Book 16. The Spellmans Strike Again

I have no idea if this is what I read next, but it must not be because it appears as though I purchased it well before Deep Dish. In April. No wonder I am having such a difficult time getting caught up, I am well over 2 months behind. Oh well, soldier on.

This latest from Lisa Lutz follows her main character Izzy Spellman on yet another journey through the streets of SF as a private eye. She works for her parents (fellow PIs) and with her sister (high school aged Rae) though most of the spying the family does seems to be on each other. In this, the fourth book (I think), Izzy is trying to make things work with her bartender boyfriend, trying to solve the mystery of why everyday things such as doorknobs and light fixtures are going missing in her parent’s home/her office, fielding weekly “phone calls from the edge” from her elderly friend Morty, dealing with sanctioned “Lawyer” dates set up by her mother, and getting dragged into her little sister’s pro bono work for her brother’s girlfriend. It sounds a bit hokey as I write it but really, I love this series. Lutz imagines some crazy scenarios to put Izzy in and the level of manipulation, lying and spying that goes on within this family is too much, and too funny. Lutz has a bit of a dry wit and I always appreciate sarcasm mixed with a generous use of footnotes (kind of a pain in the ass on the Kindle). This too, like most things I read in the summer (or I guess it was spring at the time) is light, very light. But I appreciate the writing and great stories Lisa Lutz conjures on a yearly basis....so I don’t fear that Izzy will go away too soon, I am sure this is a money making character. From reading Lutz’s website (something I very rarely do with the authors I read) it seems that there must be a lot of Lutz in Izzy which makes me kind of want to be her friend. Which sounds a bit stalkerish but that is totally not the intention.

This series, and unless the future Spellman books take a drastic turn, all get the thumbs up.