So I’m guessing that this was originally going to be the final Spellman book since its first title was The Last Word. The edition I read, however, had been re-titled The Next Generation, and since the last chapter was written by Rae, not Izzy, I’m assuming that the series will be having a major change come the next book. That makes sense. Izzy has kind of run her course, and putting her in charge of the agency, while fun for the purposes of the book, did not […]
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
So I took a break from wacky family PI fiction, and stepped into cholera-ridden Victorian London for a week. And let me tell you, this was one hell of a read. Johnson presents the Broad Street cholera epidemic of 1854 in all it’s horrible glory–how it started, who it affected (everyone), how it spread, the men who treated victims, the men who researched and argued its origins, and finally, how it changed just about everything about life at the time. Johnson focuses on two main […]
Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
This is one of the more twisty, harder to guess Spellman books. Izzy’s family has gone nuts on her: Mom is participating in every extracurricular activity known to man, Dad is hiding something, David and Rae are fighting over something but Izzy can’t figure out what. While she’s investigating her family, she’s also got real cases going on. The main one involves her spying on a husband on behalf of his wife, but then also spying on the wife on behalf of her brother. As usual, […]
The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz
Yep, the Spellmans are back. This time, wild child Izzy Spellman is making an attempt to grow up a big and take over the family business. She’s got a few cases floating at once: trying to dig up dirt on Rich Harkey, her family’s arch nemesis; uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of a valet by sneaking her actor friend into the role; plus, her mother is blackmailing her to get her to date lawyers (as mothers do). Honestly, I’ve read six Spellman books in […]