{"id":1723,"date":"2010-05-23T17:27:26","date_gmt":"2010-05-23T22:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=1723"},"modified":"2025-05-05T20:22:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T00:22:47","slug":"the-spellman-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1723","title":{"rendered":"The Spellman Files"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spellman Files<\/a><\/em> (2007) Lisa Lutz<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The book opens with the main character involved in a car chase. The next chapter has the main character–Isabelle–being interviews. Then we go way back into the past.<\/p>\n

The main character, Isabelle Spellman, is a private investigator for her family’s PI firm. She has a checkered past, and a very very strange family. She also tells her story through the lens of past investigations and lists and the other ways she organizes her thoughts and feelings the way she investigates a case.<\/p>\n

Izzy has a very strange family. Of course, being raised as a private investigator probably warps the way you look at the world, and much of this book is a look at why Izzy is warped, and why her past is key to the events at hand.<\/p>\n

As I said, the book is written in a somewhat unusual manner–as if Izzy were reviewing her past the way she would review her case. But it wasn’t a difficult style and very enjoyable to read. It’s also very funny.<\/p>\n

Izzy has a quirky sense of humor and a quirky past, and I can see how the style might not be for everyone–this certainly isn’t a classical PI mystery in any sense, but I thought it was fun, and it was certainly enjoyable.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Spellman Files (2007) Lisa Lutz The book opens with the main character involved in a car chase. The next chapter has the main character–Isabelle–being interviews. Then we go way back into the past. The main character, Isabelle Spellman, is a private investigator for her family’s PI firm. She has a checkered past, and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,8,291],"tags":[846],"class_list":["post-1723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-mystery","category-paper","tag-lisa-lutz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-rN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5078,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5078","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":0},"title":"The Dragon Conspiracy","author":"Michelle","date":"January 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dragon Conspiracy (2015) Lisa Shearin This is the second book of the SPI files, and a fun romp. But is also has a few things that are quite different from other books in this genre. Such as this: Starting a romantic relationship with Ian and having it go bad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dragon-conspiracy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24938,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24938","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":1},"title":"The House on Druid Lake","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The House on Druid Lake (2021) Isabelle Adler Oliver has taken a job in Baltimore to make a new start, and perhaps a little bit of escaping his abusive ex. He believes he's lucked out in finding a relatively inexpensive apartment to rent, in what looks to be an historical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The House on Druid Lake ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-House-on-Druid-Lake-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19509,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19509","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":2},"title":"Valor: Wands","author":"Michelle","date":"January 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Valor: Wands (2018) Isabelle Melan\u00e7on, Megan Lavey-Heaton Editors \u201cThe Prince\u2019s New Clothes\u201d by Isabelle Melan\u00e7on and Megan Lavey-Heaton \u201cMom Knight and The Centipede\u201d by Sara Goetter \u201cThe Magnificent Daji\u201d by Alex Singer and Diana Huh \u201cMaleen\u201d by Nicole Chartland \u201cMarie and The Nutcracker\u201d by Emily Hann \u201cThe Laughing Queen\u201d by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valor Wands","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Valor-wands-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Valor-wands-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Valor-wands-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":203,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/203","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":3},"title":"Memory & Dream","author":"Michelle","date":"March 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Memory & Dream (1995) Charles de Lint Memory & Dream is not my favorite Charles de Lint book. Partially, because I keep forgetting that it's a novel and not a short story collection, so I pick up the book, start reading, and then think, \"boy, this is a really long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/memory-and-dream.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13618,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13618","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":4},"title":"Valor: Swords","author":"Michelle","date":"November 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Valor: Swords (2015) edited by Isabelle Melan\u00e7on and Megan Lavey-Heaton Fairy tales do not inform children that there is such things as monsters. Children already know that there are monsters. What fairy tales really teach is that monsters can be transformed or destroyed. \u201cPrunella\u201d By Isabelle Melan\u00e7on And Megan Lavey-Heaton\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valor Swords","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Valor-Swords.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6231,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6231","url_meta":{"origin":1723,"position":5},"title":"The Dragon Conspiracy, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dragon Conspiracy, Audible Version (2015) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker This is another audio book I finished earlier in the fall and forgot to review. The second SPI files book finds Makenna and Ian at a Gala opening at the Met, displaying a collection of rare gems that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"dragon-conspiracy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dragon-conspiracy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}