Trail of the Spellmans

Book 23 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Trail of the Spellmans

by Lisa Lutz

Summary (via the book jacket)

book 5 of The Spellmans series

published 2012

For the first time in Spellman history, Isabel Spellman, PI, might be the most normal member of her family. Mom has taken on an outrageous assortment of extracurricular activities - with no apparent motive. Dad has a secret. Izzy's brother and sister are at war - for no apparent reason. And her niece keeps saying "banana" even though she hates bananas.

That's not to say that Izzy isn't without her own troubles. Her boyfriend, Henry Stone, keeps wanting "to talk", a prospect Isabel evades by going out with her new drinking buddy, none other than Gertrude Stone, Henry's mother.

Things aren't any simpler on the business side of Spellman Investigations. First, Rae is hired to follow a girl, only to fake the surveillance reports. Then a math professor hires Izzy to watch his immaculate apartment while he unravels like a bad formula. And as the questions pile up, Izzy won't stop hunting for the answers - even when they threaten to shatter both the business and the family. 

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I don't have a first impression of this book because it's a re-read.  I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads the first time I read it.

I don't reread things often but I decided to revisit this series to see if it continues to hold up because it's my default recommendation if someone asks me what to read and I don't know what their tastes are.

My Opinion

4 stars

As mentioned above, I gave this book 5 stars the first time I read it (I will include my original review from 2012 below).  This time I gave it 4 stars.  The 2 year jump from the last book to this one was a great idea.  Since the last book had so many relationship changes and updates, it was nice to have the time jump to establish those dynamics and put the characters in a different stage of their lives (for example, going from pregnancy to raising a toddler) to keep it fresh.  I liked the cases a lot in this one and I hope to see some of the fringe characters again.

REVIEW FROM ORIGINAL READING (April 2012):

Love this series, and this book didn't disappoint. Torn between wanting to read it quickly because I enjoyed it so much and wanting to read it slowly because I knew I would be sad when it was over. Highly recommend! I'm a purist who will always recommend reading series in order, so start with The Spellman Files if you haven't read it yet.

Quote from the Book

"I know what you're thinking. Surely all three cases will become ensnared and converge at the end. But don't get ahead of yourself. That kind of shit only happens in detective novels. How about you quit guessing and let the story unfold as it may? Even I don't know how all the pieces will fall."