The Spellmans Strike Again (The Spellmans, #4) in Lisa Lutz Q&A

Nov 13, 2009 Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arcs, authors_i_have_met, signed_editions, spellmans, san_francisco

Review to come! Also I don't want it over! (Though great ending)

The Spellman Clan is no longer at war... they are now bonding... there have already been two camping trips... in fact an all out family brawl might improve the situation and stop the exposure to the great outdoors and what passes for food at the Sunday night dinners... But work continues apace and aside from the fact, that with her boyfriend Connor's grudging acquiescence, Izzy is dating lawyers to keep her mom quite about an incide Review to come! Also I don't want it over! (Though great ending)

The Spellman Clan is no longer at war... they are now bonding... there have already been two camping trips... in fact an all out family brawl might improve the situation and stop the exposure to the great outdoors and what passes for food at the Sunday night dinners... But work continues apace and aside from the fact, that with her boyfriend Connor's grudging acquiescence, Izzy is dating lawyers to keep her mom quite about an incident at Prom, things seem as settled as they can be with the Spellmans around. But things can't remain stable for long in Isabel's life with the two intriguing cases she has and fixtures from lights to doorknobs mysteriously disappearing from 1799 Clay Street. Plus Morty keeps calling her "from the edge" about how he wants to return to the Frisco. Henry, despite Izzy's avoidance of him after their kiss, seems really bent on getting their friendship back. Rae's newest obsession, thanks to working for Maggie, is to free the wrongly imprisoned, mainly a man named Schimdt. She has t-shirts and everything. Rae's obsession, in true Isabel fashion, makes her overzealous and she overshoots her mark and ends up in serious trouble. On the plus side, she might get to stay out of the Ivy league and with her new boyfriend due to having an arrest record. But Rae's meddlesome ways might help Isabel in her taking down Harkey... that most corrupt of PIs.

This latest installment is bittersweet. Being billed as the "uproarious fourth and final installment" I didn't think I'd be able to let go of my favorite family. I have two good reports on that score, the first, if this is the final installment I'm content with the ending, second, straight from Lisa "what I can say right now is that there won't be another Spellman book in March, 2011. I've been working on other projects. However, I think I will probably do at least one more Spellman book after that." So good news on both fronts.

In the forth Spellman book Izzy definitely seems more mature. She has a steady boyfriend, even if she's dating other men in the form of the legal brief kind and has signed a contract forbidding her from marrying Connor. There is always the Henry question... which does find closure... eventually. But despite Isabel's new found maturity, the antics of her family, along with her most interesting case yet, make this another great book by Lisa Lutz. Aside from her general snooping and surveillance on her family members Izzy has two cases, one involving a scriptwriter that is definitely more than it seems, and one that is straight out of an Agatha Christie mystery. The second is obviously my favorite, Anglophile that I am. The case involves a Mr. Franklin Winslow and his palatial Pacific Heights mansion and his absent valet, Mason Graves. As Isabel notes when arriving at his estate, she can see why her mother likes working for him, "it was like briefly inhabiting a life-sized game of Clue." The Spellmans usually run background checks on his ever rotating employees, but this case is different. Mr. Winslow relied on his valet for everything and there might be some reason for his disappearance. What is required is a spy/valet... and Isabel has just the man for the job, her friend Len. Of course she didn't really realize that he'd take to being Hobson to Mr. Winslow's Arthur quite so readily as "Mr. Leonard"... but that's actor's for you.

The one aspect I found interesting and different was the campaigning for the wrongfully imprisoned that seizes the female Spellman siblings. While it's a natural progression given Maggie's line of work as a lawyer and her being more incorporated into the family, I found it very different then any case before. While the books have dealt with crime and the seedy underbelly of life before, this felt almost too real. Hyper-real within the world of the Spellmans. It showed the petty squabbles that landed Isabel in prison as a kind of candy coated game prison, like in Monopoly where you wait your three turns and are released, whereas this prison is totally real. While I'm not sure if this jives with the whole series I think it was necessary because this stark reality shows more than anything that Isabel has grown up and that she understands life more than before. And while I liked the ending of this book, some aspects more than others, and I can say goodbye to them, if I must... I'll still crave a next chapter! ...more

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Mar 25, 2010 Jo rated it it was amazing

5+ Stars!! This is absolutely positively one of my favorite series. I adore the characters and wish they were part of my family. I also wish I were invited to Sunday night dinners and would even try some of Olivia's "meat"-loaf. All of the books in the series are great, but this one is perfection. A laugh out loud, feel good read. I was sad to get to the last page and hope that the series continues! Free Schmidt! Justice 4 Merriweather! ...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Victoria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery-thriller, family, books-in-a-series, humour

Oh, what a good book!! It just might be my very favorite in the whole series!! It was entertaining and held a satisfying conclusion, not only to the book's plot, but to the series' plot arc as well. And though I am pretty satisfied with the way it ended, I must admit that I do hope that this doesn't end up being the ACTUAL conclusion... I mean, there are still a few loose ends that I would like to see tied up. I imagine that it will be a while before I re-read this series, but it definitely is o ...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Gwen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: policier-thriller

Excellentissime ! comme toujours !! Vivement le prochain tome

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Apr 17, 2009 SarahSmith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own

Lisa Lutz does it again! A great addition to this already hilarious series. This is laugh out loud funny! (I got a few looks, but since I was enjoying myself immensely it did not bother me!) I really hope this series continues for a long time to come.

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Mar 26, 2010 Bill rated it liked it

I HAVE SEVERAL NEW BOOKS BUT CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS ONE

Took a little longer because of March Madness and lots of Grand Kids, but I finally finished today. It was great---lots of fun, as usual----but not my favorite. Maybe because of the ending. Think she tried to wrap things up in a neat bow---which is impossible with the Spellmans. Is this the last book??????? Could be.

But, Isabelle had one of the greatest lines ever---"IT WAS LIKE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK, I BET." Pure Izzy!!!!

Of course you sh ...more

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