Stephanie Plum is a "former lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter." Stephanie applies for a job as a file clerk with the family sleaze ball, Vinnie. However, a shortage of bounty hunters opens up the opportunity for Stephanie to capture offenders who have skipped out on their bail and to make a large amount of money fast.

Stephanie's first large case to track down a skip, or Failure To Appear (FTA), and involves neighborhood bad boy, Joseph Morelli. Morelli, who is wanted for the murder of an unarmed man, is a vice cop on the Trenton Police force. Stephanie was a conquest for Morelli when he took her virginity at age 16, the day before he left town to join the Navy. Although Stephanie sought revenge by running over Morelli with a 1953 Buick on the street three years later, Stephanie does not feel avenged but has definite qualms about taking the case. Stephanie decides to take the case when she discovers that the finder's fee on Morelli is $10,000. Complete unskilled, Stephanie is introduced to Ranger, a bounty hunter extraordinaire, who agrees to play Henry Higgins to Stephanie's Eliza Doolittle.

Morelli is elusive, and Stephanie is completely inept as a bounty hunter. On several occasions, Stephanie runs across Morelli but is unable to make the capture. Morelli remains in hiding while attempting to prove that the shooting that killed bodyguard and suspected drug dealer Ziggy Kulesza was in self-defense. With witnesses to the shooting being murdered one by one, it's obvious that the case is much more involved than Stephanie ever could have imagined. Even though Stephanie's only goal is to capture Morelli, she eventually gets involved in helping Morelli track down the information necessary to clear his name. The trail leads to prospective heavyweight boxer Benito Ramirez, a psychotic boxer with entitlement issues, who likes to hurt women. Ramirez becomes obsessed with Stephanie and plans to hurt and possibly kill her.

By accident, Stephanie finds the "mystery witness" who can clear Morelli. The plot reveals that Benito is a pawn for his manager, Jimmy Alpha, who got in too deep with a Jamaican drug cartel and is searching for a way out. Alpha decides to kill off those who can harm his financial career, one of which is Stephanie. Stephanie is shot but manages to get away from Alpha. Stephanie shoots and kills him. Due to a bug Morelli planted in Stephanie's apartment, Alpha's confession to Stephanie is recorded, clearing Morelli. Morelli returns to duty while Stephanie heals at home. Morelli turns up one night bearing beer and Pino's pizza, obviously interested in taking the relationship with Stephanie a step farther.