by Lisa Lutz
Part of The Spellmans, book 5
First published 2012
Isabel Spellman faces an unusual problem. For once, she might be the sanest member of her private investigator family. Her mother throws herself into bizarre new hobbies. Her father keeps mysterious secrets. Her siblings wage war without explaining why they fight. Only Demetrius Merriweather, their star employee, brings stability to the chaos. The cases at Spellman Investigations grow equally strange. Rae accepts money to tail a teenage girl, then fabricates her surveillance reports. A wealthy woman pays Isabel to follow her husband despite showing no signs of jealousy or suspicion. A man in a sweater vest wants them to track his sister, who turns out to be the same wealthy client. Isabel pushes deeper into these connected mysteries, determined to uncover the truth. Her investigation threatens to destroy both the family business and the relationships that matter most to her.
Genres: family, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
384 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster