“My father insisted that the boys in my life were directly responsible for my juvenile-delinquent tendencies.
My mother, more accurately, assumed that I was the bad influence.”
Never have I been so pleased by what was basically an impulse buy. The Spellman Files was fun, funny and occasionally touching, and as soon as I finished, I immediately ordered the (five!) sequels from Amazon.
Izzy Spellman has worked for her family’s PI business her entire life. She’s now 28, and her family’s constant disregard for her privacy has her ready to quit the business and move out of the family home. But her parents talk her into one more case, and when it seems her sister may be a victim as well, Izzy can’t stop before she solves it.
I liked the Spellman family: the parents run the PI business, the oldest (and perfect) brother David is a smartass lawyer, and daughters Izzy and Rae (14 years old) help out with cases and generally cause trouble. Izzy has a bit of a bad girl past that’s she’s trying to overcome in deference to her younger sister, who copies her every move. Oh, and they have a gambling, alcoholic uncle named Ray who’s got some great lines.
I could definitely draw some parallels to Veronica Mars here, but that’s hardly a bad thing, considering how much I love me some VMars. The author titled the first chapter “A Long Time Ago”, which I hope was a deliberate nod to my favorite girl detective. Overall, this was a fun, quick read and I’m eager to pick up the sequels.