The Spellman Files – Lisa Lutz

May 2, 2009 by shanyn

Title: The Spellman Files
Author: Lisa Lutz

From Booklist: Fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series will enjoy this clever debut (the first in a series) featuring Izzy Spellman, an irrepressible 28-year-old sleuth who works for her parents’ San Francisco PI firm. Members of the dysfunctional and relentlessly nosy Spellman clan include Izzy’s 14-year-old sister, Rae, who engages in recreational surveillance (a fancy term for tailing people just for kicks), and her uncle Ray, a cancer survivor and recovering health-food addict who regularly disappears on liquor-drenched “Lost Weekends.” Scenes showcasing the relationships among the various Spellmans are often laugh-out-loud funny. (The novel’s prologue is an amusing example of the boundaries–or lack thereof–between Izzy and her mom and dad). Alas, bit after comic bit does not a mystery novel make, and only toward the end does Lutz pick up the narrative pace. Addicted to Get Smart reruns and forever attracted to the wrong kind of men, Izzy Spellman is definitely an appealing heroine; all this series needs to become a smashing success is a more generous dose of story and suspense.

I picked up this book at the library after recommendation in a book forum. I had a long list of authors that were recommended, and Lisa Lutz ended up being one of the only ones that was actually at my library – but I’m glad! I read this book in about a day (largely due to the fact that I work at a job that allows me to read sometimes), but even when I came home after my work shift I sat down to finish it because I loved the characters and the plot.

At first I was confused with the layout, because there are many different stories going on at once. Once I got a grip on the changes, I made sure I read the chapter titles (which I find I don’t normally do), and I was then able to keep track of the story.

I have been reading quite a few mysteries lately (I’m going to review some today, you’ll see what I mean) – and sometimes I have trouble keeping track of all of the characters or figure out the mystery too fast. The Spellman Files was an excellent book to get me back into mysteries and raise my faith in the genre. I loved all of the characters, laughed out loud a few times, and immediately started reading Curse of the Spellmans (book number 2). I am already sad that I don’t have book 3, but am hoping it will be at the library the next time I stop in.

Rating: 4.5/5

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• Revenge of the Spellmans – Lisa Lutz