strange and random happenstance

The Last Word (The Spellman Files Book 6) by Lisa Lutz
ARC Provided by the publisher
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: July 9th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Izzy thought that sweeping in and wresting control of her family's company would bring a new sense of purpose to her life and more control over her wayward parents. She just wanted a little respect. Instead everything is a thousand times worse. Her parents are acting out, spending more time thinking of ways to infuriate their new boss, aka their daughter, then actually investigating cases for their clients. Rae has suspiciously asked to return to work for the business, despite having sworn it off entirely in the past. Izzy's one reliable worker, D, is stressed out and up to something. And then Izzy is accused of embezzling money from her top client Mr. Slayter. How could she embezzle the money? She doesn't even know how to balance her company's accounts let alone do something so nefarious on such a large scale. Everything is in jeopardy, the business, their sanity, and quite possibly even their lives. It's just another day for the Spellmans.

If you follow a series long enough you hope that each installment will be better then the previous. Building on the characters and their foibles as the author's writing gains strength and assurance. I feel a personal connection to this series as I've been a reader since the beginning, even sending away for a signed book plate from Lutz's website prior to finally meeting her in 2009. As Lutz's writing has matured she has also become more assured at her author signings. From the sleep deprived writer asking high schoolers what their handout they were filling out for their class was back in 2010 at Boswell books to the witty and well dressed author describing how she would defend her home from burglars, even dealing with a brain hemorrhage to hilarious effect, at the event in Madison for this most recent book, see has matured along with her writing. And while I anticipate her newest non-Spellman novel, having previously enjoyed Heads You Lose, it's the Spellmans that will always hold my heart.

While this is actually not the final volume as many previously thought, the book's title did lend an ominous finality to the series, there does come a time when a series should end. We, as readers, don't want the Spellmans to overstay their welcome. We want them to end on a strong note and not degenerate into a shadow of themselves. Each book has evolved their story and their relationships and there comes a time when a happy medium will be reached and the end will be nigh. The Last Word handles the "big topics" more then previous volumes. Death, loyalty, and acceptance being high on the list. This is one of the many reasons I thought this might be "the end." And yes, I was sad, because I did think this was surely the end and I wasn't quite ready, but then I had a Rae (ha ha) of hope. If the next book goes with Rae and gives us another viewpoint it will enliven the series, but I still have to brace myself for a time when their stories will end. But I will hopefully be better prepared then I was for this ersatz ending.

The biggest topic the book handles is Albert's Cancer. This is the impetus to bring the waring family back together. To me it felt a little trite. Yes, your family, if they love each other, will certainly rally around in times of a health crisis, but it felt like Lutz had forced her characters so far apart that something cataclysmic was the only way to bring them back together. So, while Albert and his health have always been a source of comedy and concern throughout the series, using his health to effect a reunion just seemed too pat. Yes I was momentarily concerned Lutz would kill him, again thinking this was the last book, but the truth comes down to I don't like Cancer being used for reconciliation. Perhaps it's just having been raised in a house with my mother battling Cancer twice before I was even in Junior High, but to use the disease in this way and then not really handle the illness in more detail, well, just too trite.

Oddly enough the most painful part of the book for me was Henry, Izzy's on-again off-again boyfriend. I love Henry. I love Izzy. I love the idea of Henry and Izzy. But in reality they never quite worked and I was unwilling to truly let them go their separate ways. I felt like they belonged together in the true love that never dies way. Of course the happily ever after I wished for them was completely unrealistic given their personalities and their life goals. I give Lutz big props for being willing to break them up and keep them broken up. The ending she chose with Henry finally finding happiness, it was realistic. To have Izzy and Henry walk off into the sunset, that would have been just too trite, and we've already had one incidence of that in this book, so here's to something new and different. I just hope that they can remain friends because I love Henry too much to see him never grace the pages of a Spellman book again.

To me, while Izzy's growth is a barometer of how things have changed over time in the books, I look more to Rae. Rae started out wild and out of control and she has now found a maturity that I didn't think would ever be possible. I am actually quite sad about losing the old Rae. Rae, to me, was the most fully formed character I have ever read. At times I expected her to quite literally walk out of the book, sit down next to me and hustle me for money or candy or both. But she is no longer wild and out of control. She is reasonable, sensible, and actually helpful. I'm glad she's grown up, but it has made me wistful. Yes, her parent's behaviour did help bring back some of the feeling of the old Rae... but her maturity makes me realize that when the time comes I will be able to let go of this series. It will be a sad parting, but I am hopefully prepared.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: ARCs, Cancer, Heads You Lose, Henry Stone, Izzy, Lisa Lutz, Private Eyes, Rae, The Last Word, The Spellmans

Trail of the Spellmans (The Spellmans Book 5) by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: February 28th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Challenge: Mystery and Suspense 2011
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Izzy Spellman's life is for the first time ever on an even keel. She's living with her boyfriend, Henry Stone, and is even drinking buddies with his mother Gertrude. Work is even steady at Spellman Investigations, with the added benefit of having a new co-worker, the wrongfully convicted Demetrius Merryweather whose freedom is down to Izzy and her family. He even is an awesome cook, so there's more reasons to swing by Clay Street than ever before. Yet while Izzy is more normal, her family is behaving stranger than ever. Her mother has every second of every day accounted for with as many "enrichment" classes as she can get... one of them is learning Russian, yet she's not getting any better. David and Rae have started some sort of blood feud and it maybe has to deal with the fact that David's new daughter Sydney hates bananas, yet is always saying that word. Her father is also being belligerent about their caseload dealing with a married couple when it turns out that Izzy was hired by the wife and her father by the husband. They reach an impasse and the fact that her father is withholding evidence that could clear everything up drives Izzy a little crazy. Yet the arrival of Grandma Spellman may just up the crazy to the point of unbearable.

If you haven't noticed by now I'll fill you in on a secret. When naming her books Lisa was looking for a good naming convention and she figured you couldn't go very wrong with going for a tried and true system. Otherwise known as the Pink Panther oeuvre. Therefore I feel safe in the knowledge that we'll get a few more books still, she has more titles to choose from. Also, she was lucky enough to pick a naming convention unlike Charlaine Harris, who is stuck with "dead" or Deanna Raybourn who is stuck with "silent" or some equally ludicrous naming convention like letters of the alphabet or numbers with a qualifier before it. But back to the book. So, Trail of the Spellmans is named after the sixth Pink Panther film, the one notable for the fact that it was a Peter Sellers film made after the star had been dead two years, so was therefore made up of bits and pieces that where cut from the previous films. This lead to a very uneven film.

Taking this analogy to the book, it started out very uneven, you are uncertain if a plot will ever coalesce, with lots of different cases, a daughter being followed, a husband and wife who are trailing each other. All very disparate cases, much like the disparate plot points of  the likewise titled movie. Only Lisa easily succeeded when the movie was unable (ie, their star is dead), in placing the parts into a whole. It's the slow connections, the little cogs all fitting together to form this machine that kept the plot moving more than one specific intrigue.

I was very happy that the mystery part was well thought out and executed because otherwise the book might have let me down. While the Spellmans as a whole are just as kooky as ever, the maturing of Rae and Izzy has led to a hole I feel in me. They have both grown up and in the past it has been their behaviour, or lack of proper behavior I should say, that has driven the plot. Gone are the days where Izzy is sneaky into David's downstairs apartment. Rae is busy with school and actually starting a life independent of her family versus blackmailing them. And Henry and Izzy... well, I won't go there, it's still to raw. This series seems to be in transition. Will it strike out and become more traditional crime solving, or will it adhere to the slightly bizarre and humorous dynamic that drew me to it in the first place? Only the future will tell... but I must pose the question, is growing up sometimes not a good thing?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 1799 Clay Street, Demitrius Merryweather, Henry Stone, Izzy, Lisa Lutz, Peter Sellers, Pink Panther, Rae, The Spellmans, Trail of the Spellmans

So, a week ago, I ventured forth from my book lined hovel to see Lisa Lutz in Milwaukee at Boswell Books. I was lucky enough to have seen her last year and was not going to miss the opportunity to see her again, she was on the tenth day of her extended tour promoting The Spellmans Strike Again. I, being me, and being over prepared in the extreme, arrived about an hour early. Logically that made me the first one there, because I don't think there is anyone else that desperate for prime seating and good access to the front of the signing line (damn them for switching it up, the table is near the front of the store, not this podium transformer thingy, so I was third in the signing line, drat!) Before the talk I had a bit of a palaver with the owner, Daniel Goldin, who was understandably a bit nervous that no one would show, understandable in that it was surprisingly frigid out (20 degrees) and at about 10 minutes to start time there where only four people there, but happy when I told him this was not the final Spellmans book. Luckily the crowd filled out, but I'm not sure if that was a good or a bad thing, for they were surprisingly lack luster and reserved, resulting in a short and mildly surreal experience.

Lisa appeared on time, tired and distracted, but with her wit razor sharp as ever, if not quite linear to follow. She expressed a sentiment that I often feel about public speaking, to avoid when possible, hence she originally wanted to be a scriptwriter, you're rarely asked to speak in front of other people. But first, before anything else, the big news must be made, and no, not my wonderful giveaway that's currently underway, no no. The amazing news is Lisa is finally a New York Times Bestselling Author! The list goes to 15, and she tied for 15th. So yeah for Lisa! So well deserved, which you'd know if you'd all listen to me and go read them (cough *win* cough *them*). She rather succinctly and humorously summed up the newest Spellman installment by saying it had "100% more undercover butlering than any previous Spellman book before." Then, with the help of Daniel Goldin, they did a reading in her preferred style of a scene of dialogue, first between Izzy and Morty, then stranded in Florida, and another between Izzy and a drunk lawyer (it will make so much more sense if you read the book, or if you go to Litidate.com).

Then the questions and answers followed, which was kind of a sad affair. People, as in all you people out there who go to book signings or talks, speak up! They're here for you! Ask your questions, get your answers, provoke talk and discussion! Though I did glean some interesting news. First, the movie is in between studios (the new studio being more interested in transformers) and Lisa has a feeling it would be far better if she rewrote it with transformers, or for the real money maker: a family of vampire PIs! She has written a stand alone with her ex that will hopefully see publication, currently titled Heads You Loose, written in the style of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist with them switching off writing chapters. She heartily agreed with one questioner that Sarah Silverman would work wonderfully as Izzy. Then there was a back and forth with a few kids who, for schoolwork, come to talks and then report on it. Lisa said to give a good report on her. She then inquired what other types of questions they had to answer, one being, what are your views on writing and reading, to which she said, "I think they're good things, write that down, we'll wait." She also said she liked these easy questions and could she please have some more.

Then the signing began, she actually remembered me from last year, which I think is good right? I am very vocal in getting her books out there so I hope I help, cause really it's kind of a selfish obsession, she does good, I get another book sometime in the future. So books signed and booty bundled up, with a little extra for my giveaway from the owner, Daniel Goldin (aka a "Free Schimdt" t-shirt) I headed for home, ok, I headed to another bookstore to shop for some rare used books, but still... I did eventually make it home! So a fun evening, signed books, a chat with Lisa, my Dad got to talk to her about the The Innocence Project which is such an important cause and important to the books plot, undercover butlering aside.

So what else should I mention... well as you notice I'm nearing 200 followers, closer and closer everyday, especially if you count my networked blogs followers as well. So, thanks to my new bffs at Simon & Schuster who sent me 4 more copies of the newest Spellman book, along with the new shirt, I thought I'd extend the giveaway, try for that 200 and see how much booty I can bundle off to people. So ENTER! There's a very high chance you could win, there are 8 prizes currently! More to come...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Boswell Books, Free Schmidt, Giveaway, Heads You Loose, Izzy, Lisa Lutz, Milwaukee, Morty, Sarah Silverman, Simone and Schuster, The Innocence Project, The Spellmans, The Spellmans Strike Again

Revenge of the Spellmans (The Spellmans Book 3) by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 10th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 375 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Order

Court ordered therapy is the least of Isabel's worries in this third installment in the Spellman saga. Having a car that keeps going MIA, a secret home as well as the looming decision of what to do with her life all compound to make Izzy's life very busy. Isabel has left her job at Spellman Investigations only to have Milo, her current employer and owner of The Philosopher's Club, attempt to force her back into what she's good at by offering her a case and then promptly firing her so that she'll make the right choice and go back to her parents. But Izzy isn't ready to make up her mind as to the future of Spellman Investigations until after she's spent some time rearanging David's liquor cabinet and searching his house while he's supposedly in Italy, giving her free reign... well there was a list of rules, but Izzy's working on breaking every one of them. Also Henry and Rae are not talking. Henry has gotten himself a sweetly neurotic girlfriend, Maggie, who Rae has made it known she will not like... she changed Henry's locks on her without Henry's consent. Of course Maggie and Rae becoming best friends might even be worse then them at loggerheads. But that is nothing compared to Rae being accused of cheating on the PSATs (pronounced pssssssats).

Meanwhile, Izzy, sick of living in a shit hole in the Tenderloin, upon finding that David has a fully furnished apartment in his basement, promptly moves in, without David's knowledge. This ill advised, yet economically viable due to her lack of employment, scheme brings on a whole new plethora of problems. Mainly she's blackmailed. But not in the way you would think. It's more of a cultural blackmailing involving trips to the zoo, which apparently is not a legitimate replacement for SFMOMA according to the blackmailer, whomever he or she is. Also David is acting strange on his return and is also surprisingly not at work, a strange thing for a workaholic to do... and inconvenient for the person secretly squatting in his basement. But while all these people are moving on and making something of their futures, Milo selling the bar, Morty moving to Florida, Henry getting a girl, Isabel is not growing up. She's reverting to her old habits of evasion and subterfuge, which she won't even discuss with her therapist. Lacking sleep and clear conclusions she decides that her one case will decide her fate. If she can do this the right way, the way a professional would, and not resort to her baser tactics... then maybe this is the career for her... but what happens when there's old family feuds with dubious PIs, bribery by political consulates and the ever looming deadline as to what will become of the family business? And where did she leave her car!?!

If I liked them less, perhaps I could talk about them more. But the Spellmans are just my favorite fictional family. All the snooping, spying and double dealing... plus don't forget the negotiations! I know that they're a complete train wreck but can I help it that I wish I knew them... it's not like I have anything to hide, so I think we could get along, once they finished fishing and I provided them with my social security number. Again I feel that I relate a bit to closely to Isabel's tendency to do whatever it takes, sleep be damned, to get what she's after. If only she'd apply these techniques to Henry Stone... or at least listen to Morty. I believe this book also perfectly caputres the feeling of those in their early 30s, the ones who aren't sure where they're life is going or what they're doing... not that this is similar to me... But Isabel is doing what she's always done and everyone else is changing. By the end, the fact that she's actually able to come to a clear decision of what her near future holds shows that Isabel is capable of change as well, even if it isn't so radical as those around her... Also I really hope we get more books, I know there's the forth, but I was hoping for a fifth, she did mention a fifth in the distant future no matter what The Spellmans Strike Again says in it's blurb... personally I think, seeing as she's using the Pink Panther films as a naming convention, we should have at least two more, there's still The Return of the Pink Panther and Trail of the Pink Panther. And while these are my two least favorite Panther films, mainly because unused clips formed into a film and recasting David Niven was stupid, I still think they'd make great Spellman book titles!

Make sure to enter my Surfeit of Spying Spellmans Giveaway to win this, or any of the other Spellman books. All signed 1st editions!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 4 comments  

Labels: Book Review, David Spellman, Henry Stone, Isabel, Izzy, Milo, PI, Pink Panther, PSATs, Rae, SFMOMA, Spellman Investiagtions, The Spellmans Strike Again

Cat's Claw by Amber Benson
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2010
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Calliope Reaper-Jones is Death's Daughter. She owes a debt to Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the gate's of hell-a debt that involves a trip to Purgatory, Las Vegas, ancient Egypt, and a discount department store that's more frightening than any supernatural creature she'll ever encounter."

Yeah! I love Amber Benson. She's so nice and sweet and was so wonderful as Tara on Buffy. I also love how she's parlayed her acting into something that really shows how talented and multifaceted she is! From writing and staring in movies, to web series, to books, she can do it all! I've been waiting for the follow up to her first Calliope Reaper-Jones novel, which is finally here! Plus, as she said on her official blog, "Yes, it's that time again. Time for weird old me to get in my car (then hobo hop a train & possibly a plane) and start trekking around the country schilling the latest installment of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series." That's right, she's doing a few book signings, so go check it out, I've met her twice and she's such a sweetie!

The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, San Diego, CA
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 7pm

Murder By The Book, Houston, TX *Where I've already ordered my book from!
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 6:30pm

Midtown Comics
Saturday, February 27th, 2010, 3-5pm
signing with the lovely & talented: Anton Strout

Black Magic Sanction, Rachel Morgan Book 8 by Amber Benson
Published by: Eos
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The eighth bewitching but overly dense Hollows adventure (after 2009's White Witch, Black Curse) updates the travails of Rachel Morgan, delectable magical jack of all trades. Having recently learned that Rachel is a witch-born demon whose children would be demons, a white magic coven is shunning her and accusing her of black magic. They offer her a terrible choice: sterilization or imprisonment in Alcatraz. Trent Kalamack, drug lord and elf in hiding, offers to get the coven off her back, but her double-crossing ex-rat ex-boyfriend, Nick, shows up and lands her in more hot water. As Rachel battles those she thought were on her side, her survival depends on a paranormal cornucopia of elves, demons, vampires, gargoyles, pixies, and even a leprechaun. This thrill ride celebrates the can-do spirit of one of urban fantasy's most charming witches."

New Rachel Morgan book, so fun! Go check it out!

Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2010
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"YOU THOUGHT YOUR LIFE WAS COMPLICATED
Private investigator Isabel Spellman is back on the case and back on the couch -- in court-ordered therapy after getting a little too close to her previous subject.

As the book opens, Izzy is on hiatus from Spellman Inc. But when her boss, Milo, simultaneously cuts her bartending hours and introduces her to a "friend" looking for a private eye, Izzy reluctantly finds herself with a new client. She assures herself that the case -- a suspicious husband who wants his wife tailed -- will be short and sweet, and will involve nothing more than the most boring of PI rituals: surveillance. But with each passing hour, Izzy finds herself with more questions than hard evidence.

Meanwhile, Spellmania continues. Izzy's brother, David, the family's most upright member, has adopted an uncharacteristically unkempt appearance and attitude toward work, life, and Izzy. And their wayward youngest sister, Rae, a historic academic underachiever, aces the PSATs and subsequently offends her study partner and object of obsession, Detective Henry Stone, to the point of excommunication. The only unsurprising behavior comes from her parents, whose visits to Milo's bar amount to thinly veiled surveillance and artful attempts (read: blackmail) at getting Izzy to return to the Spellman Inc. fold.

As the case of the wayward wife continues to vex her, Izzy's personal life -- and mental health -- seem to be disintegrating. Facing a housing crisis, she can't sleep, she can't remember where she parked her car, and, despite her shrinks' persistence, she can't seem to break through in her appointments. She certainly can't explain why she forgets dates with her lawyer's grandson, or fails to interpret the come-ons issued in an Irish brogue by Milo's new bartender. Nor can she explain exactly how she feels about Detective Henry Stone and his plans to move in with his new Assistant DA girlfriend...

Filled with the signature side-splitting Spellman antics, Revenge of the Spellmans is an ingenious, hilarious, and disarmingly tender installment in the Spellman series."

Could be one of my most favorite series EVER! New book coming out in a few weeks, and if you haven't read it, it's time to do some catch up... unless you're waiting because you've been listening to the word on the street that's saying there's some major Spellman swag coming to this blog very soon... won't confirm or deny... but the street's not often wrong!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Amber Benson, Black Magic Sanction, Buffy, Calliope Reaper-Jones, Cat's Claw, Death's Daughter, Izzy, Lisa Lutz, Murder by the Book, Rachel Morgan, Revenge of the Spellmans, Swag, Tara

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 26, 2010
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lisa Lutz, author of The Spellman Files, is back with another story of the shenanigans of the Spellman family: The Curse of the Spellmans. The "parental unit" started a private investigation business when Dad retired from police work. His wife assists him and their two daughters, Isabel, (Izzy) a 30-year-old with a habit of being arrested, and Rae, a 15-year-old Cheetos-loving teen, would like to think that they help out in the family business. Especially where Izzy is concerned, this is a stretch. Brother David is a successful attorney who has nothing to do with the family enterprise. He has troubles of his own.

Izzy has been living in the apartment of a friend while he is away. When he returns unexpectedly, it quickly becomes clear that being roommates with an old, cigar-smoking, poker-playing, big drinker isn't going to work. Izzy moves home temporarily and then the fun begins. She decides that their new next door neighbor, John Brown, whose landscape gardening business she judges to be a cover, is somehow making women disappear. She gets herself invited to dinner, discovers a locked room, believes his name is phony, follows him everywhere, has a restraining order against her, and still she can't let it go.

Meanwhile, Rae has befriended a great guy, a cop named Henry Stone, who is almost too good to be true. The reader starts pulling for him and Izzy to get together right away, even though he doesn't deserve the aggravation. Lutz keeps the ball rolling faster and faster with David's problems, her parents' frequent vacations, which they refer to as "disappearances," and the fact that everyone in the family has secrets from one another. If there is any curse at work here, it is that all the family members are terminally nosy. What they discover about each other and the other players keeps you turning pages and hoping that Lutz is hard at work on the next installment of this zany family's misadventures."

If you are one of those "freaks" who is actually able to hold out the two years for the mass market paperback edition, well today is you lucky day! The Spellman Files series is on of the best series of books out there. Funny, interesting and a little but of a mystery to boot. Go! Buy! Now!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 4 comments  

Labels: Curse of the Spellmans, David Spellman, Henry Stone, Izzy, Lisa Lutz, Rae, The Spellman Files, Tuesday Tomorrow