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lorinda817's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Just a little bit of goofy, quirky fun. It’s hard to take any part of the plot seriously when everything is just so quirky/over the top, but still a fun, fast read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use
emtees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book is so weird. I mean that as a compliment.
I went into this book expecting it to be primarily a mystery - a little lighthearted, sure, with some comedy bits focused on the dysfunctional family at the center of the story. Instead what I got was mostly a comic novel, with the mystery very much taking second place.
Izzy Spellman is… kind of a mess, to be honest, but in a way that works with her very messy family. Her parents run Spellman Investigations, a PI firm staffed mostly with family members, and they’ve never heard of a boundary they weren’t willing to cross. Her perfect older brother, a lawyer, fled the family as soon as he could, but her little sister Rae is a pre-teen version of their parents, obsessed with “recreational surveillance”; her uncle Ray also helps out, when he isn’t off on one of his “Lost Weekends,” escapades full of drunken gambling and hookers. Izzy herself has a history of problematic drinking and drug use, encounters with the police, and terrible romantic choices, but at twenty-eight she’s mostly settled down, working for her parents and holding down a sort-of stable personal life. But when she gets involved with a handsome dentist she met on a case, Izzy decides she has to lie to him (because no one wants to date a PI) and to her parents (because they hate dentists. Really.) The first lie mostly works, the second one not so much, and when she finds out that Rae is being paid to spy on her, Izzy decides it’s time to break ties with her family. Her parents agree to let her go - so long as she solves one final mystery, a cold case involving a missing teen that’s a decade old. Though this is clearly a set up, Izzy finds herself intrigued by the case and ends up dragging herself and her family in way over their heads.
Like I said, the mystery is very much secondary to the comedy in this book. It actually takes almost half the book to get to the plot that’s mentioned in the blurb; the first half is all set up, with Izzy walking us through her family’s history, her list of ex-boyfriends, and the convoluted path that brought her to the crisis of the moment, the disappearance of her little sister. Most of this is delivered while Izzy is being interrogated by the police, and the reader will be equal parts amused and frustrated by Izzy’s hilarious inability to get to the point. Her voice is really the winning point of the story - she’s alternatively extremely self-aware and extremely oblivious, her family are equally weird, and even seemingly normal people like her dentist boyfriend find themselves slowly dragged into madness by the chaos that surrounds the Spellman family. I ended up not being very interested in the mystery (though I did like the resolution), but I loved the Spellmans’ antics and can’t wait to read more of them.
I did have one problem with the book and that was the way it ended:with Ray’s death on the last of his Lost Weekends. The book’s handling of Ray’s alcoholism, alongside some heavy drinking from other characters, was odd; the drinking was played for laughs, but never like it wasn’t a problem. So I figured at some point during the series, Ray was going to die. But considering the humorous tone of the book, I didn’t expect it to happen on page, and certainly not in the final chapter of the book, and in such a gruesome and sad way. The final chapter really threw off the feel of the book for me.
I went into this book expecting it to be primarily a mystery - a little lighthearted, sure, with some comedy bits focused on the dysfunctional family at the center of the story. Instead what I got was mostly a comic novel, with the mystery very much taking second place.
Izzy Spellman is… kind of a mess, to be honest, but in a way that works with her very messy family. Her parents run Spellman Investigations, a PI firm staffed mostly with family members, and they’ve never heard of a boundary they weren’t willing to cross. Her perfect older brother, a lawyer, fled the family as soon as he could, but her little sister Rae is a pre-teen version of their parents, obsessed with “recreational surveillance”; her uncle Ray also helps out, when he isn’t off on one of his “Lost Weekends,” escapades full of drunken gambling and hookers. Izzy herself has a history of problematic drinking and drug use, encounters with the police, and terrible romantic choices, but at twenty-eight she’s mostly settled down, working for her parents and holding down a sort-of stable personal life. But when she gets involved with a handsome dentist she met on a case, Izzy decides she has to lie to him (because no one wants to date a PI) and to her parents (because they hate dentists. Really.) The first lie mostly works, the second one not so much, and when she finds out that Rae is being paid to spy on her, Izzy decides it’s time to break ties with her family. Her parents agree to let her go - so long as she solves one final mystery, a cold case involving a missing teen that’s a decade old. Though this is clearly a set up, Izzy finds herself intrigued by the case and ends up dragging herself and her family in way over their heads.
Like I said, the mystery is very much secondary to the comedy in this book. It actually takes almost half the book to get to the plot that’s mentioned in the blurb; the first half is all set up, with Izzy walking us through her family’s history, her list of ex-boyfriends, and the convoluted path that brought her to the crisis of the moment, the disappearance of her little sister. Most of this is delivered while Izzy is being interrogated by the police, and the reader will be equal parts amused and frustrated by Izzy’s hilarious inability to get to the point. Her voice is really the winning point of the story - she’s alternatively extremely self-aware and extremely oblivious, her family are equally weird, and even seemingly normal people like her dentist boyfriend find themselves slowly dragged into madness by the chaos that surrounds the Spellman family. I ended up not being very interested in the mystery (though I did like the resolution), but I loved the Spellmans’ antics and can’t wait to read more of them.
I did have one problem with the book and that was the way it ended:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use and Transphobia
ellenwm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Super cute, fun mystery with a delightfully strange family of private investigators! Excellent 5-hour audiobook with lovely narration and a quick clip. Nothing too heavy, but I was eager to see the pieces come together. Delightfully determined, slightly rough around the edges FMC who loves her family fiercely even if she would never say it. Feels a little like Veronica Mars meets Royal Tenenbaums with a tiny hint of Jessica Jones. I’ll likely tear through the series.
Small note: there are a couple quick languages choices around gender identity late in the book that wouldn’t hold up today, but were standard at the time; nothing pejorative.
Small note: there are a couple quick languages choices around gender identity late in the book that wouldn’t hold up today, but were standard at the time; nothing pejorative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Transphobia and Suicide attempt
Minor: Deadnaming and Drug use