Customer Reviews

The Spellman Files: Document #1

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Is it a mystery? Well, not exactly, athough it contains at least one genuine whodunit. A comedy? Again, not exactly, although the comic pacing is perfect. A coming of age tale? Hmmm, no, but several characters do come of age in the book. Drama? No, too funny, with lots of action and a minimal amount of reflecting on the meaning of events. The Spellmans are a family of private detectives who wiretap, tail, photograph and blackmail each other as an alternative to more conventional ways of showing love.

As with the charming #1 Ladies Detective Agency series, this book defies easy classification but is mesmerizing from start to finish and hilarous to boot. It could be addictive. I'll be watching for more from Lisa Lutz.

Spellman Files is a hilarious, entertaining read with snarky characters, cinematic chase scenes (with a familial twist) and spot-on dialogue. But it's really the clever, disarming voice of 28-year-old P.I. Izzy Spellman that wins you over. A strong dose family dynamics kicks this novel into a higher gear than your typical romantic comedy or suspense novel. Izzy is a private eye in a Royal Tanenbaum-esque family of private eyes who don't know boundaries when it comes to privacy or the invasion of it. One of the early scenes says it all: Izzy, sensing she's being followed in a parking garage, gets in her car and screeches out of the garage. A dizzying car chase through the steep streets of San Francisco follows and, after Izzy can't shake her tail, she stops the car, gets out, walks over to the car chasing her and, as the window rolls down, says, "Mom. Dad. This has to stop." The Spellman Files continues in that vein, with action-packed scenes followed by a comedic punch at just the right moment. You'll be laughing out loud every few pages.

Meet the Spellman Family. The older generation is made up of Albert, his wife Olivia, and his brother Ray. Albert and Olivia own and run Spellman Investigations, a PI firm in San Francisco. Among their employees are their two daughters, twenty-something Izzy and 14-year-old Rae. The only member of the family to escape the PI business is Izzy's older brother David who became a lawyer.

The family is anything but normal. Uncle Ray regularly vanishes for extended weekends and only returns when tracked down. Izzy regularly runs a complete background check on her boyfriends so her parents can't surprise her with anything later. Rae thinks "recreational surveillance" is a hobby

And no one respects anyone else's privacy. Double and triple locks on bedroom doors mean nothing. Yet that doesn't mean that people don't have secrets. And life in the Spellman house can be very entertaining and funny.

Even though this book deals with private investigators, this isn't a mystery novel. Yes, there are a few mysteries, but that isn't the point. The book is all about exploring the family dynamic of a very dysfunctional family. Yet it does it with love, warmth, and humor. We get the story from Izzy's point of view. And while she is often frustrated with her family, we can tell she loves them.

The book starts out a little slowly, but the laughs pick up as the story progresses. I found myself laughing out loud several times and chucking many more. The characters seem like types on the surface, but once we get to know them, we see so much more.

This book is quirky, offbeat, and well worth reading. If that sounds like something you would like, track down this book today.

If you love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, or if you adored Harriet the Spy when you were a kid, then you MUST read this book! The plot is not ridiculously predictible, and the characters are lovable (despite their personal quirks and flaws.) This is a quick read that's laugh-out-loud funny.

I loved this book and cannot wait until more are written. I found myself reading slower and slower towards the end, because I didn't want the fun to end. Lisa Lutz writes in such a natural way that I envisioned myself in every scene. I desperately want to be friends with the main character Isabel. Great read- highly recommend it and waiting with baited breath for the next from Lisa Lutz.

"The Spellman Files" is great. It's amusing, and often laugh-out-loud funny. The best thing about it is that it is real - the narrator, "Izzy," is droll and funny but her voice is casual and absolutely believable, and, unlike so many comedies and so many mysteries, neither the people nor the situations involved are exaggerated beyond the quite possible.

The only way to be disappointed by the book, I think, is if you go in expecting a traditional mystery novel. This book is much closer to a family comedy, or even workplace comedy, than it is to a book that hangs its story on a big mystery to be solved by the central character, preferably with gunfire. "The Spellman Files" is not one of those books, and though it is funny, it has serious underpinnings, which become evident by the end. It is about, among other things, family and the real fears that families share and protect each other against; the real fear for most of us, and for the Spellmans, isn't whether evil Professor Moriarty will push us over a cliff, but whether we'll make the mistake of stepping off a cliff of our own free will. The good news for the reader is that the Spellmans react to their fears in a very funny way.

I loved this book and really don't understand the negative reviews. To me, this family isn't dysfunctional - its very over the top eccentric and maybe a little crazy but underneath it all, the love for the family shines through.

I enjoyed Izzy and her heroic tries to get a life of her own which so far has been pretty difficult since they insist on following her on her dates. Her lists of ex-boyfriends was so funny, I was laughing out loud and now rooting for ex-boyfriend #10.

The family scenes with ex-boyfriend #9 are also laugh out loud funny especially when Rae visits him.

And speaking of Rae - I really enjoyed her. The book wouldn't have been the same without her. She may only be 14 but a very well cheographed character. Her relationships with Izzy and her Uncle Ray added so much to the book and the laugh appeal.

All you have to do is look at the cover of this book and you know you're in for an exceptional read. Just don't take it too seriously. It's a fun book.

This is a rollicking good read for anyone 11 to 99 ! Have you ever harbored ambitions to be a Private Eye? If so - this is a book for you. It has the sensibility of Get Smart, The Tennenbaums, Adaptation and has cool technical details like The Whole Nine Yards. A couple of us have read it for a book club and are happy to divulge that we're Spellman-iacs. We've already recommended it to brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews & strangers on the bus. You'll find yourself rooting for all the members of the oddball Spellman clan. They climb through windows, vandalize cars, lie-cheat'n steal, investigate one another and get one another out of jams. And they'll reportedly be back in a second volume. Get in on the action, early ! The author Lisa Lutz has an inventive, clever, sometimes daffy sense of humor. In fact, she's an accomplished screenwriter. (Her prior efforts resulted in a wacky mob-comedy/spoof starring Diane Keaton & Paul Sorvino.) The rumor is that this book has been optioned by Paramount Pictures. It will make a riproaring movie or TV series, the Wire meets the Addams Family - maybe starring a younger version of Winona Ryder or Christina Ricci? Be sure to pick up some spare copies so this author will be coaxed to keep writing ! At her first booksigning she enlisted members of the audience to read (basically, act-out) a particularly funny interrogation. -- Way cool !

This is one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. I am a librarian and have recommended this book over and over. My 19-year-old son loved it and is recommending it to his friends. Grandma's loved it. The book has a very unique approach which works well with the humor used by the author. It was Laugh-out-Loud funny! Think a cross between Bridget Jones and Stephanie Plum. If you enjoy humorous books, this is a must read! Highly Recommended!!

I really enjoyed this book. It had me laughing out loud... and really rooting for Izzy. Thank you for writing such a fun, exciting, and entertaining book. Looking forward to the next one!