«Curse of the Spellmans» by Lisa Lutz

‘Fast-paced, irreverent, and very funny, The Spellman Files is like Harriet the Spy for grown-ups’ Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Eligible and American Wife

They're baaaack … Re-meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation - all in the name of unconditional love.

When Izzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, she writes it off as an occupational hazard. She's been (obsessively) keeping surveillance on her new next-door neighbour (suspect's name: John Brown), convinced he's up to no good - even if Spellman Investigations management (ie:her parents) are not.

When the (displeased) management refuse to bail Izzy out, it is Morty, Izzy's octogenarian lawyer, who comes to her rescue. But before he can build a defence, he has to know the facts. Over weak coffee and pastrami sandwiches, Izzy unveils the whole truth and nothing but the truth - as only she, a licensed 30-year-old professional, can.

‘Hilarious. My enjoyment of The Spellman Files was only slightly undercut by my irritation that I hadn't written it myself. The funniest book I've read in years!’ Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada

‘The Spellman Files is hilarious, outrageous, and hip. Izzy Spellman, P.I., is a total original, with a voice so fresh and real, you want more, more, more. At long last, we know what Nancy Drew would have been like had she come from a family of lovable crackpots. Lisa Lutz has created a delicious comedy with skill and truth. I loved it’ Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia and Big Stone Gap