The Spellman Files: A Novel by Lisa Lutz

This is one of the best books I have read this year. I am a librarian and recommend this book to all my Patron's.

The first scenes start it off fast: Izzy, sensing she's being followed in a parking garage, gets in her car and screeches out of the garage. A dizzying car chase through the steep streets of San Francisco follows and, after Izzy can't shake her tail, she stops the car, gets out, walks over to the car chasing her and, as the window rolls down, says, "Mom. Dad. This has to stop."

From Booklist:

Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series will enjoy this clever debut (the first in a series) featuring Izzy Spellman, an irrepressible 28-year-old sleuth who works for her parents' San Francisco PI firm. Members of the dysfunctional and relentlessly nosy Spellman clan include Izzy's 14-year-old sister, Rae, who engages in recreational surveillance (a fancy term for tailing people just for kicks), and her uncle Ray, a cancer survivor and recovering health-food addict who regularly disappears on liquor-drenched "Lost Weekends." Scenes showcasing the relationships among the various Spellmans are often laugh-out-loud funny. (The novel's prologue is an amusing example of the boundaries--or lack thereof--between Izzy and her mom and dad). Alas, bit after comic bit does not a mystery novel make, and only toward the end does Lutz pick up the narrative pace. Addicted to Get Smart reruns and forever attracted to the wrong kind of men, Izzy Spellman is definitely an appealing heroine; all this series needs to become a smashing success is a more generous dose of story and suspense. Allison Block Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Can't wait for her next book due out on March 11, 2008

Glad to hear you liked it.  It's been on my WL for a couple of weeks now.

Oh, it was definitely one of my favorite reads for this year.  I found myself laughing outloud in lots of places and have definitely recommended it since reading it as an ARC.  If I hadn't read "Lamb" this year, "Spellman Files" would have been my top funniest for the year.

Thanks for the recommendation!  I saw this thread last week and thought I'd give "The Spellman Files" a shot.  (I got it from the library.)  I have to agree, it was fabulous.  I found it funnier than Stephanie Plum, but it was a lot more serious too.  Great read. 

I enjoyed it too. I've had the next one on my WL for some time now.

Its on my WL and has been for a few months now.  Its not moving very fast.  :(

I just got this from the library today. Thanks for recommending it.

Debra....thanks for the "heads up"!