Qui pourrait résister aux Spellman, la famille la plus sérieusement fêlée de la côte Ouest ? Certainement pas leur fille, Izzy, associée et néanmoi...
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Mar 02, 2011
LJ
rated it: 
THE SPELLMAN FILES (Private Investigator, Izzy Spellman, San Francisco, Cont) – Poor
Lutz, Lisa – 1st book
Simon and Schuster, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781415432392
First Sentence: I duck into the parking garage hoping to escape.
*** Izzy Spellman is a private investigator from a family of private investigators. Her parents sent Izzy and her brother David out on their first official surveillance when they were 12- and 14-years old respectively. Izzy eventually decides More...
Lutz, Lisa – 1st book
Simon and Schuster, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781415432392
First Sentence: I duck into the parking garage hoping to escape.
*** Izzy Spellman is a private investigator from a family of private investigators. Her parents sent Izzy and her brother David out on their first official surveillance when they were 12- and 14-years old respectively. Izzy eventually decides More...
16 comments
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(13 people liked it)
Feb 20, 2008
Silver
rated it: 
Beach read.
Funny read.
I-want-to-be-this-character read.
Lisa Lutz, if you ever read this, please don't take it the wrong way. By beach read I mean that I was completely entertained, laughed out loud a couple of times, and didn't want to move while I read it. Your book sucked me in and kept me there. When I had to put it down, the story and characters stayed with me enough so it was easy to pick back up. Izzy Spellman reminded me of Thursday Next ( The Eyre Affair) and J More...
Funny read.
I-want-to-be-this-character read.
Lisa Lutz, if you ever read this, please don't take it the wrong way. By beach read I mean that I was completely entertained, laughed out loud a couple of times, and didn't want to move while I read it. Your book sucked me in and kept me there. When I had to put it down, the story and characters stayed with me enough so it was easy to pick back up. Izzy Spellman reminded me of Thursday Next ( The Eyre Affair) and J More...
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(11 people liked it)
Sep 22, 2011
Book Chick City
rated it: 
This is the first book in the Spellman Series and I absolutely loved it. I found it refreshing and funny and although the Spellman family is bizarre, weird and bordering on completely insane, I simply adored this dysfunctional family.
Isabel, who is the main protagonist and tells the story from a first person narrative, is such a great character. She's strong, feisty and a teeny bit nuts. Brought into the family business, a private detective agency, and the life of a PI at the age of More...
Isabel, who is the main protagonist and tells the story from a first person narrative, is such a great character. She's strong, feisty and a teeny bit nuts. Brought into the family business, a private detective agency, and the life of a PI at the age of More...
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(3 people liked it)
May 30, 2008
RJ
rated it:
Lisa Lutz’s first novel, “The Spellman Files,” introduces readers to the lovable, albeit highly dysfunctional Spellman family. Be prepared to adore this zany cast of characters, that will butt their way right into your heart and have you laughing a long the way. A strong female protagonist with a meddling family may, at first glance, seem a bit blase’, but don’t be fooled, the writing, narrative and perspective work together like a well oiled machine generating the ideal reading experience…
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(5 people liked it)
Jun 01, 2011
Dennis
rated it:
Every once in a great while I stumble across a writer who just gets it, one who possesses The Humor – that elusive knack for expressing razor-sharp wit by fusing language and wordplay with insight into human nature and the ironies surfacing in relational complexity. Lisa Lutz looms large in this category. This opening entry in her series about the Spellman family introduces a spirited line-up of family members whose San Francisco private investigation business facilitates honing inquiry skills
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Aug 19, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
Well, I can honestly say that I have never read anything quite like this. This family was insane! Hilarious for us, but quite dysfunctional.
Pretty much everyone in the family, except the odd man out, David, works as a private investigator for the family company. Privacy is an alien concept to the Spellmans. To keep information to yourself in this family you'll need to lie, dodge tails, and constantly check for bugs. It's an interesting lifestyle, but it's getting exhausting fo More...
Pretty much everyone in the family, except the odd man out, David, works as a private investigator for the family company. Privacy is an alien concept to the Spellmans. To keep information to yourself in this family you'll need to lie, dodge tails, and constantly check for bugs. It's an interesting lifestyle, but it's getting exhausting fo More...
12 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Oct 30, 2008
Lisa
rated it:
The Spellmans are one of the most unconventional dysfunctional families ever in a book, and they are hilarious. They are outrageous and over the top and have very peculiar ways of showing love. This delightful book is really, really funny, if you have a weird sense of humor, which I guess I do. It is interesting that what I’d consider disturbing and child abuse in real life can, in a book, cause me to feel affection for all of the characters and send me into frequent peals of laughter.
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 27, 2008
Danielle
rated it:
Hilarious! I literally laughed out loud at least five times.
I knew nothing about this book when I picked it off the shelf as one of the local library's "Reader's Choice" books. I was pleasantly surprised about the subject matter: a family-owned private investigation business featuring a second child whose life is pretty average in almost every way.
I really enjoyed Lutz's writing style (very witty), and I especially appreciated that the "heroine" was ha More...
I knew nothing about this book when I picked it off the shelf as one of the local library's "Reader's Choice" books. I was pleasantly surprised about the subject matter: a family-owned private investigation business featuring a second child whose life is pretty average in almost every way.
I really enjoyed Lutz's writing style (very witty), and I especially appreciated that the "heroine" was ha More...
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 18, 2008
Kathy
rated it:
I've read several reviews that sang the praises of this book from first time novelist, Lisa Lutz. They were right, it was really fun. I polished it off in one sitting last night and I really hope there's a sequel.
The main character is Isabel (Izzy) Spellman whose family owns a PI firm. Her older brother is perfect, her younger sister is incredibly manipulative and literal and her parents constantly invade her private life. Actually, everyone in the Spellman family seems to be in More...
The main character is Isabel (Izzy) Spellman whose family owns a PI firm. Her older brother is perfect, her younger sister is incredibly manipulative and literal and her parents constantly invade her private life. Actually, everyone in the Spellman family seems to be in More...
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 03, 2007
Heather
rated it: 
Betsy lent me this one because she knows I love private dicks. The private dickery definitely made the thinly-veiled chick-lit more palatable, though I didn't find it to be a particularly great mystery (I figured it out ages before the end). I read the ARE, so it's possible they fixed some stuff before publishing, but there was a structural conceit of the book that I didn't like at ALL and I wish they'd axed. I think it was interesting that the only romantic relationship that the lead character
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 02, 2007
Krystal
rated it:
This was a funny book. I was intrigued with the family dynamics, its like some horrible accident you don't want to view, but can't help looking. For me, it was like the really dark side of a Janet Evanovich story. Normally when a book is so laden with character development with only a side of plot, I don't really appreciate the story as much. However, this author carries it off, based solely on the fact that her book family is virgin territory (that is to say, hasn't been overdone to death).
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(1 person liked it)
Jul 15, 2008
Christa
rated it:
This book was humorous and quick to read. Isabella Spellman, former juevenile deliquent, now a twenty-eight year old single female who still lives at home and works for her parents, is part of an eccentric family of private investigators. This book, which is the first in a series, introduces Isabella and gives background on her family, her mischievous teenage years , her past romantic entaglements, and her carrer as a private investigator. The book is written in the first person, and most of t
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 12, 2007
Laren
rated it:
Is it a mystery? Is it a humorous novel? Well, it's both, and both are thoroughly entertaining. The narrator tells of growing up in a family of private detectives and the humorous dysfunction that results. When she tries to break free of the family business, they ask her to solve one last case. In the meantime, she tries to date (difficult due to her family's background checks and date tailing that ensue), and figure out exactly what it is that she wants to be doing with her life. I found
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 28, 2009
fragaria
rated it: 
Buku ini menceritakan keluarga Spellman yang membuka kantor detektif swasta. Tokoh utamanya Isabel Spellman (28 tahun). Suatu saat, setelah Isabel menjalin hubungan dengan Daniel Castillo, Isabel ingin berhenti bekerja untuk keluarganya, dia ingin melakukan pekerjaan yang normal saja. Ternyata hal ini tidak semudah yang dia duga. Selain satu tugas terakhir yang diberikan orang tuanya (sebagai syarat kalau dia mau berhenti jadi detektif), masih ada hal-hal lain yang membebaninya. Masalah dengan p
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Jan 31, 2009
Cindy
rated it:
In the Spellman family, it's perfectly normal to be suspicious of everyone. Privacy is nonexistent. Trust no one.
Unsurprisingly, this attitude has profound consequences for the relationships in the family. David is a perfect child, and as a very smart guy takes the first chance he can to get out of the house. Izzy is the wild child, but her rebellion stops short of actually moving away. And Rae grows up thinking everything is a matter for negotiation and expects to be paid for taking a More...
Unsurprisingly, this attitude has profound consequences for the relationships in the family. David is a perfect child, and as a very smart guy takes the first chance he can to get out of the house. Izzy is the wild child, but her rebellion stops short of actually moving away. And Rae grows up thinking everything is a matter for negotiation and expects to be paid for taking a More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 13, 2009
The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz. B-plus.
Downloaded from audible.com.
This is a rather strange book. I don’t know if it’s going to be a series or not. The Spellmans are a family wholly engaged in private detecting. Mr. and Mrs. Spellman met doing private detective work and got married and started their own business. Mr. Spellman, and his brother Ray, had both been cops for 20 years previous to his starting the business. The three children, including our protagonist, Isabelle Spe More...
Downloaded from audible.com.
This is a rather strange book. I don’t know if it’s going to be a series or not. The Spellmans are a family wholly engaged in private detecting. Mr. and Mrs. Spellman met doing private detective work and got married and started their own business. Mr. Spellman, and his brother Ray, had both been cops for 20 years previous to his starting the business. The three children, including our protagonist, Isabelle Spe More...
Dec 29, 2008
Roos
rated it:
Tidak tahu kenapa saya suka sekali buku ini yah. Entahlah, tapi pertama kali terpesona dengan covernya yang attractive ( cover depan dan belakang lho ). Kemudian judul Files-nya ini yang bikin penasaran sepertinya ceritanya akan penuh dengan penyelidikan-penyelidikan yang menegangkan, banyak kasus-kasus tak teerpecahkan begitu (dalam bayangan saya sih), kemudian baca Prolog yang seru pakai acara kejar-kejaran dengan mobil dan memasuki bagian satu, saya mendapati seorang Isabel Spellman yang tern
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Feb 24, 2008
Jami
rated it:
I grabbed this book from the Readers' Choice section of the library on a whim. I read it in two days because I couldn't put it down. I loved it! The story, plot, characters, and style of the book were all very unique and funny, and I can't wait to read more from this author. Her next book in the series comes out in March.
Overall, I think the author is extremely talented and quick-witted. There aren't many book where I find myself laughing out loud, but this was definitely one of
Overall, I think the author is extremely talented and quick-witted. There aren't many book where I find myself laughing out loud, but this was definitely one of
2 comments
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Oct 17, 2011
Anne
rated it:
As a mystery novel? No.
As a cute and funny chick-lit novel? Yes.
I asked my librarian to help me find a book that was good, but not sad, violent, or about animals (What? I don't like sappy books about animals.) I wanted something mind-numbing to pass the time. Something kind of funny maybe?
She gave me this book and told me, "My mother really loved it!". I really tried to smile at her when she said that. There's a possibility it looked more like a grimace. But I More...
As a cute and funny chick-lit novel? Yes.
I asked my librarian to help me find a book that was good, but not sad, violent, or about animals (What? I don't like sappy books about animals.) I wanted something mind-numbing to pass the time. Something kind of funny maybe?
She gave me this book and told me, "My mother really loved it!". I really tried to smile at her when she said that. There's a possibility it looked more like a grimace. But I More...
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Jun 06, 2011
J.
rated it:
While this is filed under "The Spellman Files," it's actually a spoiler-free rave for the entire series. I really enjoyed Lisa Lutz's "Spellman" series (there are four books as of this writing, with another apparently on the way, and hurry the heck up about it!). These books are funny, full of wonderful characters that you'll care about, and will keep you turning pages until well after bedtime.
The series stars Isabelle Spellman, eldest adult-daughter of an entire More...
The series stars Isabelle Spellman, eldest adult-daughter of an entire More...
Apr 22, 2011
Kater
rated it:
I've been in a book slump (too many bad books sapping my will to read) and I needed something to pull me out of it. This fun mystery/spy romp did the trick.
The Spellmans are a family of private investigators. Olivia and Albert met while on the job, and their kids have followed in their footsteps. Izzy, the narrator, is the troublemaker. David is the perfect one. Rae is the much-younger sister, and Uncle Ray gives them someone to track down when he goes on one of his "lost weeken More...
The Spellmans are a family of private investigators. Olivia and Albert met while on the job, and their kids have followed in their footsteps. Izzy, the narrator, is the troublemaker. David is the perfect one. Rae is the much-younger sister, and Uncle Ray gives them someone to track down when he goes on one of his "lost weeken More...
Jan 15, 2011
Wanda
rated it:
It has been a long time since a book made me literally laugh out loud...so it was a very nice surprise to have that reaction with this book.
Meet the Spellmans ~ a quirky and totally loveable family. Mom & Dad run a Private Investigations firm from their home and involve their kids in the family business at a very young age. It is not unusual for the Spellman children to be involved in stake-outs and back-ground verifications at the ripe age of 8.
Izzy is the eldest daugh More...
Meet the Spellmans ~ a quirky and totally loveable family. Mom & Dad run a Private Investigations firm from their home and involve their kids in the family business at a very young age. It is not unusual for the Spellman children to be involved in stake-outs and back-ground verifications at the ripe age of 8.
Izzy is the eldest daugh More...
Dec 27, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
This book is dreadful. I rarely abandon books, but I gave up on this one on page 154 after the narrator switched from past to present tense within the same paragraph, which was just the last straw for me. I tried so hard to like it, but the protagonist is not funny, the characters are straight out of Central Casting, the narrative structure is illogical, and the writing is full of boring exposition: "Aside from background research, the databases can also be used to locate an individual wh
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Nov 04, 2010
D.m.
rated it:
In the crime chick-lit genre enters Lisa Lutz's comic tale and series of novels about a dys"fun"ctional (sic) family of private investigators. The main character, Isabel matures from a roguish youth into a confused rebellious personality who will forever be a 'loser'.
I found it hard to warm to this character for that reason. Isabel seems content to accept the situation comedy that she will forever be unlucky in love and let down other people in her life. The story is all abou More...
I found it hard to warm to this character for that reason. Isabel seems content to accept the situation comedy that she will forever be unlucky in love and let down other people in her life. The story is all abou More...
Oct 17, 2010
Suzanne
rated it:
The Spellman Files is not your typical mystery or detective drama, by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, I find it to be a curious study on one of the most highly dysfunctional families that I have ever read about! It truly is laugh out loud funny, when you consider all of the antics this family gets into in what seems like a daily basis.
Isabelle is a 20-something, who lives at home (in her own apartment inside the house) along with her teenage sister Rae, Uncle Ray and her par More...
Isabelle is a 20-something, who lives at home (in her own apartment inside the house) along with her teenage sister Rae, Uncle Ray and her par More...
Oct 15, 2010
Manyi
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 21, 2010
Kiwiflora
rated it:
On the surface the Spellmans are a very dysfunctional family. 30 year old David, the perfect child, who has 'escaped' by becoming a lawyer; 28 year old Isabel, the lead narrator who is desperately trying to find herself away from her family while she works for the family; and 14 year old Rae, really just a typical teenager trying to find her own place in the big complex world she lives in. Heading the family are Albert and Olivia, the parents, who run a successful private investigation More...
Aug 11, 2010
" quote: Isabel Spellman has family issues. Her parents are a mismatched pair of private investigators who routinely run credit and background checks on their older daughter's dates. Her Uncle Ray survived a bout of cancer and now makes up for lost time, drinking, smoking and disappearing for days on end. Her amoral baby sister, Rae, negotiates everything for cash or candy, and her brother, David, is distressingly perfect. In its own way, this dysfunctional family works, and 28-year-old "
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Jul 29, 2010
Shannon
rated it:
The Spellman Files is lighter fare than I normally read. (Just yesterday, my six year old observed, "Mom, I think people die in all of the books you read. That's why you cry while you're reading them." Good guess, sweetie. You're not far off the mark.) That said, I read this book on a recommendation from a friend and was pleasantly surprised to find that what I needed right now in my life is a fun, light book, with quirky, interesting characters. Or I guess that's what I needed b
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Jul 21, 2010
Eva
rated it:
Bonnie read this book some time ago and I finally got around to reading it too. She is absolutely right, this is a great book. She wrote a description of the story, so I'll tell you what it was like to read it.
It's like being in the center of the most fascinating, slow-motion, train wreck you can imagine. You cannot look away. Not that the story is slow. No, no, it moves very fast. You can tell the author cut her teeth writing scripts. The description and dialog all fly past More...
It's like being in the center of the most fascinating, slow-motion, train wreck you can imagine. You cannot look away. Not that the story is slow. No, no, it moves very fast. You can tell the author cut her teeth writing scripts. The description and dialog all fly past More...
