
Trail of the Spellmans (Spellman Files Series #5)
4.1
74
5
1
Paperback
USD
14.94
$14.94
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781451608137 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date: | 05/21/2013 |
Series: | Spellman Files Series , #5 |
Pages: | 373 |
Sales rank: | 251,913 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author

Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Trail of the Spellmans
4.1 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
74 reviews.
![]() |
I'm not all the way through the sample, but so far it's amazing. I'm so excited for when the book comes out!!!! I lisa lutz's writing!!!
|
![]() |
This book could be subtitled, "Izzy Grows Up." While the antics of the Spellman family continue, this book has an underlying seriousness as circumstances change for everyone in the family. I think the added gravity takes the series in a good direction, still humorous, but not as frivolous as the earlier books. I look forward to the next installment.
|
![]() |
This book was by far the most entertaining and best written of the five books in the series.
|
![]() |
I LOVED the Spellman books 1-4. I thought they were hilarious, and had characters that were both fun and interesting. The author spent 4 books writing about the Spellmans and moving their relationships forward. Book 4 really seemed to wrap up the series in a nice bow, so I was surprised to find out that there was a book 5. After reading it, I almost feel that the author was also surprised. It's almost like she realized that if she wanted to continue the series, she had to unwind almost everything she did in Book 4. While I still enjoyed that author's writing style, I was very disappointed to see most of the characters take a big step backwards.
|
![]() |
Lisa Lutz is awesome. Document 5 introduces you to two more crazy characters and gives you closure on one. Grammy Spellman shows up to shake the Spellman house up, and Henry Stone's mother shows us why Henry is a tedious person. Fast and fun read!
|
![]() |
The footnotes can become tedious in a normal book but in the nook book format, when you have to go back and forth to the end of the book in order to decipher them, it's downright irritating. They need to figure out another way to hole them or just drop them altogether.
|
![]() |
After the last entry in the series - The Spellmans Strike Again - I though it was good the series was coming to an end (that was the rumor at the time). Though Izzy and her family are funny, wacky, and completely dysfunctional, the series was becoming stale. None of the characters seemed to grow or learn from their many, many mistakes. Luckily, Lisa Lutz didn't disappoint with the newest entry.In Trail of the Spellmans, all members of the family are in fine form. They are as unpredictable, uncommunicative, and sneaky as always. But, there were also some twists: finally, Izzy, David, and Rae each practiced a little self-reflection and came to significant conclusions. It was great to see the Spellman kids grow up a bit. The resulting changes should keep the series fresh and interesting for at least a few more books.Overall, a satisfying addition to the Spellman family.
|
![]() |
I had to return it to the library, so I won't do a usual kind of review of Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz, but I'll make a few comments about it. This is the latest in a humor/mystery series featuring Izzy (Isabel) Spellman and her aggressive, uninhibited family that runs a private detection agency. She's in her 30s now and her romantic life remains complicated. These aren't typical mysteries. The Spellmans surveil people (and often each other) and decipher their dirty (or not dirty) deeds. When Izzy mentions it would be nice to get a murder case, her mother says, "We can dream."The dialog is always sharp and funny, and Lutz is particularly good at having characters act in bizarre, unlikely fashion, only to have the reader later learn why - and the why is always reasonable and logical. For example, Izzy's mother suddenly takes up a variety of seemingly unrelated hobbies and classes, like ceramics, Russian, crocheting, for no apparent reason. Turns out there is an amusing and very good reason.In this one the Spellmans are surveiling a husband, sister and daughter, and keeping their clients and ethics straight is a challenge, not to mention the whys and wherefores of what their investigations disclose. Izzy sorts it all out in a questionably ethical, but unquestionably right, way. At the same time she's investigating what's going on in her own family and trying to determine whether she can ever have a long-term romance (she's up to ex-boyfriend #13. There are a lot of good laughs, and Lutz is adept with footnotes, including several improbably involving actor Morgan Freeman.
|
![]() |
MY THOUGHTSLOVED ITI adore the Spellmans and in this latest installment, they are back to their homespun wackiness where no one trusts anyone as far as they can throw them. The story skips back and forth between the family members, each having their own issues. Mrs. Spellman suddenly throws herself into a whirlwind of acitivities. David is now a stay at home dad whose daughter refers to everything as "banana". Rae is in college and still working part time for the family, but has lost her interest. She does develop feelings for a boy whom she treats with little regard. Isabel is on and off with Henry and finds she has more in common with his mother lately. Her father has taken on several questionable cases.It really sounds like none of these things should go together, but Lutz weaves them all with humor and sarcasm. This is the first book in the series I couldn't sit down and read straight through. I had read that the author wasn't feeling the series anymore and I think it shows a bit. I did laugh out loud quite a bit and felt this would be a good book to end the series on since most major issues are tied up neatly. I will miss the family, well, at least until I find out there is another book on the way!
|
![]() |
Things are stranger than usual in the Spellman family. Isabel's mother, Olivia, has suddenly signed up for a lot of evening classes. Her father, Albert has some kind of secret. Her siblings (David, older and Rae, younger) are suddenly not speaking to each other. And David's toddler daughter calls everything a banana (except bananas). Isabel is the first to admit that she's not very good at relationships. Rather than just ask her family members what's going on, she investigates: tailing, eavesdropping and snooping. (Granted, this is not atypical for the Spellmans, who go on "disappearances" instead of vacations.) Instead of talking to her boyfriend Henry about their future, she starts going out drinking with Henry's mother.Still, Izzy is perturbed about her family's apparent unravelling, and resolves to do something about it. Is Izzy finally growing up?Lutz has included all the ingredients of her winning Spellman series recipe: copious footnotes and appendices, plus.this time, "copies" of school assignments created by her siblings. It's not as laugh-out-loud funny as the first book in the series, but you might still find yourself giggling to yourself. *Many thanks to the publisher for the Advance Reading Copy.
|
![]() |
If you're in the mood for a deftly written comic novel, you can't do much better than the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. Her hilariously cockeyed view of modern family life is extremely entertaining, and if you're inclined to look hard enough you can even discern some wry wisdom buried in the rapid-fire, wisecracking exchanges between Izzy Spellman, the main protagonist, and her endearingly quirky friends and relations. (It's not required, though. You can just go ahead and laugh out loud for the hell of it.)
|
![]() |
I was bored by this book and didn't finish it. I really enjoyed the previous Spellman books, but this one didn't have any bite.
|
![]() |
P.I. Izzie Spellman somewhat has her life on track. She has been living with Henry for a couple years now but she is avoiding him because a) his mother is visiting and b) he wants to have THE talk. So Izzie busies herself with solving some mysteries around her family. One, her mother has suddenly filled up all her free time with yoga, crochet classes, Russian classes. Izzie is determined to find out why. Also, her brother David has thrown out their younger sister Rae from his house's basement apartment. But neither of them will say why.Izzie is also concerned about some cases her parents have accepted. But if she does the right thing, she risks getting fired from the family business.I have read all of the Spellman books and I am so happy I discovered this series and I hope Lutz keeps writing them. This latest offering maintains all the humor and craziness of the others. Even with Izzie showing more maturity, the series has not lost any of it's fun and uniqueness. I loved and highly recommend this book. But if you haven't read any of these books, you really do need to start at the beginning. I personally am planning a reread of them all.
|
![]() |
For fans of the Spellman series this book will definitely not disappoint. The Spellman family is back and as dysfunctional as ever. There are a couple of new additions to the family that readers will enjoy.I loved this book. I felt like the additions to the Spellman family totally made me love the family even more than I already did. I don't want to give too much away since the book hasn't come out yet, but to me certain parts of this book just seemed bittersweet. Izzy wins a big victory in the end but also suffers a defeat in the book, a defeat of something dear. The ending of the book actually made me tear up a bit.I would recommend this book to fans of the series. I would recommend this series to everyone who hasn't yet discovered how amazing the Spellman family is.*I received an Advance Reader's Edition of this book from a giveaway by the publisher. In no way is the content of my review affected by that.*
|
![]() |
Document #5 in the Spellman series was a very fun read. While not everything went in the way I expected (or hoped) it would, how can I say that anything has ever followed a linear line in these books? Between the usual, interesting plot lines (cases), we get the unusual too. There's a new employee at Spellman Investigations, a possible Ex-boyfriend #13, an open-ended visit by Grammy Spellman, and siblings at odds. For once, Izzy doesn't seem like the strangest one in this lot of characters and almost seems like she could take control of her future. Lutz has had me hooked since the first book and I will continue to follow any and all Spellman sagas.
|
![]() |
Let me start by saying I'm not a big fan of humorous mysteries. I'm not a Carl Hiaasen reader. I stopped Janet Evanovich after book four. However, I have great respect for authors who can write humorous mysteries because I think it's one of the hardest genres to be consistently good at.So, when I initially read the Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz I was surprised how 'laugh out loud' funny it was. I continued laughing through the antics of the Spellmans in books two through four. I whole-heartedly recommend reading them.Then something happened and Lutz co-wrote Heads You Lose with her ex-boyfriend, still friend David Hayward. It was like she took an anti-comedy pill. I struggled through 50 pages and had to put it down.With Trail of the Spellmans (Document #5) Lutz is climbing out of the abyss and starting to get her groove back. As with most of her Spellman books, it's a mish mosh. There is the usual intra-family subterfuge. In addition, they are hired by three related people to follow other members within this triumvirate, for reasons not readily apparent. And then there is Walter, who leaves his house afraid he left the toaster plugged in or the water running. Hey, in the private eye business, you take what you can get.Lutz has also introduced a likeable new employee, Demetrius, aka D, an ex-con who served 15 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. And there is the always dependable Henry, with whom Isabel has moved in. Lutz's characteristic footnotes and appendices are present, although not in such quantities as in prior books. As always, Lutz lets you know that more Spellman mania could very well be down the pike.While not her greatest Spellman book, Trail of the Spellmans certainly is required reading for Spellman fans. It's a quick, enjoyable read, minus the laugh-out-loud component (I did chuckle a few times though). So, if you haven't read a Lisa Lutz book, start with the Spellman Files and work your way through this short series. If you have read one of the books, just keep going through them in order. You'll be laughing til tears come out of your eyes.P.S. I was pleased to see that Ms. Lutz, on her last page. supported independend bookstores and suggested strongly that we frequent them. For that alone, this book is worth reading!
|
![]() |
This book is #5 in the Isabel Spellman series. I had only read the first book before this, and I liked this one even more than the first one (The Spellman Files).The Spellman family are all experienced private investigators, by hobby or by trade, and instead of talking to one another like normal people, they spy on each other and show no regard for personal privacy. At first glance, they all seem to be a bit crazy.In this book, Izzy's mom has suddenly started all sorts of hobbies and Izzy doesn't know why. David and Rae, Izzy's brother and sister, are fighting - and again, no one knows why. And Izzy and her parents all seem to be investigating the same family, but her dad isn't allowing her to talk about it. Izzy, along with the reader, must try to piece all of this together by the end of the book. To further complicate matters, Granny Spellman is hanging around. Oh, and Izzy needs to figure out where her relationship with her boyfriend is headed, what she wants to do with the rest of her life, and how to keep from being fired.This is a delightful and fun book that kept me guessing all the way until the end. I will definitely read the remaining books (#2 through #4) in this series. Recommended if you like fun, mysterious novels with eccentric characters.(I received this book through Amazon's Vine Program.)
|
![]() |
The Spellman clan is hired for several different surveillance cases. Meanwhile, the mom is taking random classes every evening and David and Rae aren't speaking. Will the family survive the latest round of craziness. As always, I laughed my way through the book and had a hard time putting it down. Fans will not be disappointed.
|
![]() |
This series was meant to end on book 4. It shows in book 5. The author had to undo much of the conclusions to get more books in the series. It was actually depressing
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Irreverant and fun,always sad for these to end
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|