by Lisa Lutz
Part of The Spellmans, book 4
First published 2010
Isabel Spellman finally accepts control of the family detective business at thirty-two. Her first move targets competitor Rick Harkey, a former cop she wants to investigate. When a wealthy elderly client hires her for a missing person case, Isabel sends her actor friend Len undercover as a butler in the man's mansion. Her mother blackmails her with embarrassing prom photos to force her into blind dates with respectable men. This threatens her relationship with Connor, an Irish bartender who might become her twelfth ex-boyfriend. The Spellman office descends into chaos. Doorknobs and light fixtures vanish daily while her mother cries in the pantry. Strict family rules multiply but fail to restore order. Isabel must decode rambling calls from Morty, her elderly attorney, while navigating Detective Henry Stone's attempts to restart their complicated past. Her younger sister Rae interns on legal cases and discovers evidence that could free a wrongly convicted man or land her in serious trouble.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, detective, family-drama
Vibes: fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Spellman Office
388 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster