potential TV Series
- Veronica Mars TV Series
- Matlock TV Series
- Murder, She Wrote TV Series
- Only Murders in the Building TV Series
Question of the Episode:
- “What are your favorite mystery/crime solving/sleuthing television shows?”
Share your opinions with us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube or email us at basedonabookpodcast@gmail.com.
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Send us a Book Adaptation Request!
Intro/Outro Music - Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!)
Thanks for listening to Based on a Book - see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(2:12) Let’s talk book ratings
(6:16) One for the Money Book vs. Movie Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(1:24:23) Final Verdicts
(1:26:58) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Theme
00:00:09
Speaker
on a book, the podcast for anyone who has violated the terms of their bond and the people looking for them. I'm your host, k Crystal. I know about the duck, and I'm not afraid to tell your wife.
00:00:21
Speaker
I'm Carrie, and I want to know what happened to the duck, because I'm nosy. And I'm Lindsay, and I really don't want to know about the duck.
Overview of 'One for the Money'
00:00:32
Speaker
If you have not figured it out from all the clues we just gave you, today we're covering One for the Money, the first in a series that covers 31 full-length novels, a handful novellas, and just one I love it.
00:00:50
Speaker
i I'm pumped to talk about this tonight because I have a lot to say. that I know Carrie and Lindsay do too.
Stephanie Plum's Background
00:01:00
Speaker
So let me just say a little bit about what this is first, and then we'll go into our reviews. This book is a gritty crime mystery set in New Jersey.
00:01:11
Speaker
It originally came out in 1994.
00:01:14
Speaker
So it's set right in that mid nineties timeframe. The movie, however, It came out in 2012, so it's set closer to that time frame. And it's a there's some differences, and it's interesting.
00:01:32
Speaker
ah Stephanie Plum is your average Jersey girl from a small town, well, a small suburb of Trenton. She lives in a neighborhood that they call The Burgh.
00:01:47
Speaker
ah where the majority of families never really leave. are They all have their family dinners together. They all know each other. They go to school together. They get jobs right around town.
00:01:57
Speaker
Everybody knows everybody else. And it seems fairly typical. But Stephanie also has not had a job for six months. Again, it's the mid-90s.
00:02:10
Speaker
Things weren't necessarily going that great, and she lost her job and is just now telling her folks. And of course, well, hilarity and crime ensue.
Hosts' Book Ratings and Critiques
00:02:20
Speaker
So ladies, before we get really into it, let's hear what we think. I want to start with Carrie.
00:02:25
Speaker
no you do not want to start with me. Trust on that. That's fair. That's fair.
00:02:34
Speaker
Oh, no. Just say it, girl. was hoping you were going to start. Okay. Just say it. Okay, ok okay, okay. Just say it. Rip the band-aid off. Okay. So, I feel like i have to explain myself a little bit.
00:02:46
Speaker
Okay? Okay. I'm just going to say my rating first. I gave it 1.5 amateurs. And want explain why.
00:02:58
Speaker
Okay. and i want to explain why So first of all, when it started, was like, okay, this is going to be like a fun little detective story, whatever. It's going to be kind of funny.
00:03:13
Speaker
And then i was getting into it. i didn't really find anyone interesting. i didn't really find the story. and wasn't capturing my attention. I wasn't interested in the characters.
00:03:25
Speaker
And then i want to say this. I am of the opinion i will never tell an author what they can and cannot write.
00:03:37
Speaker
I'll never say that. Right. Some people disagree with that, and that's okay. That's just how I feel. I'll never tell an author what they can and cannot write. But I will judge you on what you're willing to put on paper And publish to the public.
Trigger Warnings and Themes
00:03:53
Speaker
Okay?
00:03:54
Speaker
I will judge you for that. And we'll have opinions about it. Okay? And I'm allowed to have opinions about it. ah hu And i yes, I am aware this was written in the 90s.
00:04:06
Speaker
That's not an excuse, but carry on. Yes, I am aware of that. And I don't care. No. Because I don't like the language that's written in here. think it's cringy. I don't like the way weight is talked about in here. i don't like it the way...
00:04:20
Speaker
People of color are talked about in here. i don't like it. It's not enjoyable to read about. I'm not gonna like read quotes from it, like out of context quotes from it.
00:04:32
Speaker
You're just gonna have to read it and see for yourself, but I don't like it. I don't find it enjoyable to read, so that's just my opinion on that.
00:04:43
Speaker
Alright then, Lindsay. ah To follow up on that... I gave it two and a half ah FTAs.
00:04:54
Speaker
Okay. I actually did kind of enjoy the story. Like, I like the, you know, whodunit kind of. Like, I thought it was fun, but also, like Carrie said, it was pretty cringy at times.
00:05:06
Speaker
So... i I gave it two and a half. I didn't come up with a witty thing because honestly, I really struggled to give it the two and a half. And the only reason I gave it the two and a half because Carrie's right.
00:05:21
Speaker
There's so much cringe in here. It's not even funny. And trying to tell myself it was in the 90s, it was in the 90s, really was not an excuse for a lot of it. It was a different time.
00:05:33
Speaker
i was there. i remember. in Some of this stuff was still cringy then, you know what i mean? But the actual mystery, the the actual whodunit part was really well done.
00:05:49
Speaker
it it And so, again, there are 31 books in this series. The most recent came out in November of 2024, so just a few months ago. And I wonder if some of the cringy parts are no longer a part of the series.
00:06:07
Speaker
You know, I wonder if Stephanie Plum, the main character, kind of grew up. But I am not hooked enough to find out, you know. And so so for me, that was a two and a half.
00:06:19
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And unless you guys have anything else to say, we can get right on into it. No, let's get into it ive into it. First, I do want to put out the trigger warnings um and content warnings. There is sex, nudity, violence, violent sexual assault, mention of drugs, child against child sexual assault in the first chapter.
00:06:45
Speaker
with flippant language around it. Death, mental illness, torture, fire and fire injury, stalking and gun violence. um This is a crime, you know, crime mystery around the criminal justice system.
Family Dynamics and Movie Casting
00:06:59
Speaker
So there's a lot of conversation about that.
00:07:02
Speaker
So yeah, I guess we'll just jump in. Let's set the scene again. It's the mid nineties, 1994 particular. Forrest Gump was in the movie theater, as well as The Shawshank Redemption, The Lion King, and Dumb and Dumber.
00:07:19
Speaker
Ace of Bass was topping the music charts. O.J. Simpson was on the run, and then not. So, of Stephanie Plum, when she came home from dinner one night, knowing full well her car was about to get repossessed, had to tell her parents, I haven't had a job for six months.
00:07:37
Speaker
And mom and dad say... Well, your cousin Vinny is hiring for a file ah file lady. and She says, ah not not Vinny, but at the same time agrees to go in.
00:07:49
Speaker
The whole time I'm reading this, I'm reading in the thickest Jersey accent in my head. Right. and And then in the movie. There's basically no Jersey accent at all. Well, it's an attempt.
00:08:01
Speaker
It's an attempt. there's an attempt A little bit. With Katherine Heigl, there's an attempt there, but it's bad. I will say, so going home for Stephanie Plum is her mom and dad.
00:08:18
Speaker
She has a sister. She's just kind of mentioned in this book. From what I understand, she does appear in the other books. But in this book, she's mentioned she doesn't live there. She's married and she has two kids of her own, lives with her husband.
00:08:31
Speaker
um but at home is mom and dad and grandma Mazur. And grandma Mazur is a little slipping, a little, a little, a little silly, a little goofy.
00:08:44
Speaker
And she, Debbie Reynolds plays her in the movie. This is the last film appearance for Debbie Reynolds before she passed away. And i was thrilled to see her. That made my heart really happy. She was a perfect casting for Grandma Mazur, like played off that like slipping a little bit, but still fun and silly. And I really enjoyed that.
00:09:09
Speaker
So at dinner, Stephanie's car gets towed in the book. Stephanie's car gets towed the next day. but anyway, she goes home that night. She kind of gathers what she can to take to the pawn shop and sell. She's trying scrimp and save as much as she can.
00:09:28
Speaker
um But she's already promised to go to her cousin's. To go ahead and ask for that job. So she does. And it turns out. They already hired somebody.
00:09:40
Speaker
And the lady at the front desk. Whose name I don't remember. Connie. I think it was Connie. yeah Connie is a character. i adore her. she was She was a good one. And she was just like.
00:09:52
Speaker
You don't want that job anyways honey. If you're going spend that much time on your knees. There's better things you could do. I was like oh girl. And there were definitely a few characters. Throughout the book.
00:10:04
Speaker
And even in the movie that I thought were really good. They were just side nothing characters. i'm Like I know they come up in future books only because I kind of read some like what's the whole series about, you know, online stuff.
00:10:18
Speaker
And Connie comes up again. lula one of the stripper hookers, sex workers, comes up again. There's a couple other just random side characters that do reappear, and I really like that.
00:10:32
Speaker
The main characters, however, are every single stereotype character. You could ever think of. they They are. Every New Jersey stereotype. Every Italian American stereotype.
00:10:46
Speaker
Every miss murder mystery. Stereotype trope. Is in this book. It's like every stereotype and trope. Ever written in the mystery genre.
Stephanie and Joe Morelli's Past
00:10:57
Speaker
Is smashed into this book. From the locations they go to. To the people they talk to. It's. it's it's dense.
00:11:09
Speaker
It's really dense with stereotypes and tropes, which is another reason why I think this book was so popular when it came out. um And the whole series is popular now. These are easy reads.
00:11:21
Speaker
These are comfortable. Well, they're not comfortable, but they're like, you don't have to think that hard to to read it, to understand it, to get into it. You don't have to expand your your mind a ton to wrap your brain around it or anything like that. These are great yeah commute reads, you know, if you had like a train commute or if you were flying, you know, an airport read kind of thing.
00:11:43
Speaker
And I get like the humor in it too. Like the humor could like, it grabs you right in the beginning. and I feel like set up.
00:11:55
Speaker
Right. And I feel like Stephanie Plum in the book, is kind of more of a dry Yankee Northern humor.
00:12:06
Speaker
you know Stephanie Plum in the movie was kind of ditzy, and I didn't really like that. Because Stephanie Plum in the book is not ditzy. She's pretty average, but she's not stupid. you know Even the author Janet Ivanovich says that Stephanie Plum is consistently average and heroic when she has to be.
00:12:28
Speaker
You know, she's not stupid by any means, but she's not a genius either, you know? Yeah. And in the the movie, they kind of made her out to be like, she tumbles into good circumstances or she tumbles into luck, you know, a lot where as in in the book, she actually had to kind of apply herself.
00:12:49
Speaker
So she goes to visit Vinny. They've given away the file clerk job already. But Connie says you could be, you know, you could do a skip trace. You could... chase down some of these FTAs. And Stephanie's like, what is that?
00:13:01
Speaker
and I do, this is another part of the book that I did like is there are a lot of industry acronyms that a lot of people wouldn't necessarily know. And they, ah Janet Ivanovich finds a way to explain it in the book while not talking down to the reader.
00:13:19
Speaker
that makes sense. She finds a way to explain it without it sounding like for you dummies out there reading that don't know this already, you know? like And so Stephanie's like, you know, what do you mean? And she was like, you know, be a bounty hunter, go after these people who fail to appear.
00:13:34
Speaker
and she was like, oh, okay, I can do that. Yeah. Well, you know who you got? And she hands her the, just the file on the top and says, this is a hundred thousand dollar bond. It would make you $10,000. She goes, well, who is it? And she goes, it's Joseph Morelli.
00:13:50
Speaker
she, Then Stephanie kind of narrates us through who Joe Morelli is to her. and that's the guy, the kid, who because he was a child at the time too, who played choo-choo with her in her father's garage. And right off the bat, in the very first chapter, I'm going, what the fuck am I reading?
00:14:12
Speaker
huh what
Stephanie Becomes a Bounty Hunter
00:14:14
Speaker
What the fuck am I reading? Yeah. Like, it was unexpected. Weird. Weird. and it Uncomfortable.
00:14:25
Speaker
And not even a part of the story. No. She could have just like, the author could have just as easily made it like, you know, he kissed me in the garage and then boom.
00:14:36
Speaker
But like, and then that's that, you know, or... Like, I don't know. He pushed me, you know, when I was a kid and didn't, like, it could have been, like, they were children. she is And isn't referenced, like, later in the book, too? Like, we can play that again or something yeah like that. Like, it's some sort of, like, funny joke.
00:14:54
Speaker
Yeah. And it just very ick to me. that was And that was ick in the 90s, too. There is no, well, it was a different time. No, that was that was not okay then, either. Yeah.
00:15:11
Speaker
But then we find out that later on, when she was a teenager, she also ran into Joe Morelli and she worked at the pastry shop and she lost her virginity to him.
00:15:23
Speaker
And Joe Morelli is like known as boy. A lady's man. Yeah, the lady's man, the boy that gets all the girls. and The bad boy that gets all the girls. Everybody knows he's a bad boy too.
00:15:33
Speaker
Yeah. The boy who's given his cannoli to everyone. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. like Because again, every Jersey stereotype, every Italian American stereotype, there's, you know, the food is all about Italian American food. That like everything is an innuendo.
00:15:51
Speaker
It's very, i don't know. It's very, it's very interesting. So she's, you know, that Joe Morelli and Connie's like that Joe Morelli, you know, he's grown up to be a cop and it turns out that he is. wait, wait, wait.
00:16:06
Speaker
We've worked. We've skipped over the part where she, whenever Oh, no, I'm getting there. Okay. Okay. I'm getting there. I was going to say. So, you know, we know that Joe Morelli was a cop.
00:16:17
Speaker
He, they allegedly shot an unarmed man, but he skipped out on his bond. And so Stephanie says, i want to do this.
00:16:28
Speaker
And Connie says, you're going to have to talk to your cousin. she goes in to talk to Vinny. And she says, I'm taking this job. And he goes, no no, you're not. That's dangerous. freaking way.
00:16:41
Speaker
she goes, I know about you and the boys. I know about you and the chains and the whips. And I know about the duck. And I'll tell your wife. And Vinny's like,
00:16:54
Speaker
Fine. Take the Marelli case. What happened with the duck? What are they talking about? Listen, considering what we've already learned in this book, I don't really want to know what happened. Maybe it's revealed later in the series and I can look it up.
00:17:11
Speaker
Honestly, if somebody else has read this whole series, would you please just tell us what happens with the duck? so that we can get over it without having to read 30 more books. No, absolutely not. Yeah. Absolutely not. No, I was going to say, we forgot to mention the fact that Stephanie, whenever she she did like lose her virginity to him, and then he never called her again, so she went and saw him at the mall, and walking outside the mall, and she went and hit him with her car and broke his leg.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yep. Wasn't it her dad's Buick or something? With the Buick. Yep. And he was like, you just hit me with your car. And she's like... Oops. And then just left. she's No, she was like, are you hurt? And he goes, yeah, I think I broke my leg. She's like, good. ya.
00:18:04
Speaker
Bye. So. That's the last you saw of him. Pretty much. So she takes the case. She gets in the the crappy car, you know, Chevy Nova that she bought with the last of the stuff that she could pawn.
00:18:20
Speaker
It has no muffler. It's falling off. I want to know. First of all. I want to know where this pawn shop is. Because honestly. What pawn shop is buying toasters? exactly As someone who is pretty like.
00:18:33
Speaker
Deep in like the resale stuff. Like i do a lot of research in the resale stuff. I want to know where this pawn shop is. That like you can bring literally anything there. And they'll literally buy every single item that you bring there.
00:18:48
Speaker
For a decent price to the point that you can pay for a car. A new phone. okay Like everything. I will say this is slightly different. This is explained by it was the 90s.
00:19:00
Speaker
Because you didn't have a ton. Like, kitchen appliances were not, like, not every household had a toaster oven and a toaster and the pizza oven and a blender. And those were not things that just every household had.
00:19:13
Speaker
And buying a used car for $150 was something you could do. Especially when you were talking about a Chevy Nova that had no muffler and a head gasket crack. Like, yeah.
00:19:26
Speaker
$150 for a quick car. It did start off with muffler. It did start off with a muffler, but it was yeah only barely hanging on because it didn't take her long to last. Okay, so I did find out that Stephanie Plum and her car woes is an ongoing theme throughout all of the books.
Ranger as Mentor and Love Interest
00:19:44
Speaker
So... That's something that I thought was interesting. Also, in the movie, she doesn't have to go get a new car upon all of her stuff because Grandma Mazur shows up with this big giant Buick who she calls the Blue Beast.
00:19:58
Speaker
It turns out that the Blue Beast also shows up in the rest of the series. It was her uncle's car that Grandma Mazur now has but isn't really supposed to be driving. And so when Stephanie's blows up other cars or runs into other cars or has all these other car troubles that she, she has, she borrows the, the blue beast. And for whatever reason, it's a tank. It lasts forever. She never like that one never gets messed up or vandalized or stolen or anything like that.
00:20:29
Speaker
So, so that was not in this book. The, the blue beast is not in the first book, but it is in the rest of the series. And it was in the movie. Yeah. Except can we talk about how she shows up with the car, but clearly has house keys?
00:20:45
Speaker
Right? Yeah. Those are not car keys. Okay. So also car keys in the 90s looked a little bit different, but not like that. That was definitely a house key. i I know a locksmith, so I know these things.
00:21:01
Speaker
So she she's driving off in her Nova and instantly in the book, she kind of already knows what to do. She kind of knows how to stalk a guy. She goes to his apartment.
00:21:11
Speaker
She's peeking in the windows. She goes and checks his mail to see if his mail is there, what's in the mailbox. And it's like, how are you? You already know how to do this.
00:21:22
Speaker
Nobody told you how to do that. Nobody like She has genuine curiosity. She's nosy. She is nosy. And there's a part of me that's like, this is a girl that's ben that's been screwed over before.
00:21:36
Speaker
And she she knows how to stalk a guy. Because every, like, as I'm reading this book, I'm like, I could be a bounty hunter. Yeah. Like, i'm I'm like, I could find, I could find you. Like, and I know the three of us together, we will find you. oh yeah.
00:21:49
Speaker
We would make the best bounty hunting team. Like, that's our, that's our next job. If this podcast just never takes off. Based on a bounty. um okay So shows up there and of course,
00:22:04
Speaker
oh so she shows up there and of course she you know not that She can't really get in. She can't see anything. She doesn't know anything. So she goes back out to her car. And she sits for a minute thinking about like what's my next step.
00:22:17
Speaker
And who should pull up but Mooch Morelli. Which again with the names. With the names. With the names. So Mooch Morelli shows up. And she's like. So she ducks down and she just watches him. And he goes in.
00:22:32
Speaker
like He goes around the building. Must find the spare key or whatever. Comes back to the front. Let's himself in. And then gets comes back out a few minutes later with a big giant duffel bag. And she's like, I'm to follow him in her Nova.
00:22:48
Speaker
So she drives, follows him. And then he goes to this other apartment building. And she's like, I'm going to go in. So she goes in. She looks at the, like. What's killing me in the movie is like she's has like just her bag, like on her shoulder. She's like, I'm gonna go in.
00:23:04
Speaker
Also, bounty hunting and heels. Yeah, no. And like a skirt and a blazer. What are we doing? And again, this is where the book and the movie are so freaking different. Because like in the in the book.
00:23:18
Speaker
She's like a little bit nervous. And so like we see her thought process. Like should I go in? and I'm going go in. I'm gonna wait until Mooch comes out. Then I'm going go in. And it's an apartment building in the movie. It's a warehouse. And she just barges in like walking in her high heels, click clacking across the floor. Yeah, no way of being sneaky at all. Like not even trying to be quiet or anything. She's dumb in the movie.
00:23:42
Speaker
And I hated that. But in the book, she she goes into the apartment building. She looks at the names on the mailboxes. And only one of the mailboxes doesn't have a name on it.
00:23:53
Speaker
So she's like, I'm going to check that apartment. And so she goes and she goes and bangs on the door. but I mean, I will say this is something that I would do. would just be like, well, I'm here. Let me in the door.
00:24:07
Speaker
she's She's only had this file for like an hour and a half now, you know? But she's banging on this door and and Who opens the door but Joe Morelli. So now she's face to face with this guy. it And we even get in the book. She's just like.
00:24:22
Speaker
Now what do I do? like I got him. like she like You have to come with me. And he was like. Yeah no. crying.
00:24:33
Speaker
I don't know why that's so funny. It's like a little kid, like a little kid. You got to come with me right now, mister. Pretty much. I will say I kind of liked in the movie how they portrayed this, even though it was a slightly different situation in the movie. She's like, you have to come with me. He was like, I don't have to do anything with you. And she was like, you skipped your, but you are in violation of your bond agreement and you have to come. You failed to appear. And he's like,
00:25:00
Speaker
yeah, I know. They're not nice to
Film Adaptation and Book Comparisons
00:25:03
Speaker
cops in jail. I ain't going back. Like, he's, he's like ready to go, right? He's like, your cousin sent you after me?
00:25:12
Speaker
Stephanie Plum? Like, and he's like, you broke my leg. ran me over. and she's like, and I do it again. They're just being sassy to each other.
00:25:24
Speaker
yeah So again, if you like this kind of like enemies to not quite lovers, but still enemies kind of tension. This is an ongoing theme through all 31 books as well. So there you go.
00:25:42
Speaker
Either way, he's just like, I ain't coming with you. He gets in his car and he leaves and she's just like, what do do? So in the movie, he throws her keys in the dumpster.
00:25:55
Speaker
That does happen in the book, but not until another time when she runs into him. And again, like the first part of this movie is pretty accurate to the book, but then so much gets cut out in the middle That we don't get to see Stephanie learning how to do this, actually like making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.
00:26:21
Speaker
I think that was kind of important. We also don't get to see the clues as much in the movie as we do in the book.
00:26:33
Speaker
And I'm just going to say like flat out it from the movie did not do well critically. One of the reviews I read was spectacularly mediocre.
00:26:46
Speaker
I thought that was. Yeah. I'm pretty sure Heigl, she got like a our golden and raspberry nomination for worst actress. Yeah. This was not her best role yeah at all.
00:26:57
Speaker
Not good. But I think the thing that killed me the most about the movie was It was based on a book that I just thought was meh. and And so I didn't expect a ton out of the movie.
00:27:09
Speaker
But even worse, there were not enough clues in this movie for me to have come to the conclusion that was the conclusion. and i I had just read the book.
00:27:22
Speaker
So I already knew. yeah I still was like, wait, what? How? And I thought really hard because that's what I like about mysteries is trying to solve it myself. trying Like it has to be solvable.
00:27:36
Speaker
Right. And the movie was not. The clues that they gave us did not necessarily lead us to where we ended up, you know? i know exactly what you mean, yeah. So yeah, where are we? Oh, so ah this is when Stephanie realizes i have no freaking idea what I'm doing.
00:27:54
Speaker
And she goes back to the office and says to Connie up front, I need help. I don't know what I'm doing. Do you know someone who could like show me what to do?
00:28:06
Speaker
And she was like, I'm going to get you in touch with Ranger. love this character – the movie because okay my opinion love in the movie there was more tension between Ranger and Stephanie in the movie than there was between her and Joe like I thought that in the book too, though. Yeah.
00:28:31
Speaker
Like there was way more tension between these two. i'm like, hello, can we have Ranger and Stephanie be together? Also, Katherine Heigl and the guy who plays Ranger are in Grey's Anatomy together. Yeah, they are. And they're both hot. i was like, yeah, I was like, hey, I know both of them because I used to watch a ton Grey's Anatomy. Okay, Crystal, what do you know that we don't know?
00:28:55
Speaker
Ranger does become does become a love interest through the rest of the series. On again, off again, just like Morelli.
Stephanie's Bounty Hunting Journey
00:29:01
Speaker
He He better. Because honestly, I was feeling more tension between them. That's my one note. My one note.
00:29:08
Speaker
I want more Ranger. That's it. Everyone did. Everyone did. And apparently Janet Ivanovich was like, I hear you. Done. I will say if this... Janet Ivanovich, before she wrote this series, wrote...
00:29:22
Speaker
romance novels and one of the reasons she said she wrote this series or started this series is because she ran out of sexual positions to write about all i'm saying is i would love why choose with joe morelli and ranger just saying just saying i'm just gonna put that out there janet if you're listening we'll tag you in this somewhere and Joe Pesty. Like, I find him annoying.
00:29:48
Speaker
i mean, maybe he might get better in the rest of the series. I don't know. I've only read the first book, but... I mean, personally, I kind of like that. me now Right. Does your fandom have a name?
00:30:01
Speaker
have no idea. The Plummies?
00:30:05
Speaker
have no idea. but were you going to say, Crystal? Sorry. i I like kind of that, like, antagonistic, like, I don't even want to really call it tension, but that just kind of like that teasing and jabbing at each other that Joe and Stephanie have. I like that, that Morelli has.
00:30:26
Speaker
but oh good But I find it like at a certain point it does become annoying. Like you have to show me the soft part too at some point, you know? And we do kind of get a little bit of that in the book, not so much in the movie. Yeah.
00:30:42
Speaker
There's, I mean, there's 31 novels, full-length novels in this series and one movie. And they have not attempted to make any more or redo it.
00:30:55
Speaker
And I feel like they could have. There's a ton of great material here, but... Anywho, where are we at I thought that it was going to be more like, have you guys ever seen the bounty hunter movie as like Jennifer Aniston Jarb Butler in it?
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's they're like he I think he's the bounty hunter and he has to get his ex-wife. Yeah. And i like that type of tension and the comedy in that movie. That's what i was kind of expecting in this. Yeah. and I just like wasn't getting that. No.
00:31:34
Speaker
So we meet Ranger. Ranger is former special forces. um He's a Cuban American. um He wears like all black outfits. That's his thing through all the books is that he's always in all black outfits and he drives all A variety of all black. Really cool looking cars. like they The cars change throughout the series apparently. But they're always like blacked out.
00:31:57
Speaker
He is known for. Bending the rules. To get the. the The FTAs he's after. he is.
00:32:08
Speaker
Known as the best really. And so Connie says. Here's Ranger's number. I'll let him know you're going to call. he'll He'll show you the robes. Ranger right off the bat is like, this could be like a Henry Higgins, Eliza Doolittle situation. I can teach you.
00:32:23
Speaker
This could be interesting. This could be fun. And he kind of treats it that way as this is going to be just kind of a fun thing for me. Like, is this even possible? Like, here's this girl who has no idea what she's doing. Never had an interest in doing this starting from scratch.
00:32:40
Speaker
Can I make this work? And so he gives it a go. Instantly takes Stephanie to get a new outfit, new new bag, some gear, and she gets a gun. And apparently he like just like a quick tutorial in the range behind the gun shop and and then says, okay, put it in your purse and like some forged documents that make it okay for her to carry it.
00:33:05
Speaker
And in the book, they kind of talk about like this is shady. In the movie, and this, I wrote it down because it pissed me off so much. Earn this gun. I can't with this gun.
00:33:17
Speaker
I can't with the gun. So in the movie, she, it's it's it's in the purse. She definitely has no idea what to do with it. She has no idea what's happening, how to handle it, or anything at all, right? And it's It's that way in the book.
00:33:35
Speaker
But in the movie in particular, she calls her sister on the way out. And she goes, I was shooting a gun. How cool is that? The Stephanie Plum of the book would never have said that.
00:33:48
Speaker
oh Every time she was calling her sister. Okay, first of all, I don't know if I totally missed that that was her sister in the movie. Like, that she said this, like, saying that it was her sister. Was that even said in the movie? In the beginning, she said something about, like, I'm at mom's. And so yeah I just kind of assumed that it was her sister. Because when she kept calling her or talking to her, I kept being, like,
00:34:12
Speaker
Who the fuck is that? Who is that? There is no no reason for her to be in this movie at And she's never talked about again. Like, she's just, like, calling this random person. And only, like, two or three phone calls at the very beginning of the movie and then never again after that. Like, if you don't know, even, like, in the book, it's just touched on for, like, a second.
00:34:31
Speaker
But, like, if you didn't read multiple books in the series, like, you wouldn't know who the hell that Exactly. Like, if you were just watching the movie, you'd be like, who the hell is that? Pretty much. So she's got this gun. She's goes home to her parents' house for dinner again.
00:34:50
Speaker
and it turns out her mom has invited over um some kid that she used to go to high school with. or Well, an adult now that she wants to hook her up with. What was his name? Bernie?
00:35:01
Speaker
Bernie something. i don't remember. This is like a nightmare. Yeah. And so she's there having dinner and she's like, why, mom? Like, I don't. And then she's like sits down and grandma Mazur's like,
00:35:13
Speaker
This guy's talking about how like, oh, yeah, I work down at the appliance store like my parents own or whatever. And grandma's like, oh, yeah, you know, Steph got a new job. She's a bounty hunter. And
Threats from Boxer Ramirez
00:35:25
Speaker
she's like going through her purse. She got handcuffs and like dumps out her purse and a gun. And she's like goofing off with the gun at the table.
00:35:32
Speaker
And Stephanie's like, oh, grandma, whatever. Ha ha ha, grandma. and But never takes the gun away. And then grandma, as everybody's just kind of chat chit-chatting around the table like it ain't no thing, grandma shoots the roasted chicken on the table.
00:35:47
Speaker
And doesn't kill anybody. Doesn't kill anybody. And nobody like freaks out or jumps or snatches the gun. or like they're just And nobody calls the cops. even like If I had heard that right next door, have been like,
00:36:02
Speaker
is everyone okay? Ring, ring. Like, what the hell is happening over here? Yeah. But no, they just treat it like, oh, grandma, crazy grandma. And Stephanie's like, give me that back, grandma, and takes the gun and puts it back in her purse. Like, what the hell? And the mom's like, my chicken.
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah. But also the whole thing with Stephanie and this new guy is she was married before and she's Somewhat recently divorced.
00:36:30
Speaker
And she's like oh I've tried that once before. I'm not interested. Yeah. She's just like why. But it turns out that old dude. At the appliance store is you know. You know when they're like oh he's looking for Joe Morelli. She's looking for Joe Morelli.
00:36:45
Speaker
Old dude's like. Didn't he shoot Ziggy. And he's like yeah. if you like i i knew Ziggy. I sold him a flat screen. and he used to always go to Sal's across the street. The butcher shop.
00:36:57
Speaker
And this is when I went, they wouldn't have told us that if it's not important. Red flag. File that away. So, um and then there's like a next day get ready with me where Steph is getting ready to go out.
00:37:10
Speaker
And she decides she's going to go to the very stereotypical mystery place. The gym slash boxing training place.
00:37:23
Speaker
And she's got to meet this boxing champion, Benito Ramirez, because Ziggy worked for him. And so she's like, if I can figure out, maybe if I can kind of track down what was going on with Ziggy, I can find out what Joe's up to, what Morelli's up to.
00:37:39
Speaker
So she just walks in there. All dressed to the nines. With her purse. She always got that purse. With her purse. That big, giant, huge purse. over like It's not like a crossbody, not a backpack.
00:37:51
Speaker
Get a backpack, girl. I'm saying. But she just walks right in there. With that handbag. Which she knows is a shady neighborhood. Parks her Nova out there in this shady neighborhood.
00:38:03
Speaker
And walks into this gym. And like. like super brash walks right up to the, I'm looking for Benito Ramirez. I'm Stephanie plum. Here's my card.
00:38:15
Speaker
And he like goes to shake her hand and grabs her hand and then won't let go. And she's describing him as like, he's huge and he's got these eyes.
00:38:26
Speaker
They're like dark and mean. And I don't know. i don't know what's going on in his head. Like you can't tell. And so then she's like,
00:38:38
Speaker
You have to give me my hand back. i'm I'm being professional. And he's like, I want you now. it It was just like, no warning.
00:38:51
Speaker
He was just like, you want to be with the champ? You're going to be with the champ. I know what you like. The champ can give you what you like. And she's like, no I'm out. But he won't let her go It's this whole scene of her like trying to get away. And she finally swings her purse at him.
00:39:10
Speaker
The purse that had the gun in it, by the way. Doesn't take the gun out. Doesn't take the gun out. Smacks him with the purse. And then the next thing you know, she's trying to like run. And there's gunshots going off. And she's like, what the hell? And everybody's like hitting the floor. But she's bolting for the door.
00:39:28
Speaker
and she gets out of there. Come to find out Morelli had been like staking out the gem because she was right. So Morelli's like, get out of here. What are you thinking?
00:39:38
Speaker
So then um she's like, you have to come with me. And he's like, yeah, no. Again, this happens like five or six times. Yeah. And she's like pointing the gun at him and he's just like takes the gun out of her hand. And she's like, yeah, no, I'm not going anywhere with you.
00:39:55
Speaker
And you don't even know how to use this thing. So shut up. Right. So then she spends the rest of the day like trying to get her like goes back to her apartment and trying to like calm down and figure out what she's going to do and make her plan and um and feed her hamster.
00:40:17
Speaker
Rex in the hamster. mean, that's like a common theme in like the rest of the books. It's like hope at hamster. i hope so. I didn't I didn't find that out, but I hope so. And then like she hears a knock at her door and she's like, who the hell's here this late?
00:40:35
Speaker
And so she goes to the door to look and like she hears the voice and she knows it's Benito Ramirez. It's that boxer. And she's like, what the hell?
00:40:48
Speaker
And he's like, you know, I know where you live now. I can come in anytime I want. I know what you like. He's like full on. And she is like, I'm going to call the cops. And he's like, no, you're not. Because I tried calling you. And I know your phone isn't isn't connected.
00:41:04
Speaker
Like that is the stuff of nightmares for me. I was like, oh. So, but she's got like a sturdy door. It's one of the things that she loves about her apartment building. Is that it might be old. But it's like, got it's solid.
00:41:17
Speaker
And so she knows that she's safe. As long as the windows are locked. And like he can't get in that door. i will say in the movie. Whenever. what really like irritated me.
00:41:30
Speaker
During going back to like the boxing part scene. He made her come in into the ring. and she just walked in there. She walked. and She's like. ok I need to speak to you for a second. I have some questions.
00:41:45
Speaker
wait like and then he's like into like the ring come into my office and it's like the ring that he's like boxing in i'm like and he like locks the door to go in and like what are you doing yeah literally what are you doing it was not okay it was a really dumb mistake my purse and i got my heels on in my literally in my skirt like what like somewhere in her head she wasn't thinking that anything could ever happen to her but exactly and exactly So then she decides that she's going to go back to this the original the next day.
00:42:23
Speaker
She's going to go back to the scene of the crime, right? The original crime where allegedly Morelli shot the unarmed Ziggy. And she's checking out the apartment there and kind of asking around about like, you know, who saw what? Is there anybody here who saw anything?
Ethical Reflections and Mystery Elements
00:42:42
Speaker
um And she doesn't ask a ton of questions, but she gets a few answers. And then she leaves to go back to Morelli's place. And this time she's going to go with Ranger, hoping that Ranger can get her in.
00:42:55
Speaker
And she's like, how are you going to get me in Are you going to pick the lock? And he's like, no, I got here five minutes before you. I asked the super for the key. in the movie In the movie, he picks the lock. I love that in the book, he's giving her all of these, they're like work smarter, not harder type things. You know, like we can, we can do this the easy way. There's doesn't have to be, doesn't have to be that deep. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:20
Speaker
yeah and So they go to Morelli's place. She looks around the apartment to see if there's any like hints about where she could be or where he might've gone or who he might be with or anything like that.
00:43:32
Speaker
And she finds his keys. And Ranger's like, take his spare keys with you. That way, if you want to come back in here, you don't have to bother the super again. You've already got the key. And she's like, okay.
00:43:47
Speaker
And then they leave. And she's like, can't help but notice there's a car key on here. So she looks and she sees Morelli's Cherokee. Okay. In the movie, it was an explorer. I'm only assuming that Ford paid for some product placement in this movie.
00:44:03
Speaker
Because in the book, it is very clearly, a like repeatedly a red and gold Cherokee. Like fancy with a car phone. And in the 90s, a car phone was like $1.15 a minute to make calls. Like it was was a big deal So she decides she's going to take Morelli's car and that way, A, she'll have a vehicle to drive around in and B, if Morelli happens to notice, it might piss him off enough to bring him to her, which is really smart, Stephanie Plum.
00:44:36
Speaker
Good thinking there. In the meantime, she's running out of money. So she goes back to the office and says, Connie, I'm running out of money. Can you give me an advance? And, you know, can Vinny give me an advance? And she goes, no, but you could pick up some other guys while you're out there. There's easier ones. You could make a couple hundred bucks.
00:44:52
Speaker
And so she picks up Clarence Samson, who is kind of a well-known drunk. He's constantly in and out of jail and he's, you know, missing You know, missing his court appearances all the time.
00:45:10
Speaker
And so she's like, he should be an easy one. He's a he's a pretty simple guy. Like, he's not he's not a jerk. He's not violent. He's just a drunk. So she goes to kind of stalk him a little bit, figure out where he is, and she finds him. And she picks him up, and he's too drunk to argue. And she's like, we just have to reschedule you. Come with me, and we'll get you rescheduled.
00:45:30
Speaker
And she... She takes him in. It's her first ever one And she, you know, already knew the drill. Ranger had kind of walked her through what to do. So she knew what to do. And I, this is one of the quotes in the book that did make me feel like Stephanie, we see a little bit more of the character. Cause a lot of these characters are very one dimensional, but we, it says he was my first capture and I expected to feel satisfaction for my success.
00:46:00
Speaker
but now found it was difficult to get elated over someone else's misfortune. And that really touched me because I know that there's a, especially in the industry that our real jobs are, is in, we have a tendency to do a lot of stuff that is, is really, it's a good thing that we do what overall, but once in a while, there's just that one situation where you're like, this is legitimately just somebody who's down on their luck and they're getting screwed.
00:46:28
Speaker
you know And it's it's hard to to be a part of that sometimes. so And so to see that kind of come out in this book was like, okay, I see you, Stephanie Plum. ah So then she decides she's going to head home.
00:46:42
Speaker
She's going to park the Cherokee in her parking lot, remove the distributor cap, and go hide in the bushes and wait for Morelli to come get his car and not be able to start it. And then I guess she's just going to jump out of the bushes and be like, ah!
00:46:58
Speaker
it' all Like, have you still figured out how you're going to take him, like, to the police station? Like, you still haven't got past that point yet. I think she got the spray at this point. Oh, okay, okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. She went back to the gun shop and she was like, I don't, like, I've got the gun, it's important to have the gun, but I think I need something else too. And the lady was like, you need to buy this defense spray.
00:47:21
Speaker
She had to go out in the parking lot and actually spray it. And then she was like, the wind case started coming back, so she ran back inside. um was funny. In the movie, this part is really funny. She's like sitting out there in the bushes, and it's just like pouring rain on her.
00:47:36
Speaker
Her mom's calling. She's like are you coming for dinner? She's like, working, mom. She's like, I'm working right now. I will say, in the movie... in the movie She didn't take off the distributor cap. She was like, I'm going to steal the Master Fuse. You can't start your car without Master Fuse.
00:47:55
Speaker
Mm hmm. I'm not a mechanic. I could be wrong on this one, but this is another one of those that's like, I've had fuses blow in my car before. You can go down to any auto store, Walmart, O'Reilly's, AutoZone, any of those, and pick up a fuse for like a dollar. They're there're plug and play. They're not like...
00:48:19
Speaker
each car doesn't have a very specific coded fuse that'll only work for this car. I mean, there's different types of fuses, but they're all pretty freaking cheap. So if you know what you're looking for, you just walk in and say, I need a, but you know, the,
00:48:34
Speaker
the five volt or whatever they're called the little blue one you know the blue one the blue and the yellow one the orange one i couldn't tell you so like there was a part of me that's like it's annoying but it wouldn't have stopped him from just like still getting his car if he really wanted to you know um but she was all like the master fuse she's just in the bushes holding it like ah she's like what Now, so then, like, she he sends Mooch to go get his car, and she's like, Mooch Morelli.
00:49:06
Speaker
Like, so he goes, Mooch tries to start the car. It's just so, like, it's so, oh my gosh, what is the right word? Like, it's so, like, sitcom, like. It really is. It's.
00:49:17
Speaker
It's generic. Yeah. But in a good kind of comfortable way, which is why this got the 2.5 from me and not a one. Because there was little bit more substance here. if Because I'm a mystery reader. Like I read a ton of mysteries. Yeah. So a lot of this kind of felt, don't want to say, it's definitely not a cozy mystery. There's not a lot of cozy going on here.
00:49:41
Speaker
But it was that familiar kind of process. Yeah, I think that's what something that I struggle with. Like, I think I've said this before on the podcast. Like, if as someone who mostly reads in one genre, when I go outside of the genre, it has to be like, amazing.
00:50:02
Speaker
Because if it's not, then I'm just like, and like, wah, wah. And mean, I didn't know what to expect with this book. I knew there were 31 novels and I knew that this one was really freaking popular.
00:50:13
Speaker
Like it was on the best seller list for like 150 weeks. Like, you know, so i was like, well, it's it's out there. Everybody's read this. Everybody talks about it. The series is well loved. Like might as well give it a go.
00:50:29
Speaker
And it just wasn't bad. It wasn't good. You know?
Partnership with Morelli
00:50:34
Speaker
Anyways. So Mooch can't get the car started. She's like, whatever. i'm like It's pouring down rain. I'm going inside.
00:50:42
Speaker
So she goes inside. She's going to take a shower. Sure as shit. Guess who shows up? It's Joe Morelli. he She's in the shower and he just comes in and whips that curtain down. He's like...
00:50:57
Speaker
You know, where's my distributor cap? Like, why won't my car start? and And she's like, I'm not telling you. Well, turns out she forgot it in the bushes. um And so it's not like it's in the house anyways.
00:51:09
Speaker
so So he starts, he handcuffs her to the shower curtain rod. it like no towel nothing and he's destroying what's left of her apartment she sold most of her furniture and appliances at this point but like he is going through drawers opening cabinets yelling at her the whole time and she's going you know left you gotta you gotta uncuff me joe like you can't leave me like this come on now like this doesn't make you look good you you know like she's like you gotta he's like no um
00:51:41
Speaker
no So he brings the phone just within reach of her. And then he's like, I'm going to lock your door on my way out. So whoever you call better have a key. And she's standing there. She doesn't know who to call because if she calls her mom, her mom's gonna be like, I told you so. This is not a reputable job. You need to go like go to cosmetology school or whatever.
00:52:02
Speaker
And she knows if she calls her dad. Her dad's going to end up seeing her naked and she doesn't want that. You know, I feel that. and like And so she's like, I don't know who to call.
00:52:13
Speaker
So she calls Ranger. I love this in the movie, too, where she he's like playing like poker with his friends or something. And he's like, what do you like? What's up? And he's like, is this like an emergency? And she's like, well, I'm naked. He's like, I'll be right there.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It was great. but it was It was a pretty good one. So he comes in. He saves her. all right. Where am I at on my list? I have a whole nice list here. So then the next day, a Ranger comes. He unhooks her.
00:52:45
Speaker
He says, you know, stop leaving your damn windows unlocked. and And that's that. The next day, she goes to the next very stereotypical murder mystery place to go for information the auto shop she's like every every mystery book at some point they go to the the auto shop i don't know why but anyway so she's at the auto shop because she wants to get an alarm put on the cherokee so that if morelli tries to steal it again the alarm will go off
00:53:22
Speaker
So she's putting an alarm on his car so he can't get his own f freaking car back, which I think is ballsy. And I love this. So she, they install this like pressure sensor type alarm. It's not like a true car alarm, but like anytime the door is opened or closed and the pressure changes, it'll go off. She, there's a 20 second delay for her to put in the code to stop it. Right.
00:53:47
Speaker
So she does that and she's super excited. And then she decides she's going to go back to that bad neighborhood and canvas around the gym talking to all of the other, like anybody who might have seen, have you seen this girl, the missing person? Have you seen, you know, do you Joe Morelli? Have you seen this other witness? What do you know about, you know, the guy who got shot, Ziggy, what was it, Calusa or something like that?
00:54:15
Speaker
And so she's asking all these people and this is where she first meets Lula and Jackie, who are sex workers, who, like, in the book, it's just really, really bad about how she talks about how fat they are, basically. Like, they're fat, they're heavy, like, they could crush a man, it must be hard for them to get around, like, it's really...
00:54:40
Speaker
Says something about if they charged by the pound. Yeah. you're like it Yeah. And then like, you know, but they walk the streets, which you would think would mean they'd lose weight or something like that. and it was just like, whoa, like back off Stephanie Plum Janet Ivanovich. That's not cool. Like if I, whatever, it just made me mad. Yeah.
00:55:06
Speaker
ah But right off the bat, but she kind of makes a little connection with Lula. Lula's willing to talk and answer some questions. Jackie is a lot more unwilling to talk. She's like standoffish, like you're going to get yourself in trouble. We don't need to be talking about this. We're not saying that kind of stuff. Don't tell her anything.
00:55:25
Speaker
You're going to get in trouble. Whatever. In the book, Stephanie's like, no, no, no, no. i'm I'm just looking for a girl. I'm just looking for a girl. And Lula, you know, so they answer some questions. But in the movie, when she says, I'm just looking for a girl, Lula says, oh, no, girl, we're strictly dickly.
00:55:42
Speaker
And I cracked up. I was like, I'm writing this down for later. That's a good one. Yeah. um I'm going to use that. At another time when she comes to to ask them questions, Lula says, you want answers out of Lula. You're going to have to bring her a snack.
00:55:58
Speaker
And Jackie says, Lula. And Lula goes, what? It's hot and you're cranky and I'm hungry. It's like Lula might be my spirit animal. I love it. I love Sherry Shepard.
00:56:10
Speaker
Yes. it She played Lula so well that I was just like, I need that. Like, honestly, i want them to make more movies just so I can see Sherry Shepard as Lula in more movies.
00:56:26
Speaker
That's it. i And Ranger. That's that's that's it. Ranger? yeah Yes, please. Yes. Yes, please. I love me some Ranger. Ranger.
00:56:39
Speaker
Me too. I'm having inside thoughts. I'm going to keep going inside. It's fine. So this is also when we meet Mr. Alpha. A girl comes. Stephanie is about to head back to her car and leave.
00:56:53
Speaker
And another girl comes out and says, hey, Mr. Alpha wants to see you. And she's like, okay. And so she just follows this girl into this building. And she takes her up to Mr. Alpha's office. Turns out Mr. Alpha is Benito Ramirez's manager. And he's like, hey, I heard what happened at the gym.
00:57:09
Speaker
That was not okay. I'm so sorry. I'm struggling to keep him under control right now. I don't know what to do. And she's like, you need to keep him under control. That's not okay. I will file charges if it happens again. Like he's like, i I'll take care of him. I'll talk to him. I'll make sure it doesn't happen.
00:57:25
Speaker
Spoiler alert. It keeps happening. So then she's driving around looking for Morelli and she's like she sees him driving in a van. ah we missed this part where she like before he finds out he has she has the Cherokee.
00:57:40
Speaker
Like, she passes him in the street. And he's like, wait a minute, that's my van. Who the fuck's in my van? He whips around this... this Or with my Cherokee. He whips around this van and is like, let me in. And she's like, come on, you can come with me. I'm going to the police station anyways.
00:57:54
Speaker
saved me a lot of trouble. You can just follow me there. Like, it was very funny. That was in the book and in the movie. It was quite funny. In the movie, though, she has... Which happens much later in the book, but she has the one guy.
00:58:06
Speaker
Clarence. Yeah. No, in the movie. No, in the movie she has the old man. in The naked old man. I do love. see I do love throughout the book, um and we are going to probably run out of time, so I won't talk about them. But in the book, she does pick up a few other FTAs in order to get a few bucks here and there to carry her over.
00:58:26
Speaker
And I like that because that's how the job really works. you You never work in just one. You're trying to like balance it all out. So I thought that was really cool.
00:58:37
Speaker
ah The next day, Stephanie goes to the laundromat to wash her freaking clothes and sees Morelli drive past in the van. So she runs out of the laundromat and sees him in, like follows him to the back of a deli.
00:58:54
Speaker
And she goes to get out of the Cherokee. And just as she steps out, he jumps out at her and is like, give me back my car. And she's like, no. And he's like, well, it wouldn't do me any good to drive it around anyways. It's I'm too noticeable. You can drive it. It's freaking fine. But you're not getting out of here that easy. I'm not going to let you follow me. And he throws the keys in the dumpster.
00:59:15
Speaker
but Which happened like way earlier. in I mean, it didn't happen with his keys, but it happened with... Her keys the movie. Her keys in the movie. In the first 15 minutes. Yeah. But also he said, make sure you're not making any calls on the phone.
00:59:29
Speaker
Yeah. Too late. She done racked up a bill. She didn't call their mom. Right? So she has to go dumpster diving for those keys. i have a note on that one.
00:59:40
Speaker
i literally... Where did it go? here It says dumpster and then dot dot dot. This is where I leave. Like I would quit that job so fast. Like nope you can keep the car. I don't need it.
00:59:54
Speaker
ah It's not just any dumpster either. It's like the dumpster behind a deli. So there's all kinds of like half eaten food in there and empty saw like bits of sauce and it's just gross.
01:00:05
Speaker
It's just gross. So.
Final Confrontations and Explosive Climax
01:00:07
Speaker
ah um So then she goes after another um fda Lonnie Dodd. He is supposed to be like a first time auto thief, but he ends up a lot harder than she thought. He steals her gun.
01:00:20
Speaker
She calls Ranger to come help. Ranger comes to help, and he gets shot um in the thigh and is just all like, eh, it's whatever. Like, we got him. Here's your shit. But in the movie, he gets shot, like, in the chest, but he's wearing, like, vest. A Kevlar, yeah.
01:00:38
Speaker
And um he's just like, all right, gotta go to, like, my next case or whatever. and then she's like, okay. And it's like, no big deal. i' like, okay, In the book, he actually gets...
01:00:50
Speaker
Yeah. In the book, he gets shot in the thigh and he goes to the hospital to get stitches or whatever. She comes home. She has decided that she's going to ah she's got her phone turned back on. Right. That was one of the things she did with the money from the one of her other FTAs was get her phone turned back on so that if Benito Ramirez shows up again, she can call.
01:01:13
Speaker
And she bought an answering machine from the appliance dude. So now she's at home and she's getting a late night call of Benito Ramirez clearly torturing someone.
01:01:26
Speaker
and he like she can hear the girl like crying for help and crying and saying that she's hurt. And she's smart enough to hang up and switch the answering machine to ah pick up after one ring and Benito calls back. And so the answering machine starts recording all this.
01:01:43
Speaker
The next day she decides to go back to the scene of the crime again. And ask some more people about like what's going on. And she finds out that one of the witnesses. Another one of the witnesses has been killed.
01:01:57
Speaker
And so she's like the witnesses to the original crime keep dying. Something's going on here. it could be Joe. But I don't think it's Joe. ah So then she goes behind that the houses.
01:02:10
Speaker
And she decides she's going to like. kind of look around back there and there's not really a lot going on back there. It kind of butts up against some other houses. And so she starts talking to the people in those other houses about what's going on. And um the only, you know, nobody seems to have noticed anything, but one guy who really old man is like, you know, person,
01:02:29
Speaker
going This place is going to hell. you know it's It's just all loud back here. There's always trouble. you know in The fire the other night or whatever. And she's like, do you remember anything about this when this happened? And he was like, all I remember is that refrigerator truck out here being on all night and I couldn't hear a damn thing. So I didn't hear anything at all.
01:02:47
Speaker
And she was like, oh, okay, but bye. See ya. So then she takes some beer down to Lula and Jackie to ask some more questions and maybe like, have you seen anything? Have you heard anything?
01:03:04
Speaker
And right off the bat, the both of them are like, hey, we can't, we can't talk to you. This is getting bad. And she was like, well, what about, we heard anything about Ramirez? And Lula is like, he's bad news, girl. He's known to hurt people real bad. And girls don't say no to him.
01:03:20
Speaker
They're not allowed to say no to him. You know, so she's like, okay, thanks. um She gets another threatening call from Ramirez. And then she calls her cousin ah also this is a very new jersey thing everybody's a cousin like she's related everybody she got cousins everybody shoot at one point she visits the cousin at the i don't remember she's like i visited visited my cousin at the bakery or something and i was like what that's a new one like i didn't have that one on the list you know but she calls her cousin who's a cop and is like hey can you show me how to handle this gun and so they start she
01:03:56
Speaker
her cousin, the cop is like, you're in a dangerous situation. Let's start like every day after work. Right. It's, i don't know if, if he's her cousin or if like the wife, that's her cousin's husband, cousin-in-law. I couldn't.
01:04:11
Speaker
Cause she says something and he says, yeah, she goes, yeah. And so like, whatevs either way, everybody's related. So they he's going to start taking her to the range every single day.
01:04:27
Speaker
After they go to the range this first time, she goes and takes him out for pizza and beer. And he says – she tells him about what's going on with Ramirez. She's like, if anything happens to me, i just want you to know this is where you should look.
01:04:42
Speaker
ah He's like, well, you should file charges. And she's like, I don't think I'm ready to do that yet. I'm like in the job that I'm in now. Nobody's taking me seriously. What would happen if I came whiny girl? And, you know, then everybody would know I couldn't handle myself.
01:04:56
Speaker
And he's like, it's not like that. And she's like, yeah, kind of is. So she goes home and she decides that, like, she locks everything up.
01:05:08
Speaker
She's just going to go to bed and try to get a good night's sleep. But, you know, she's all these threats from Benito Ramirez. She's a little nervous. Well, she wakes up the next morning. The sun's shining in the windows. It's a beautiful day. She goes to open the curtains.
01:05:21
Speaker
And there's Lula strung up on the fire escape. And of course, she she freaks out. let's So she calls 911 and brings Lula in. In the movie, Lula is outside in the street. like She looks out the window and somebody dumps Lula out of the a moving car kind of into the street.
01:05:41
Speaker
And obviously, this is a message from Benito Ramirez, right? And Benito Ramirez is like, did you get my gift? did you like It calls her. calls her She's pulled Lula in. He calls her again.
01:05:54
Speaker
There's cops in the building and everything. She lets like hits record on the answering machine. He's like, did you get my gift? I can see you right now. i saw you pull her in. Like, I know what I could do to you what I did to Lula. Like, he's just over the top. So she's recording this. The cops in there are like, what the fuck is happening? Because even the cops are messed up with this right now.
01:06:16
Speaker
Mm hmm. And so she goes to, like, try to figure out, like, what am I going to kind of do now, right? She goes with Lula to the hospital, picks up Jackie. She's sitting there. She's trying to figure out what am I going to do.
01:06:34
Speaker
She's like freaked out. Like she at this point, like she's like super freaked out because she feels responsible for people getting hurt. Right. Because she just talked to these people.
01:06:47
Speaker
Exactly. And now they're getting hurt and they're getting attacked, possibly killed because she would talk and spoke to these people. And I thought in the movie, this part was done really well.
01:07:00
Speaker
And I could really feel Stephanie's like emotions. Exactly. During honest this part. She's like going to the gun range and like practicing, practicing. like she's not sleeping. And like exactly like the tears in her eyes.
01:07:14
Speaker
And then she's like freaking out, freaking out. And then she goes into apartment and there's Morelli in her apartment.
01:07:25
Speaker
Yes. And not just Morelli's in the apartment. Morelli's in the apartment and he's cooking. Yeah. Yeah. And I will say I did like this part in the book. I was like, ooh, okay.
01:07:38
Speaker
now and Now in the movie, he's like just cooking whatever he can find in the refrigerator, which is basically just eggs. Yeah. um He's making a omelet. In the book, he's like got wine. He's but baked potatoes already in the oven. And he said, when I put the steaks on, the minute I saw you pull in the lot, like they're ready to go.
01:08:02
Speaker
Come have a seat. And so like he's like, I need your help. And she's like, excuse me, what And he's like, listen, you want $10,000. The only way you're going to get that $10,000 is if I let you bring me in.
01:08:15
Speaker
And I'm willing to do that if you can help me find the missing witnesses. And she's like, okay, I guess. So, yeah. ah He decides he's going to put bugs in the apartment.
01:08:30
Speaker
Because at this point, we know that Benito Ramirez is going to continue to to harass her. And he's like, A, it would keep you safer.
01:08:41
Speaker
And that way i can help keep you safe. And b we might be able to get a confession out of him. Because they're all they're all convinced that Benito Ramirez is is probably the bad guy here, right?
01:08:53
Speaker
um Like, we know he's a bad guy, but we think he might be the bad guy. So they talk about, like, he's going to set up these bugs. And he's going to let have her wear a wire while she's canvassing down this bad neighborhood again.
01:09:09
Speaker
The tension of putting on the wire in the movie. Yes. That was pretty good. I'm not going lie. That was pretty good. You know I like a good tension scene. it was pretty good. Also, there was some like innuendo in the book where he's like, i could she he said me something about like the beast and he was like, I'll show you the beast again if you want. And I'm pretty sure this is also where he's like, we can play choo-choo again, which is when I went, aw, you just ruined good scene. It totally was that part. I remember that. And i was like, oh my god, just shut up. you Idiot.
01:09:40
Speaker
Pretty much. So then she's going She goes down to the the bad neighborhood Stark Street and she's going to walk up and down the street and canvas again and ask more questions. And it's hot.
01:09:52
Speaker
Nobody's really talking to her. It's the same people as always. She finally just goes to stand next to the car and up walks Jackie with a cold Coke. Excuse me.
01:10:03
Speaker
And she says, like, Jackie's like, it's hot out here, girl. What are you doing? You know, and she's like, oh, you know, I didn't think that you were going to talk to me. And she's like, well, I can't help watching you suffer or whatever. And as Jackie is talking to her Benito Ramirez is sneaking up behind her.
01:10:21
Speaker
Jackie was forced to set her up. So there's Benito Ramirez. He is like, I got you, girl. It grabs her neck and is like holding her.
01:10:33
Speaker
And he like she says something smart ass to him about like you can't I'm i'm leaving here. This isn't going to work. He punches her in the face like square in the face like afraid that she's broken her jaw. Right.
01:10:46
Speaker
And she whips out that spray. she She knees him in the shin. She whips out that spray and is right in his face. And he goes down. And this is, of course, Mr. Alpha and Jackie and some other guy come running out. And they're like, oh, my God, are you okay? And the one guy is like, you're going to be okay, man, to to Ramirez.
01:11:06
Speaker
And Mr. Alpha is like, like Stephanie, are I'm so sorry. like this and she's like, I'm calling the cops. I'm going to go report him. this is This can't happen. And he's like, just give it one more day. Just give it one more day. Rest on it.
01:11:18
Speaker
Think on it. I'll talk him i'll get him. I'll talk to him. I'll get him some help. And she's like, I'm leaving. So she she gets in her car and she goes to leave. and She drives around a little bit and she ends up going home.
01:11:31
Speaker
So she goes home and Morelli's there. and he's ah basically like, I can't stay here. They figured out that that's my van. I got to go. But we've got you've got to stay close enough for me to hear you. She's like, whatever.
01:11:45
Speaker
So she stays home. The next morning, the guy, Morty something or other, Byers, who was the original bounty hunter on the case, he and ended up getting appendicitis. And that's when Stephanie got the case. But now he's better and he wants his case back.
01:12:08
Speaker
And she's like, fine, fine. Vinny said I can only have a week anyways. So he goes to take the case back and he steals the keys and he goes to steal the car.
01:12:20
Speaker
And she sees him and the car blows up.
01:12:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. Bye Morty. Bye Morty. Like pretty much. Bye Morty. Whoops.
01:12:38
Speaker
Excuse me. So. i Stephanie is freaking out at this point. She's got black eyes. She's busted up.
01:12:50
Speaker
This car just blew up. She was out there when it happened. She lost her eyebrows. And her mom calls her and says, are you coming for dinner? I made stuffed shells. And she's like, yes, I'm coming for dinner.
01:13:03
Speaker
I need that. And I feel that. I absolutely feel that. I am a mama's homemade pasta kind of person. So I get it.
01:13:15
Speaker
Oh, I have a note. And it all it says is sent me into orbit. Page two. Oh, because she said because she said it almost sent me into orbit. The card. yeah. I thought of Carrie.
01:13:27
Speaker
um but So then she she goes to dinner with her mom. She comes home. Morelli's there. And he's like, you want to talk about it? And she's like, no.
01:13:38
Speaker
He says, you're scared and you're sad. But. You don't have to be because we're the good guys and the good guys always win. And i
01:13:48
Speaker
found that to be weird, kind of. It was just so not Morelli that for that to come out, it it seemed almost forced. But I guess in a good way. i don't know.
01:14:00
Speaker
Yeah. Anyways, Stephanie decides the next day to go buy a blender. For margarita. For margarita. It came with free margarita mix. And girl, I get that. like Yeah.
01:14:11
Speaker
Do it. You need it after all this. yeah i mean, you almost got blowed up. So yeah go get oh have you a margarita, girl. Get that blender.
01:14:22
Speaker
So she she goes to get a blender and she notices across the street is the Sal's butcher shop. And she's like, you know what? Maybe I'll go in there. Maybe I'll go in there. Ziggy used to go there. I'll see if there's anything obvious. She goes in and she sees the like the smashed face man, the the the gone, the missing witness that everybody's been looking for.
01:14:44
Speaker
and she says to Sal the butcher, Who's that guy? Sal the butcher is kind of like, why do you want to know? he's hes works from the distributor. like That's this Louis. it's you know and And she's like, oh Louis, huh?
01:15:02
Speaker
And then she decides to follow like louis leaves and Sal closes up shop and leaves with him and she's like, I'm following him. like In the this part, I forget how the timeline is in the book at this exact part, but in the movie, this part was cracking me up because she's like, oh, that's his name? Because Joe is listening to it like through the microphone that she has hidden.
01:15:29
Speaker
She's like, oh, his name is this, and he's gonna be in the alley behind the building? oh she's like, oh, he's gonna be here for this long?
01:15:43
Speaker
Okay. Oh, great.
01:15:47
Speaker
you I'm going to walk north on 30th. He was oh, geez. Okay. He's going to be checking out these giant barrels full of stuff. What's in the barrels?
01:15:59
Speaker
It was very like, oh, okay. Because she's trying to get joe to hear her because and get his ass there to go see him.
01:16:10
Speaker
So, of course, he's not moving fast enough. But yeah that's not how it goes in the book. In the book, she decides to follow them. Follows them out to some marina. And she so she, like, backtracks. There's only one way into this marina. So she backtracks to the gas station down kind of down the corner.
01:16:30
Speaker
And calls from a payphone to her own answering machine and is like, Joe, if you're there, you need to call this number for me. Like, you need to call. I'm going to be standing right here. This is what's going on. And he doesn't pick up.
01:16:41
Speaker
And so she calls again. She's like you need to fucking call me. And so she's she waits there. And she sees Benito Ramirez's yellow Porsche go fly. Now, I have to tell you, I've already put together, like, a little ways before. I put it about the car bomb is when I was like, okay, I know what's going on now.
01:16:59
Speaker
But, well, no, it was when Benito was in the street. that I figured it out like after she sprayed him anyways. So she sees Bonito's Porsche, yellow Porsche flying down towards the Marina. And she's like, Oh my God, I knew it.
01:17:12
Speaker
And then a little while later he leaves again, but it's a two seater Porsche. So she knows that either Bonito left alone or Bonito left with Sal or Louie, but there's at least one guy still out there.
01:17:29
Speaker
And of course this is when Joe shows up and he's like, okay, let's go check it out. And they go check it out and there's nobody out there. There's nobody out there at all. There's a boat that says Sal's gal. So they look at the boat and there's some stuff on the boat and they're like, what's going on here?
01:17:44
Speaker
And then they decide to open up the refrigerator truck, the butcher the butcher shop truck. And so they go to open it up and there's Sal and Louie and they've both been shot in the head they're dead.
01:17:57
Speaker
And this is the first time Stephanie's ever seen a dead animal out or dead dead animal dead i said outside of a funeral. And so she like starts to get sick. And he's like, you're going to contaminate the crime scene. Don't throw up.
01:18:09
Speaker
And she's like, not going to throw up Joe Morelli.
01:18:14
Speaker
It's very, very funny. um And basically, like they go to open one of the barrels. They see that...
01:18:28
Speaker
They open it up and it's, it's Carmen, the, the, one of the witnesses that, that disappeared. And he's like, shit, all my witnesses are dead now. I'm still going to like, I, she was Morelli's informant.
01:18:41
Speaker
Informant. Exactly. So he's like, all my witnesses are dead now. I don't know how to get out of here.
01:18:47
Speaker
And, and something kind of like, like light bulb flickers. In Stephanie's head. And she's like. But I can still take you in. And she slams the the refrigerator truck door down. And latches it so he can't get out. And she jumps in the truck. And she's going to drive him in.
01:19:07
Speaker
And in the book. That's how that happens. In the movie. The reveal happens before that. The whole reveal happens. And I'm not going to tell you. Because I'm going to tell you the book reveal.
01:19:21
Speaker
So. and She drives him into the cop shop and she's basically like, hey, I got Morelli on the back of this truck, but it might take you a few guys to get him out because he's really pissed. And she opens up the door and he tackles her, just dives out and tackles her.
01:19:42
Speaker
but The cops, you know, kind of rip him more off of her. They go to book him and she gets the receipt for the for bringing him in. And she goes home and the next day the $10,000 is wired into her account.
01:19:56
Speaker
She's obviously very happy, but also kind of really sad because she didn't want to have to turn in Joe and she knows he's innocent at this point, but there's no way to prove it. Right?
Stephanie's Resolution and Future Plans
01:20:08
Speaker
Yeah.
01:20:10
Speaker
Well, she decides she's going to take a shower. She's going to just chill. She goes, gets in the shower and, or goes into the bathroom and realizes, wait a minute.
01:20:23
Speaker
I didn't leave that window open. Why is it drafty in here? And so she goes to look and there's been a hole cut in her window. So she knows it wasn't Benito Ramirez because he's, he doesn't care. he would have just broken the window. She's like, this is somebody who's smart. What's going on?
01:20:40
Speaker
And there's Mr. Alpha with the gun saying like, the only way I'm going to get free of this now is if you die too. so you know, I'm going to call Benito and he's going to come, you know, handle you and then I'll kill him.
01:20:58
Speaker
and I'll say it was self-defense because you called me to help you or whatever. And she's like, but why Tell me why. and he's basically like, i I was trying to diversify my funds because I knew Benito wouldn't last forever and I ended up getting stuck in a drug smuggling ring and you know Benito and Ziggy always messed everything up and Carmen was going to tell Morelli. That's why he went there that night and he basically reveals everything.
01:21:31
Speaker
And like a villain monologue. It was, it was, it was a hardcore monologue, like tells the whole story. And Stephanie's like trying to inch her way into the other room because she knows Benito's on the way. And she knows that this is just a horrible, like, she's like, I got to get to my gun. I got to get to my gun.
01:21:49
Speaker
And she manages to get to the gun in the in her purse in the kitchen. And as Mr. Alpha is figuring out what's happening, he turns around and he goes to to shoot at her, but she shoots him right through her purse and everything.
01:22:01
Speaker
And manages to call the police, even though she's been shot, but she got shot in the butt. And so she manages to call the police just before she passes out and the police get there as Benito's climbing up the fire escape. They arrest Benito.
01:22:19
Speaker
ah Jimmy Elf is dead. And the whole confession was recorded on one of the wire bugs that Morelli had installed in the apartment.
01:22:30
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So basically everything gets wrapped up. At the end, kind of my favorite part was just like I have it written down as pizza and beer recap.
01:22:40
Speaker
And I really liked that. It was like he showed up with a pizza and some beer and they talked about what happened. And like, you know, he's been reinstated back into the force kind of thing. And he's like, are you going keep You know, being a bounty hunter. And she was like, yeah, I think I am.
01:22:58
Speaker
And he's well, you're need to get some furniture. And he sits down on the floor and eats the pizza and turns on the game because she's still got his television. And that was it. The end. I like how the movie did the whole...
01:23:12
Speaker
ending or like the, all the reveals too. Like, I know they have to make it shorter because, you know, you can't have a super long movie. And they just basically smushed all the reveals with the part whenever they're at that location and they the With the refrigerator truck, exactly. In the refrigerator truck. All the reveals are like happening at the same time.
01:23:36
Speaker
But there's this part where she's like, looking for the gun whenever he's, like, getting his kicked. And she's, like, trying find the gun. And then she, like, won't, like, shoot them because she's, like, freaked out by it.
01:23:52
Speaker
Well, he's, like, he's she's, like, well, you're kind of in the way. Like, i no, I don't like this. And so she yeah puts it back and she just gets the spray again Yeah. And then at the very end, so all the reveals happen. And then she does the thing where she closes the truck door on him and says like i'm gonna take you in and she calls the station and she's like was good i got like four bodies uh morelli and a shot in my ass and i'm on my way and like something like that and that was cute funny i mean i loved it was really cute um i think as far as the movie goes i mean how do we feel
01:24:35
Speaker
I mean, i but I pretty much told you how I felt. I mean, and I really didn't like the book at all, like I said, but the movie wasn't very good. i it wasn't. It really wasn't.
01:24:51
Speaker
her I could think of like so many other... I actually really like Katherine Heigl. But I could think of so many other actors that could have played Stephanie Plum better yeah for this part.
01:25:10
Speaker
So i just, I did not like her for this specific part, but I do like Katherine Heigl a lot. And it just was like, i don't know. It was just lame. That's like the only word I can think of is just lame.
01:25:26
Speaker
I don't know. I think for me, and like I said it already, it just... I want to be able to solve the mystery. They did not give me enough clues to come to the conclusion. Yeah.
01:25:41
Speaker
Too many phone calls with a random woman. Just... Out of nowhere. Lindsay, what did you think of the movie? I mean, maybe if you could separate it from the book...
01:25:53
Speaker
maybe it would be okay as just a standalone movie. ah But it's it still had its moments. And the fact that Stephanie was so ditzy, it's kind of annoying.
01:26:05
Speaker
I don't know. it It was okay. Yeah. That's kind of how I feel. I bought this book used. I'm a huge fan of used books. when I bought it, I was like, well, i buy might as well buy like the next few in the series. Cause I love mystery series.
01:26:22
Speaker
So I have the first four and i don't know that I'm going to read the rest. I, I just, I have them. i know they're quick, easy reads, but I'm not really that interested.
01:26:33
Speaker
You know, there was nothing about any of these characters that had me hooked. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. just strike Just Ranger. Just Ranger.
01:26:45
Speaker
just right but yeah wonder if he got a standalone. um' I'll have to look into that. Yeah.
Hosts' Reflections on Reading Experience
01:26:51
Speaker
So that brings us to the question of the episode, which as a mystery lover, I'm kind of excited to hear. What are your favorite mystery crime solving sleuthing television shows?
01:27:06
Speaker
There's a ton out there. For decades now. It's it's such a huge um genre. And I wonder what you guys like. Lindsay.
01:27:18
Speaker
Lindsay go first. Okay I'll go first. So some older shows. That I really enjoyed. Were Monk. And Psych.
01:27:29
Speaker
Oh my gosh. I love those shows. I love them too, but I hate that you're calling them older. Carry on. Well, I say older because I am currently watching one that is currently on TV with new episodes, but which is Will Trip.
01:27:45
Speaker
Okay. Isn't that, that's based on ah series a book series. It is. It is based on the Will Trip book series. By Karen Slaughter. I don't know that part.
01:27:56
Speaker
I just know the show. think it's by Karen Slaughter, but I have to look up to confirm that. The TV show is really good. And there's another one that just came out that's similar to Psych.
01:28:10
Speaker
It's called High Potential. it has Caitlin Olsen in it, who is from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She plays Dee. I like both of those shows. Well, I can't say I like High Potential, but I like Caitlin Olsen, so I'll probably like it.
01:28:27
Speaker
Alright. What have you got, Carrie? I just confirmed it is by Karen Slaughter. Just wanted to put that in there. I don't really... detective shows, are I don't really gravitate towards those a lot.
01:28:44
Speaker
Like when I think of detective, sometimes they'll have or like a mystery show. and They'll have like a like a fantasy element in there. Like sometimes i I always think like Buffy or Angel is almost like a mystery type show because it does have like a detective type element to it.
01:29:02
Speaker
For sure. But a real like detective show that I really loved was Veronica Mars. I knew it. Yeah, and that was like one of my favorite shows. Love that show. I've seen it several times.
01:29:15
Speaker
it's It's so good. Love that. I love...
01:29:19
Speaker
a i love A lot of older mystery shows. But when I say older mystery shows, i mean Matlock and Murder, She Wrote. and But specifically, I like the new Matlock with Kathy Bates.
01:29:35
Speaker
It's really freaking good. i was I watched on the first couple episodes with my mom just because it was something on television. And I was like, ooh, okay, I like this.
01:29:46
Speaker
so So, yeah. That's some of my favorites right now. I'm trying to think of anything else that that's out there. the Well, Only Murders in the Building. Has anybody watched that? Oh, I love Only Murders. Yeah.
01:30:00
Speaker
I haven't seen that one yet. I keep meaning to, but I never do. Well, all right, ladies. That was an interesting episode. It was. It was.
01:30:12
Speaker
i I love when we do things that we end up not really loving that much because I think it gives us a little bit more to talk about. And it definitely, you know, I wouldn't have read this if it wasn't for us. So now I know not to read the other 30. I'm happy we read it because I see it on every bookshelf.
01:30:31
Speaker
When I go, I'm a big thrifter. I go thrift shopping all the time. I love getting used books and I see it on every freaking bookshelf all the time. I see this author all the time. so I'm happy I tried it.
01:30:44
Speaker
Now we know. well know It was super fun gabbing with you about Stephanie Plum, everyone's kind of favorite detective. but but Don't forget to sleuth out our socials on Blue Sky Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Follow us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Please leave us a comment. We absolutely love it.
01:31:09
Speaker
Love hearing from you guys. The conversations are always fun. And join us next week for another mystery of the next chapter based on a book. Bye.