The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious mystery series featuring Isabel “Izzy” Spellman (part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry) and her highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators.                                                                                                                                                         Meet Isabel “Izzy” Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors—but the upshot is she’s good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family’s firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people’s privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who’s become addicted to “recreational surveillance”); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed “Lost Weekends”). But when Izzy’s parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy’s new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there’s a hitch: she must take one last job before they’ll let her go—a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.

See what I mean?  You want to read this book now, don't you?

As soon as I read the above description of The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, I was sold.  The novel sounded quirky, charming, and hilarious.  And guess what?  That's exactly what it is.  I'm not sure I've read a more hysterical mystery novel.  Seriously.  This one had me chortling, snorting, and just loving every minute of Izzy's screwball capers.  Clever, engaging, fun, addicting—all of these adjectives describe The Spellman Files.  For pure entertainment, you really can't go wrong with this one.  There's not tons of substance here, but who cares?  Engrossing fluff that makes me laugh-out-loud is a rare and beautiful thing.  I simply could not get enough of this book.

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Spellman series [Curse of the Spellmans; Revenge of the Spellmans; The Spellmans Strike Again; Trail of the Spellmans; and The Last Word]

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:

So far, 2015 has been an excellent reading year.  Sure, I've endured some stinkers, but I've enjoyed some great books as well.  Of the 72 (soon to be 73) books I've read this year, I can honestly say I liked the majority of them.  That's not true every year.  Since the Top Ten Tuesday question du jour is about our favorites of the year, I thought this would be a good time to highlight some of them.

My hands-down favorite part of Top Ten Tuesday is getting suggestions from the lists of other book bloggers.  So, join in, will you?  It's super easy.  All you have to do is head on over to The Broke and the Bookish, read the participation instructions and follow them.  Voilà, you're part of the cool crowd!  Simple.

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2015:


1.  The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion—I loved this book about a man with autism/Asperger's who's out to find the perfect wife ... and ends up with the most unsuitable woman in Australia.  It's hilarious.  Literally had me laughing out loud.  In public!


2.  At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen—This novel about a spoiled socialite who follows her thrill-seeking husband and his equally adventurous BFF to Scotland during WWII to look for the Loch Ness monster is a nuanced, atmospheric novel of surprising depth.  Although it's a sad story in many ways, it's a joy to watch how the heroine transforms from the beginning of the novel to the end.


3.  The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths—Kay, a blogger I've followed for a long time, always recommends great new mystery series that I've never encountered before.  So far, I've really liked this series about a quirky British archaeologist who gets pulled in to help the local Detective Chief Inspector solve cases.  I've read the first three installments, but The Crossing Places (which comes first) is still my favorite.


4.  The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz—Screwball comedies aren't usually my thing, but I happen to adore this series.  It concerns a family of private eyes who refuse to trust anyone ... especially each other.  I've had fun reading the first two books, which are equally zany and laugh out loud funny.


5.  What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty—It's no secret that I love this Australian author.  I've read about half of her novels and enjoyed them all.  This one is about a 39-year-old mother who, because of a head injury, wakes up thinking it's 10 years earlier than it really is.  As she becomes reacquainted with her real life, she's astounded to realize how much has changed with her family, her friends, and her marriage.  It's a compelling story that's both funny and poignant.


6.  Pines by Blake Crouch—This series (which is now a miniseries on Fox) concerns a Secret Service agent who comes to a small Idaho town in search of two missing agents.  Not surprisingly, things are not at all that they appear to be in quaint, picturesque Wayward Pines.  From the first page of Pines, I was totally sucked into this story.  I ended up downing the whole trilogy almost in one setting.  It's quick, edge-of-your-seat reading that will keep you guessing.


7.  Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs—Again, it's no surprise that the newest Tempe Brennan mystery is on this list.  I've loved the smart, dedicated forensic anthropologist ever since she was introduced in Deja Dead (1997).  Since the last book had a bit of a cliffhanger ending, I was especially excited to see what happened in Speaking in Bones.  Tempe works with a crackpot amateur detective to find a missing girl while also dealing with her very complicated personal life (re: Andrew Ryan).


8.  A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord—Lord writes heart-felt books about kids dealing with real-life problems.  Her newest concerns a lonely girl in Maine who unintentionally befriends a Hispanic migrant worker.  As their friendship grows, they face surprising (or not so much?) opposition from the small community where they live.  It's a thought-provoking story that reinforces the importance of tolerance and accepting people for who they are, not where they come from or how they look.


9.  Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe—This book-in-verse about an Arizona teenager's reactions to the Vietnam War is both inventive and moving.  It's a fast read, but a profound one.


10.  A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller—I don't do a lot of browsing at the library these days, but as I was looking for a book by another "K" author, I came across Keller's series about a West Virginian lawyer who returns to the town of her birth in an effort to make a difference in impoverished, violence-riddled Raythune County.  While the books (I've read the first two so far) are exciting mystery/thrillers, they also provide an intimate, unflinching examination of Appalachia and her people.

There you go.  Have you read any of these?  What did you think?  Which titles are on your list?  If you leave me a link to your TTT, I'll be sure and visit.

Happy reading!