by Lisa Lutz
First published 2009
Isabel Spellman grows up in a family unlike any other. The Spellman detective clan teaches its children the fine arts of surveillance and blackmail from an early age. Every family member becomes both investigator and target in their household of professional paranoia. Isabel knows these games well after years of practice. She has mastered the round the clock watching and the cunning manipulation that defines Spellman family life. But when her younger sister Rae receives orders to spy on Isabel and her current boyfriend, Isabel reaches her breaking point. She decides to leave the detective business behind for good. This choice will reshape everything she knows about family loyalty and personal freedom. Isabel must navigate the complicated process of breaking away from people who make their living by never letting go.
Genres: family, suspense, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
378 pages · Paperback · Aufbau TB