A Goodreads user
asked:
Is this the last one? Stephanie is 54 years old now, isn't it time to pull the trigger and end the series? (In the first book she's 30; it's now been 24 years since One for the Money came out).
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Look Alive Twenty-Five,
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Wendy
Answer to those tired of the series- You can always choose to not read any more of this series. There are many other series out there.....
Helen
I hope this series will never end--it is just pure fun. I love Stephanie Plum. The ultimate bumbling bounty hunter with a heart. She's like the Lucille Ball of crime fiction. I grew up in New Jersey, though not in Trenton, and she is the perfect Jersey girl. Though I do think it is time to pick: Morelli or Ranger. I love the Burg, her mother, her grandmother. These books are the only ones that have ever caused me to laugh my head off. Remember Mr. Lumpy?
Chrystal D Leyva
I love this series and agree with whomever said don't read them if you are tired of them. They are like brain candy.
PugMom
I will never get tired of Lula. Sometimes I need a little Lula in my life.
Kat Lebo
The novel timeline isn't meant to match the IRL timeline. If you followed Sue Grafton's multi-book Kinsey Millhone aphabet series, you'd know that the novels never grew out of the 1980s (25 books in that series, I believe, as Grafton passed away prior to finishing the "Z" installment. And Carole Nelson Douglas's "Midnight Louie" series ended after 28 books (well, actually after 32 if you count the 4-book romance series), and although technology advanced with the books, the timeline didn't move quite as quickly.
However, if you're ready for it to end, you really don't have to keep reading them, you know. I've stopped following a couple of series just because I lost interest in the characters after many books. It's okay. For me, I'll keeping reading the Stephanie's as long as Evanovich is willing to write them!
However, if you're ready for it to end, you really don't have to keep reading them, you know. I've stopped following a couple of series just because I lost interest in the characters after many books. It's okay. For me, I'll keeping reading the Stephanie's as long as Evanovich is willing to write them!
KD
Stephanie isn't 54 years old. *rolls eyes* Just because a year has passed with each book for us, does not mean the time has been the same in the fictional world of Stephanie Plum. Think of it as a month between instead of a year between each book.
Leslie Maillie
She still continues to make me laugh and so I would love to see the series continue. If you don't like them anymore then don't read them. I look forward to her new book every single year. Keep 'em coming!
Lorraine Berry
I really love this series but i do agree with Helen - she needs to pick the guy and i would prefer it be Ranger btw. I also think the series has gone on long enough and look forward to some sort of conclusion to the saga
Elena
I'm ready for the series to be over as well. They were a lot of fun up to about #21 or #22. It's gotten to the point where it's not fun anymore, Stephanie just sucks and is a loser. Not even Grandma Mazur or Lula can save this series anymore.
sublimosa
Crap, I'm going to be 54 in 6 years, do I have to pull the trigger then? Will my life be over?
M.
I listen to these on Audible & laugh out loud a LOT!! Love this series! At the end of some of the books, Janet & the narrater, Loralei King talk about the series and answer this question. Stephanie is ALWAYs 30-something & always will be. She will always be able to eat donuts & not get obese! If you've never listened, give it a try. It makes the miles fly by!
Fred Svoboda
I think that she still is thirty, maybe thirty-two tops. We're in Never-Never Land here, not in the real world.
Steph
No, this is not the last book, and I don't expect the last one to come anytime soon as Evanovich has been quoted saying that she never wants this series to end.
There are two reasons why Stephanie isn't in her 50s after 24 books. The first is that each book does not equal 1 year of her life. Even though the technology improves at the rate of publication, each subsequent book is set anywhere from a few days to a few months after its predecessor. So, if the average time lapse between books is 3-4 months, she would only be in her late 30s by book 24.
However, the second and most important reason why Stephanie is perpetually 30-years-old is the fact that Evanovich said Stephanie will never age. I’ve been listening to the audio books since #9 or 10, and several books in the low to mid-teens had interviews between the author and narrator tucked in at the end as a bonus track. Much like the series, these interviews were copy & paste versions of each other where pretty much the same questions & answers were given, and the question regarding Stephanie and her apparent fountain of youth was asked in just about every interview. Alas, while the seasons come and go and Valerie’s children continue to grow, we will never see growth from Stephanie, whether it be in age, fiscal responsibility, or competence with regards to the physical side of being a bounty hunter apparently.
I would LOVE for Stephanie to wake up one day and realize that her strengths lie in tracking down and knitting together clues to make sense of the crazy schemes she stumbles upon. I think she’d make a fantastic detective, whether working for the police or as a private agent!
There are two reasons why Stephanie isn't in her 50s after 24 books. The first is that each book does not equal 1 year of her life. Even though the technology improves at the rate of publication, each subsequent book is set anywhere from a few days to a few months after its predecessor. So, if the average time lapse between books is 3-4 months, she would only be in her late 30s by book 24.
However, the second and most important reason why Stephanie is perpetually 30-years-old is the fact that Evanovich said Stephanie will never age. I’ve been listening to the audio books since #9 or 10, and several books in the low to mid-teens had interviews between the author and narrator tucked in at the end as a bonus track. Much like the series, these interviews were copy & paste versions of each other where pretty much the same questions & answers were given, and the question regarding Stephanie and her apparent fountain of youth was asked in just about every interview. Alas, while the seasons come and go and Valerie’s children continue to grow, we will never see growth from Stephanie, whether it be in age, fiscal responsibility, or competence with regards to the physical side of being a bounty hunter apparently.
I would LOVE for Stephanie to wake up one day and realize that her strengths lie in tracking down and knitting together clues to make sense of the crazy schemes she stumbles upon. I think she’d make a fantastic detective, whether working for the police or as a private agent!
Mary
At the end of audiobook, I think 19 or 20, there was an interview with Janet. She said she's not aging the characters.
Cherie
I enjoy the series and would like to keep reading them but I feel like the past couple of books weren't even that funny and were pretty predictable. I would just like the quality of the series to improve to where it was in the past.
Beverly Wiedemann
Actually your math is a bit off because each book happened a few days to a few months after the preceding book. So, you can count each book as 1 year in Stephanie's life. However, considering how far the series has fallen, I really hope it is the last one.
Laura Steinert
Absolutely it should be the last one--that YOU read. Stephanie is no where near 50. She probably isn't even 40 yet. This is a fictional series, (that means it is made up), and even if the stories happen the same month, it still takes a year to get the next book. You might be better off reading things printed in the 1890s.
Karen
You’re assuming the series is occurring in real time. Stephanie doesn’t age at the same rate we do. Her hamster, Rex, would be long gone if that were true and so would Bob lol. I read these in between my other books for a quick injection of fun. Reading book 26 now with 27 on order from the library. I’m sure there will be more!
Elvis
These books are just fun they make you smile and even laugh out loud if you want reality read non fiction
Emily
So, I keep seeing people commenting that Stephanie is 54 because they are laboring under the assumption that it is one year between each book. I want to point out that this is wrong, and Janet Evanovich addresses this in the series. Sometimes Stephanie makes reference to previous books, especially the most previous and says that it was just a few weeks or months ago. Though I will grant that sometimes she says last year in reference to the happenings of the previous book. The timeline isn't uniform.
Gregory Drake
I understand where you are coming from, as it took me a little while to understand just what was happening with the time line. Same thing happened to me with reading Rex Stout's novels about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. He started writing them in the 1930's until his death in 1975, I think it was. Then Robert Goldsborough (hope that is correct spelling) continued the series. Suddenly Archie was no longer using his typewriter, but was trying to work with word processor program on the office's desktop computer. I was like... wait a minute... what's with the time line????? These guys haven't really gotten much older since the 30's, but technology has progressed, etc, etc.
Some as with Wolfe's and Archie's & Fritz' world, I've come to accept that Stephanie's & Lula's & Grandma Mazur's world has a different time line than the real world. So many, many years have not actually transpired for them all. I still both of these series and both have plenty of humor in them to bring laughter to my soul in this somewhat cruel world of ours. I wouldn't trade either series for anything.....
Some as with Wolfe's and Archie's & Fritz' world, I've come to accept that Stephanie's & Lula's & Grandma Mazur's world has a different time line than the real world. So many, many years have not actually transpired for them all. I still both of these series and both have plenty of humor in them to bring laughter to my soul in this somewhat cruel world of ours. I wouldn't trade either series for anything.....
Mia Peters
Stephanie is not aging with the rest of us, clearly. I am not the least bit bothered that her timeline doesn't have anything to do with reality and that she is happily in her mid 30s. I enjoyed the update on her sister, it's been a while since we've seen her.
Melissa
The Harry Potter book series is the only I've ever read that the character aged about the same as in publishing time.
Beth
This series still makes me laugh and I really want Stephanie to pick Ranger!
Sally Lindsay-briggs
I personally don't want the series to end. It is just so much fun!
JoAnne
Stephanie is probably still 30!
Carol
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Susy
I had to stop reading them because of how silly they became and the constant Ranger/Morelli bs. I adore Granma Mazur and Lula and even her seedy boss but no way. I think I stopped at 20 or 21. I hope its the last one bc if it is I'll buy the ones that follow and get them signed to complete the series.
J Over
Stephanie never ages. I also never noticed a starting date, but the times do seem to progress as the stories go along. References to texting, Harry Potter movies, and YouTube all spring to mind.
In Takedown Twenty, chapter Seven, Grandma says, 'I gotta see Dancing with the Stars and America's Got Talent'. Those begun running in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Which gives some reference to time period after 20 novels.
Personally, the books are fine, they are light-hearted and playful, same formula as the others, but I do not read them for anything beyond an easy, fun read, now and again.
In my opinion, as Janet Evanovich is now 80, I would hope there is some end-game in mind, to have closure for the characters from the original author; yet given the type of series it is, it would not surprise me if it continued long after Evanovich herself stops writing them.
In Takedown Twenty, chapter Seven, Grandma says, 'I gotta see Dancing with the Stars and America's Got Talent'. Those begun running in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Which gives some reference to time period after 20 novels.
Personally, the books are fine, they are light-hearted and playful, same formula as the others, but I do not read them for anything beyond an easy, fun read, now and again.
In my opinion, as Janet Evanovich is now 80, I would hope there is some end-game in mind, to have closure for the characters from the original author; yet given the type of series it is, it would not surprise me if it continued long after Evanovich herself stops writing them.
Lewayne White
In Twisted Twenty Six, chapter two, Stephanie makes an off-hand comment about being 56 years old and "...still doing the same stupid stuff." Lula immediately asks her to repeat it, then corrects Stephanie, because 1) that would make Lula "...a middle aged lady..." and 2) Lula says Stephanie's "mama" is 56. This suggests that Stephanie is relatively ageless, and Evanovich has now addressed the issue, not just in interviews, but in text.
Lesa Dierking
I just read 25, and I commented that I read the first 15 or so back when they were "new" and grew tired of them and stopped. I just picked them back up a month or so again, and started again where i left off. I'm enjoying them again. Taking that break they are fresh again for me. It's worked for me. :)
Elaine
Nobody gets to retire at 54 these days. Not even Stephanie Plum. She's keeping in good shape for an "old lady".
Michele Gregorek
I started rereading the series. And I was super curious of Stephanie's age. So I got a pad and pen. Every book I write down the month thats in the book. Im on book sixteen now. And according to the months named in the books 6 years would have passed by now. And she would most definitely be on at least her third hamster by now
EMom 2
How do you figure she's 24 years older than she was in the first book? It may have taken the author 24 years to write the 31 books, but some of them take place immediately after the one before it ends. I don't think there are more than a couple months between any of the books. And most of the books take place in about a 2 week period. Those 31 stories could have taken place in a 5 year period, in book/story years.
I'm not exactly sure on the timeline, but she's in he mid 30's.
I'm not exactly sure on the timeline, but she's in he mid 30's.
LINDA SHEPARD
Besides, if Stephanie needs to age, so does Bart Simpson and poor Snoopy would be dead.
Robin Morren
I don’t think of Stephanie as 54 years old, (this is just me) I think everyone I read a story it’s just another month or day in the life of Stephanie. I mean Grandma Mazer doesn’t age.
Jane
No, she was saying how old she felt, she's actually 38.
Jim Mckitrick
We call her TSTL, Too Stupid To Live. You would think after all the time and events in the previous books she would have learned something / anything about her job, but nope. Simple thing, Why bother taking your gun when it has no bullets. point a gun at me and I will shoot you, not thinking you have no bullets. don't carry it if you are not going to use it. On the positive side, this one has a lot fewer bodies in it but a lot more sex.
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