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Read The Spellman Files (2008)

The Spellman Files (2008)

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3.88 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0743571355 (ISBN13: 9780743571357)
Language
English
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recorded books

The Spellman Files (2008) - Plot & Excerpts

Isabel Spellman, the new Stephanie Plum, is a 28-year-old single woman from a dysfunctional family. That in and of itself is not unusual, but the particular form her family’s dysfunction takes is quite different – the family business is a private detective firm and snooping and blackmailing each other is a way of life for all family members, from the middle-aged parents down to Isabel’s tough-as-nails 14-year-old sister. The family wouldn’t be complete without debauched live-in Uncle Ray, a health-nut-turned-alcoholic-gambling-addict who periodically disappears and needs to be found and returned home. Isabel’s own checkered past – a history of recreational vandalism, drinking, marijuana, and continuing poor choice of men – makes her the target of much of her family’s scrutiny (and blackmail when her activities are uncovered). As such, she is seriously contemplating some separation and individuation, i.e., moving out of her parents’ house and quitting the family business once and for all. After negotiating with her parents, Isabel is persuaded to take one final detective case for the family before being free to make her own life.This light read was perfect for what I needed right now. Which is not to say it was a perfect book, of course. Although I enjoyed it, I found it unevenly paced with an overly slow first half and a highly accelerated second half. Surprisingly for a book of this genre, it took an awfully long time for the actual story to get started as we were treated to heavily detailed background information on Isabel and her family. The anecdotes and descriptions often brought a smile to my face but really weren’t sufficiently funny to justify 250+ pages. Then, once Isabel finally began working on her case her informants were surprisingly forthcoming when she interrogated them, even as they should have been (and often claimed to be) highly resistant to her intrusive tactics. Certain things were just too easy, and this part of the book felt a bit rushed. In terms of the book’s humor I smiled a lot, laughed out loud once or twice, and rolled my eyes occasionally. Having read a bit too much Janet Evanovich at an earlier point in my life, Isabel’s escapades and those of her quirky family members often felt like déjà vu. Honestly, though, I can’t say that detracted too much. Somehow the story worked despite its flaws, and I really liked some of the lines:“The lighting was dim for lunch, and with the candlelight and Meyers holding the chair for me and all, it felt oddly like a date. Except that Captain Meyers had no interest in me. Once again, oddly like a date.”“It was an establishment on the edge of a dive bar. The décor gave it an elegance that its clientele took away, but still, it was a safe place for a woman to sit alone, drink, and contemplate the end of a man’s life.”To Lisa Lutz’s credit, this book wasn’t claiming to be anything other than what it was and because of that, I could forgive a lot. Despite a darker twist at the end, overall the book was sufficiently light, fun, and engaging enough to make me look the other way when I needed to and just enjoy the ride. I’m giving it four stars, although the fourth may reflect the timing of my reading it rather than its actual quality.

4.5 StarsThis is the first book in the Spellman Series and I absolutely loved it. I found it refreshing and funny and although the Spellman family is bizarre, weird and bordering on completely insane, I simply adored this dysfunctional family.Isabel, who is the main protagonist and tells the story from a first person narrative, is such a great character. She's strong, feisty and a teeny bit nuts. Brought into the family business, a private detective agency, and the life of a PI at the age of twelve meant that Isabel's teenage years were far from normal. She didn't help the matter by becoming a delinquent, and, with the help of her best friend Petra, causing complete havoc. From knocking over garbage bins on bin night and being hauled down to the police station, at the embarrassment of her father, who used to be a police inspector, to re-landscaping a neighbours back garden with a pair of garden scissors.Isabel rebels against her family, and this is in part a coming of age story, and although most of it is told in a series of flashbacks by Izzy, aged twenty eight, it really gives you an insight into her past and that which molded her into the person she is today. Izzy is also the complete opposite to her perfect, grade-A student brother, David, and so thinks that to keep the equilibrium, she has to be at the other end of the spectrum: not so perfect and a complete pain in the arse. Isabel's sister, Rae, is also a fantastic character. With witty retorts and an edge to her personality beyond her twelve years, Rae is funny and endearing. Isabel is a very smart cookie, although sometimes she has a skewed outlook on life, like lying to the new man in her life, Daniel, by pretending to be a teacher. From changing the way she dresses to more 'teacher-like' and rushing to a school to intercept him, when he is popping by to take her to lunch. Izzy knows this is not the best way to impress her new man, but thinks it's better than the alternative... knowing that she is a PI and worse, meeting her family.The writing is very clever and flows well. At times it is so fast-paced I could barely keep up. The story is great and gets even better with the introduction of the Snow Case and the mysterious disappearance of a boy called Andrew Snow. We then got to see Isabel doing her job: sleuthing. But when she decides that her family and her job are interfering with her having a 'normal' life, madness ensues. The Spellman's follow each other, bug one another's rooms, listens in on each other's phone calls and interrogates each other, which ends the story on a climax that's satisfying and part of which is also rather sad.Isabel is a quirky character but immensely likable, as were the other characters in the book, even David, who could be a pompous arse at times. To have Isabel as a friend would be a riot and life would definitely not be boring. Verdict:The Spellman Files is a fantastically fun and light-hearted read, but by no means fluffy. There is substance here and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Spellman's Curse, and finding out what other mischief Isabel and her family can get themselves into.

What do You think about The Spellman Files (2008)?

When I started this my mind couldn't focus, so I'd erroneously took for granted it was going to be a total bore.My apologies.As a matter of fact, this was AMAZING.I wouldn't know where to begin... Let's just cut to the chase.Lisa Lutz’s “The Spellman Files" deals with this zany, dysfunctional family of private investigators, the Spellmans. When Rae - Spellmans fourteen years old daughter - goes missing, the whole family mobilizes to find out how that could happen. Rae's missing could have something to do with the case Izzy is working on, so to get a clearer view of the truth her sister Izzy delves deeper into the Spellman family's past.I'll be honest. I picked up this book just because it was highly recommended by people who liked Stehanie Plum's series. And, trust me, I can see what they have in common ---> Craziness: it runs in their families. And a Buick.However.WHY DID I LOVE THIS BOOK? My father insisted that the boys in my life were directly responsible for my juvenile-delinquent tendencies.My mother, more accurately, assumed that I was the bad influence. Spellmans constantly violate one another's privacy and blackmail each other. Isn't that pretty cool?Izzy suffers from second-child syndrome. David Spellman was born perfect. Eight pounds even, with a full head of hair and unblemished skin, he cried for a brief moment right after his birth (to let the doctor know he was breathing), then stopped abruptly, probably out of politeness.Her baby sister Rae - named after her Uncle Ray, who likes disappearing for days until Izzy and her father find him in bars or seedy motels - is an amazing kid who likes messing her relatives' lives blackmailing and spying on them. Seriously, she's the BEST.If you need a reason to convince yourself you want to read this book, here it is: RAE SPELLMAN. SHE'S QUITE A CHARACTER! SHE DESERVES EVERY STAR OF MY RATING ♥
—•Anna•

THE SPELLMAN FILES (Private Investigator, Izzy Spellman, San Francisco, Cont) – PoorLutz, Lisa – 1st bookSimon and Schuster, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781415432392First Sentence: I duck into the parking garage hoping to escape.*** Izzy Spellman is a private investigator from a family of private investigators. Her parents sent Izzy and her brother David out on their first official surveillance when they were 12- and 14-years old respectively. Izzy eventually decides to quit the family business but is told she must take on one last case—a fifteen-year-old cold case of a young man who’d gone missing.*** I know I often complain about lack of character development, but not this time. The entire book was character development with, oh yes, a plot, as a minor secondary aspect over half-way through the book. The book starts out with some funny scenes but quickly degrades to mildly amusing and finally to downright boring as the story plays its single theme over and over. It is redundant in the extreme. I found myself not particularly liking the characters as they quickly become the poster family for the dysfunctional and the protagonist seems proud of her periods of indiscriminate sex and drugs and inability to form a relationship. The cold missing-persons case was interesting but by the time it’s introduced into the story, I found myself skipping everything else around it to find out what happened with the case. The book wasn’t awful, but I'm sorry I wasted my money on it and know I shan't read any more in the series.
—LJ

Every once in a great while I stumble across a writer who just gets it, one who possesses The Humor – that elusive knack for expressing razor-sharp wit by fusing language and wordplay with insight into human nature and the ironies surfacing in relational complexity. Lisa Lutz looms large in this category. This opening entry in her series about the Spellman family introduces a spirited line-up of family members whose San Francisco private investigation business facilitates honing inquiry skills on each other through surveillance, background checks, and tough negotiations over everything down to the most mundane of household conflicts.Rebellious Isabel suffers from second-child syndrome (I know something about that...), which is manifested through years of drug use, underwhelming academic performance, and a relatively directionless approach to life and career, especially when contrasted with the successes of her “perfect” older brother David who is a Berkeley- and Stanford-educated attorney. Their accidental baby sister Rae is named after her Uncle Ray who often lives in the family home, but who also frequents bars when not out carousing with ladies of the night or disappearing for days until finally tracked down debauching in casinos and seedy motels. Rae is a precocious and difficult pre-teen, but also demonstrates a quirky sense of loyalty. She quickly acquires tools for surviving in this family comprised of individuals adept at gathering intelligence and using it to their own advantage.The Spellman Files focuses principally on the characters, but a secondary story unfolds about an unresolved disappearance case. Other readers may be seeking a more plot-driven narrative, but far more interesting to me are the people and their interactions, their back stories, and the humor generated through the author's astute and clever observations. This book is at least as much about the Spellmans as it is a whodunit, and that strikes just the right balance for a mystery novel in a genre I find to be otherwise humdrum.The chapters often bear a structure resembling private investigation files wherein Isabel catalogs detailed lists of information and documents transcripts of conversations as though she is filling out investigative reports. My favorite storyline is Isabel's relationship with Future Ex-Boyfriend #9, Guatemala-born dentist Daniel Castillo DDS, with whom she shares a common interest in the 1960s crime series Get Smart. (I love that Isabel's parents share a strong distaste for and suspicion of dentists and prefer that their daughter date lawyers.) Their differences, however, reflect in Daniel's childhood dream of working for CONTROL, the American counter-espionage agency, whereas Isabel's lifelong fantasy is working for its nemesis, KAOS.* This coupling's future is precarious at best.From start to finish, Lutz demonstrates a quick-witted humor and intelligence that immediately drew me in and captivated my attention all throughout. This fantastic initial entry into the Spellman series has me convinced to continue on, and with anticipation I look forward to reading more.* The International Organization of Evil.
—Dennis

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