Chapter One Summary

Stephanie Plum is a 30-year-old native of Trenton, New Jersey, a city where cars are American, houses are attached, and there's always a place to get a good calzone. Raised in a section of Trenton known as "The Burg," Stephanie is a typical Jersey girl who often wears too much eye shadow, takes no guff from anyone, and is completely devoted to her Italian-Hungarian family.

At the beginning of the book, Stephanie reminisces about her childhood relationship with neighborhood bad boy, Joe Morelli. Morelli, who is two years older than Stephanie is, lived two blocks over from the Plum house. One of four boys in a full-blooded Italian family, Morelli is known for getting into trouble and numerous conquests with women, including Stephanie. At the age of six, Stephanie ignored the warnings of her mother and followed Morelli into his father's...