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Fiction. Mystery. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:From the award-winning author of The Passenger comes the first novel in the hilarious Spellman Files mystery series featuring Isabel "Izzy" Spellman (part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry) and her highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators. Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doorsâ??but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman. Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her goâ??a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her… (more)
User reviews
While the main character does have a rebellious past and drinking, smoking, and drug use are discussed, in comparison with some other books written specifically for teens I did not feel like the content was too adult. Though, to be honest, this didn't feel like the typical type of book most teens would want to read and probably has a better audience among the college-aged crowd.
The Spellmans are one of the most unconventional dysfunctional families ever in a book, and they are hilarious. They are outrageous and over the top and have very peculiar ways of showing love. This delightful
The friend who recommended this to me knew I’d love it, because when we were young, we did a bit of “detective work” of our own.
This is for the most part a joyous romp and one of those just for fun reads. A bonus for me is that it takes place in San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Except!: Toward the end it gets very serious in three sub-plots and does so in a way that feel incongruous with the rest of the story, even though for one instance the reader is warned what will happen from practically the beginning of the book. One of these three sub-plots I did enjoy, the other two not so much as one was sad and the other (at least temporarily) heartbreaking.
I do wish the story had remained fun throughout. However, there are two more Spellman family books currently available and I am eager to read them.
The author even manages to have a bit of fun with the acknowledgement pages and the author profile in the back of the book.
This is a unique book and I recommend it if it piques your interest as it did mine. I just took some time to get to it; I’m glad that I finally read it.
The characters are all funny & enter...more Look out Plum's! Here come the Spellman's! Being an Evanovich fan I have always looked for a similar series of books. Although I have found a couple series that I like they are not really comparable to Evanovich's Plum Series. That is...up until now! Within the first few pages I was hooked! Finally another who-dun-it, funny series! My only complaint...I didn't want to see this book end! Nevertheless I was finished reading within two days.
The characters are all funny & entertaining. I couldn't wait to read the second book of the series & immediately ran out & bought it. Needless to say, the next book was also devoured within two days! If you're a fan of Evanovich or like to read P.I. based storylines this book is for you!
Funny, fast paced, entertaining read! Definitely quickly became another of my favorite authors/series!
Would-be sparky and sassy, but it falls flat. The characters are too wildly eccentric to believe, and the non-consecutive narration only gives the book a scattershot, unsatisfactory feel. Basically, everyone in the damned thing needs to just grow up.
I cannot say enough good things
Parts of the book were really quite funny. I loved the trials and tribulations that the lead character Isabel always managed to get herself into. She is not a very good liar, but seems to make her lying ability even worse by piling lie upon lie. She finds herself in some of the most ridiculous situations possible.
The family business is Spellman Personal Investigations. Mom and Dad, Rae who is 14, Isabel who is 28 and David who is 30 all work for or previously worked for (David) the company.
Their once vibrant, now deadbeat uncle comes to live with them and help with the family business which throws the entire family balance into a tailspin. Ray likes to disappear on Lost Weekends and always has to be retrieved from some nasty situation by his family.
At one point in the novel the business card that Isabel uses is displayed, the number on it is real! I of course decided to call, and the number takes you to an answering service for Spellman Investigations! How fun is that?
This series is not Stephanie Plum, but it doesn't need to be. Its an excellent book, keep an eye out for more from the Spellmans.
Should be a sob story, but it's not. This book is original, outrageous, and hilarious. As Izzy careens from one adventure to another, she is rarely at a loss for a witty quip, often to her own detriment. And yet, among all the humor and craziness, a picture of a loving and caring family emerges. And that's what makes this book a winner.
So, Izzy
Now, the rest of the family...I mean, jeez. I seriously understand why Izzy had all of those angry and violent impulses. I would too if they were my family and I'm a pretty calm and zen-like person most of the time. But I think even I would want to repeatedly slam their heads against the wall. They were just so infuriating in that completely loveable and great way. The rest of the family was also really fun...in that dysfunctional sort of way.
So, I highly recommend The Spellman Files (and the subsequent sequels). It's extremely hilarious. I remember laughing within the first page when I first read it and laughing again while re-reading it. In fact, I think I've laughed more while re-reading just because I can't help but want to warn Izzy and tell her "You think THIS is bad? Your family gets sooo much more worse down the road much to my amusement." However, I should say that The Spellman Files isn't really much of a mystery. It's sort of mystery-lite and the mystery isn't a big deal in the book. Still, The Spellman Files is amazing, zany, wacky, and (it bears repeating) hilarious. Just an all-around entertaining read.
This was a hilarious read. I cannot wait to read the next one, "Curse of the Spellmans."