Revenge of the Spellmans

Revenge of the Spellmans is the third book in the Spellmans series by Lisa Lutz. From the back cover.~

You thought your life was complicated.

Private investigator Isabel Spellman is back on the case and back on the couch-in court-ordered therapy after getting a little too close to her previous subject.

As the book opens, Izzy is on hiatus from Spellman Inc. But when her boss, Milo, simultaneously cuts her bar tending hours and introduces her to a "friend" looking for a private eye, Izzy reluctantly finds herself with a new client. She assures herself that the case-a suspicious husband who wants his wife tailed-will be short and sweet, and will involve nothing more than the most boring of PI rituals: surveillance. But with each passing hour, Izzy finds herself with more questions than hard evidence.

Meanwhile, Spellmania continues. Izzy's brother, David, the family's most upright member, has adopted an uncharacteristically unkempt appearance and attitude toward work, life, and Izzy. And their wayward youngest sister, Rae, as historic academic underachiever, aces the PSATs and subsequently offends her study partner and object of obsession, Detective Henry Stone, to the point of excommunication. The only unsurprising behavior comes from her parents, whose visits to Milo's bar amount to thinly veiled surveillance and artful attempts (read: blackmail) at getting Izzy to return to the Spellman Inc. fold.

As the case of the wayward wife continues to vex her, Izzy's personal life-and mental health-seem to be disintegrating. Facing a housing crisis, she can't sleep, she can't remember where she parked her car, and, despite her shrinks persistence, she can't seem to break through in her appointments. She certainly can't explain why she forgets dates with her lawyer's grandson, or fails to interpret the come-ons issued in and Irish brogue by Milo's new bartender. No can she explain exactly how she feels about Detective Henry Stone and his plans to move in with his new Assistant DA girlfriend...

Filled with the signature side-splitting Spellman antics, Revenge of the Spellmans is an ingenious, hilarious, and disarmingly tender installment in the Spellman series.

I love the entire Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. Izzy and her family are so very funny in their interactions with one another. The Spellman clan is one of a kind and crack me up with the way they spy on one another, but are right there for each other when needed. We are introduced to a few new characters in this latest Spellman book, and I hope they all make it to the next installment.

Lutz gives the reader a laugh-out-loud read that keeps the reader glued to the pages. The first book in the series is The Spellman Files, followed by Curse of the Spellmans. It is ok if you read the series out of order, but I think they are funnier and you get more from the books if read in order. A motion picture adaptation of The Spellman Files is in development with Paramount Pictues and I can't wait to see the Spellmans come to life.