One for the money / Janet Evanovich.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case.

One for the Money is now a major motion picture starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum and Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

A wonderful sense of humor, an eye for detail, and a self-deprecating narrative endow Stephanie Plum with the easy-to-swallow believability that accounts for her appeal as heroine. Spontaneity and financial desperation push her into the life of a bounty hunter, a job that pits her inexperience against the charming wiles of her one-time high school seducer, who is now a purported murderer. Maneuvering around the scrappy environs of Trenton, New Jersey, Stephanie runs the gauntlet of recalcitrant criminals and puts up with a match-making Jewish mother to boot. A witty, well-written, and gutsy debut. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

First novels this funny and self-assured come along rarely; dialogue this astute and raunchy is equally unusual. The gutsy heroine introduced here is Stephanie Plum of Trenton, N.J., a recently laid-off lingerie buyer who has no job, no car and no furniture. She does have a hamster, a deranged grandmother, two caring parents and several pairs of biking shorts and sports bras. Finding work with her cousin Vinnie, she becomes a bond hunter and scrounges money enough to buy a gun, a Chevy Nova and some Mace. Her first assignment is to locate a cop accused of murder. Joe Morelli grew up in Stephanie's neighborhood. Possessed of legendary charm, he relieved Stephanie of her virginity when she was 16 (she later ran over him with a car). In her search, Stephanie catches her prey, loses him and grills a psychotic prizefighter, the employer of the man Morelli shot. She steals Morelli's car and then installs an alarm so he can't steal it back. Resourceful and tough, Stephanie has less difficulty finding her man than deciding what she wants to do with him once she's got him. While the link between the fighter and the cop isn't clear until too late in the plot, Evanovich's debut is a delightful romp and Stephanie flaunts a rough-edged appeal. Mystery Guild alternate; author tour; film rights optioned to Tri-Star. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Evanovich's debut introduces one of the funniest, most appealing new heroines to stroll down the mean streets in a long while. Stephanie Plum, a New Jersey native, is a laid-off discount lingerie buyer. Desperate for bucks, she decides to pursue a career as an "apprehension agent," tracking down scofflaws for her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie. Her first mission: to bring in Joe Morelli, a cop accused of murder. Apprehending Joe is worth $10,000--plus it offers sweet revenge for Stephanie, who first encountered Joe when he introduced her to sex behind the eclair case of the Trenton bakery where she worked in high school. But bringing in a fugitive is tougher than Stephanie thought--she's pursued by a psycho nutcase, her best informants are a couple of hookers, her borrowed car is bombed, and she shoots her expensive new handbag instead of blowing away bad guy Jimmy Alpha. Evanovich's writing is as smooth, clever, and laugh-aloud funny as Robert Parker at his best, her plot is ingenious and fresh, her dialogue is breezy, bright, and witty, and gutsy, impulsive Stephanie Plum . . . ooh-la-la! What a woman! Film rights to Tri-Star and Alternate Selection of the Mystery Guild status augur a winner in the making. ~--Emily Melton

Kirkus Book Review

Back in high school, sexy Joe Morelli relieved Stephanie Plum (among many others) of her virginity; the next time she ran into him, it was with a Buick. Now that she's gone to work as a skiptracer for her scuzzball cousin, a bail bondsman, Stephanie's already counting the $10,000 she'll get for bringing in Trenton, NJ, vice cop Joe Morelli (who survived the Buick encounter), wanted for the murder of an unarmed man. Stephanie, who's new to this kind of work, starts by dropping around Joe's place, and there he is--in the first of half a dozen encounters that always end with her not shooting or cuffing him (though he does get to use her cuffs on her) and not getting that bounty. Joe insists that Ziggy Kulesza, the guy he shot, had first drawn on him and that witnesses will back up his story--naturally, he can't produce Ziggy's gun or those witnesses just yet. In the meantime, Stephanie's crossed swords with Ziggy's employer, testosterone-rich, morals-poor heavyweight champ Benito Ramirez, who's stalking her as she stalks Joe. Stephanie strikes a deal with Joe: She'll dig up the witness who'll exonerate him, then turn him in with his full cooperation and claim the reward. If only she can find the last missing witness before he's beyond subpoena. A smartly paced debut with an irresistible heroine who, despite trouble getting her man, will have readers hooked by page three. Trenton is about to become the comic mystery's most improbable hot spot. (Mystery Guild alternate selection; film rights to Tri-Star)