A little backwards

I spent a fun evening back in March of '08 reading Lisa Lutz's second Izzy Spellman mystery, and now it's time for another. Yay! I'm super excited about reading the upcoming Revenge of the Spellmans (due out March 10) that I thought I would post about the earlier books. 

Now, I've got a raging headache and am a bit stressed (after a good afternoon in which I felt very productive, sucks don't it) and remembered that I had already reviewed a Spellman book here, but stupid me, I posted about book two without ever posting about book one! Ugh.

So, here it is. If you want to go back to my musings from last march on the fantabulous Curse of the Spellmans, here it is (and it's out in paperback now, too). If you aren't familiar with this hilarious series yet, then this is the post for you. 

Straight from the BB archives, here is my review of Lisa Lutz's give-Janet-Evanovich-a-run-for-her-money (are you loving the hyphens) debut, The Spellman Files, in which we are introduced to Izzy and her wacky family of PIs:

Meet Isabel Spellman. She’s a spunky troublemaking private eye who works for her parents’ P.I. firm. The story begins with Izzy being interrogated in regards to her young sister Rae’s disappearance. What follows is a hilarious chronicle of Izzy Spellman’s life leading up to the event in question. As a child and young adult, Izzy tormented her parents. She keeps an exhaustive list of all the “crimes” she got away with and a list of “interrogations” held in her parents’ basement for crimes she is suspected of having committed. She also keeps a running list of all ex-boyfriends, the most recent of which has led Izzy to the decision that she must leave the family business and try to live a “normal” life. Unfortunately for Izzy, her parents are not willing to let her go without a fight. Before they will agree to let her go with a reference that will allow her to gain employment elsewhere (and move out of their house) Izzy’s parents force her to work one last case – a twelve-year-old missing persons case that they hope will convince their daughter to stay. It is at this point in the story that fourteen-year-old Rae goes missing. Hilarity ensues as this quirky and dysfunctional family reluctantly pulls together to find its youngest member. Anyone who loves Janet Evanovich has to try Lisa Lutz.

This series is great if you really are looking for something to get your mind off of things. Izzy and her family are the ultimate in somewhat functioning dysfunction and the truly make for some of the best reading there is. I promise you, Lisa Lutz will definitely hit the spot for you if you're a fan of the Stephanie Plum books like I am. 

Now, I'm off to finish my Antarctic thriller (more on that later) and take some headache meds and try not to stress out too much before I can jump into Revenge of the Spellmans. Oh, and now that both Spellman Files and Curse of the Spellmans are out in paperback, do yourself a favor and splurge on them both, you'll laugh your ass off and love it!