[In the review below, Inagaki claims that Prizzi's Money is "enjoyable reading."]

George Asbury, a billionaire businessman who has served as "advisor to presidents", is kidnapped while accompanied by two men on a boat in the open sea. Amazingly enough, neither of the two men on board remember anything about Mr. Asbury's disappearance. One moment they were all on board and the next, Mr. Asbury was gone. Julia, his young wife, appears grief-stricken in public but privately knows that she and her husband had planned the kidnapping in order to escape with the ransom money and the $1.4 billion illegally siphoned from his failing companies. What she doesn't know is that her husband had secretly made a deal with the Prizzi crime family. When Julia discovers that the Prizzi family is after her for the money, she devises a bold and elaborate scheme to pull the wool over their eyes and escape with a new identity. This takes a bit of doing, however, especially when hit man extraordinaire Charley Partanna is ordered to do away with her. Julia also doesn't expect to fall in love with Charley.

Fourth in the continuing saga of the Prizzi crime family (following Prizzi's Glory, Prizzi's Family and Prizzi's Honor), Prizzi's Money brings back the now familiar members of the family including Charley Partanna, Don Corrado Prizzi, Maerose Prizzi and Edward Price. The main character, however, in this one is Julia Asbury, nee Julia Melvini, the daughter of another Prizzi hit man. Julia is brainy and brash, and clearly more than a match for anyone in the Prizzi family. Supporting characters include Julia's twin brother, a tenacious newspaper reporter, and Julia's father. Every character is entertaining, although none of them could be considered admirable. The plot is outrageous and moves at breakneck pace. The writing is witty, smooth and replete with offbeat and black humor. All these elements work together to make this book enjoyable reading.