Trail of the Spellmans

January 9, 2012
Three cases, all surveillance operations, start out routinely enough but prove anything but in Lutz’s engaging fifth novel featuring San Francisco PI Isabel “Izzy” Spellman and her eccentric family of investigators (after 2010’s The Spellmans Strike Again). A wife wants her husband followed; a brother wants his sister observed; and parents hire the Spellmans to keep tabs on their Berkeley freshman daughter. Things soon become more complicated as unexpected connections crop up among the initially unrelated cases. Meanwhile, siblings Rae and David are at war over an incident neither will discuss; mother Olivia is overbooked with strange new hobby classes; father Albert makes a major decision without informing his children; and Izzy, loathe to discuss her personal life, refuses to define her relationship with boyfriend Henry Stone. Lutz’s dry, biting humor is in full force, yet there’s more than a hint of melancholy to be found in Izzy’s increasingly solitary pursuits. Agent: Stephanie Kip Rostan, Levine Greenberg.

June 15, 2012

Izzy Spellman faces obstacles on all sides when a series of cases overlap and her father forbids discussion or cross-pollination of information among family members. This wouldn't be quite so bad if the family weren't behaving more strangely than usual--even for them! Izzy is aware that if she's the normal one, things can't be good. Christina Moore, who narrated the previous four books in the series, has Izzy's deadpan tone down to a science. She also sneaks an added smidgen of oddity into every character's voice, making them not merely memorable but rather unique unto the story itself. The convoluted plot and its red herrings are untangled in a way only a Spellman could manage, but every dry laugh is worth it. VERDICT Mystery collections could use an infusion of Spellmans. They go down well with bananas.--Jodi L. Israel, Birmingham, AL

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.