The Spellmans Strike Again (Izzy Spellman Mysteries)

AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF THIRTY-TWO, FORMER WILD CHILD ISABEL "IZZY" SPELLMAN HAS FINALLY AGREED TO TAKE OVER THE FAMILY BUSINESS. AND THE TRANSITION WON'T BE A SMOOTH ONE.

First among her priorities as head of Spellman Investigations is to dig up some dirt on the competition, slippery ex-cop Rick Harkey — a task she may enjoy a little too much. Next, faced with a baffling missing-persons case at the home of an aging millionaire, Izzy hires an actor friend, Len, to infiltrate the mansion as an undercover butler — a role he may enjoy a little much.

Meanwhile, Izzy is being blackmailed by her mother (photographic evidence of Prom Night 1994) to commit to regular blind dates with promising professionals — an arrangement that doesn't thrill Connor, an Irish bartender on the brink of becoming Ex-boyfriend #12.

At Spellman headquarters, it's business as unusual. Doorknobs and light fixtures are disappearing every day, Mom's been spotted crying in the pantry, and a series of increasingly demanding Spellman Rules (Rule #27: No Speaking Today) can't quite hold the family together. Izzy also has to decipher weekly "phone calls from the edge" from her octogenarian lawyer, Morty, as well as Detective Henry Stone's mysterious interest in rekindling their relationsh...well, whatever it was.

Just when it looks like things can't go more haywire, little sister Rae's internship researching pro bono legal cases leads the youngest Spellman to launch a grassroots campaign that could spring an innocent man from jail — or land Rae in it.

The Spellmans Strike Again is hands down the most hilarious, thrilling, and moving book in this bestselling, award-nominated series. And it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Isabel Spellman, no matter how much she matures, will never be able to follow Rule #1: Act Normal.

"In Edgar-finalist Lutz's entertaining fourth and final novel about the eccentric Spellman PI clan (after Revenge of the Spellmans), Isabel 'Izzy' Spellman juggles the usual family drama — her mother tries to sabotage Izzy's relationship with her Irish bartender boyfriend and younger sister Rae throws herself into freeing a wrongly convicted man — while helping to drum up business in a dreary economy. While Rae works on her 'Free Schmidt' campaign, Izzy investigates the whereabouts of a missing valet with a checkered past and sifts through garbage for a screenwriter client. Older brother David, the only Spellman not involved in the family business, grows closer to his defense attorney girlfriend. On the sly, Izzy is also tailing Rick Harkey, a rival San Francisco PI, and discovers that Harkey left behind a trail of suspicious arrests and conveniently misplaced evidence in his career as a cop. Narrator Izzy's biting wit — mixed with a refreshing dose of humility and sadness — easily carries the story." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The uproarious fourth and final installment in the "New York Times"-bestselling, Edgar Award-nominated series about a kooky detective family.

• A series beloved by fans and critics alike: Lisa Lutz’s debut novel, The Spellman Files , a New York Times bestseller, sold in twenty-three countries and was released in mass market in the spring of 2009. Curse of the Spellmans , its followup, was a national bestseller nominated for the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Novel, and will be released in mass market just prior to the release of Revenge of the Spellmans in paperback and The Spellmans Strike Again in hardcover. .

• The fourth and final book: The Spellmans Strike Again is the last installment in the unique Spellman series, beloved by mystery booksellers and fans of Janet Evanovich. “The end of the Spellmans? Now that should have you on the edge of your seat,” says the Daily News (New York). Though clamoring fans will have a word to say about that….

Lisa Lutz is the author of The Spellman Files, a New York Times best-seller; Curse of the Spellmans, a national best-seller and nominee for both the Macavity and Edgar® Awards for Best Novel of 2008; and the critically acclaimed Revenge of the Spellmans. Although she attended UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, the University of Leeds in England, and San Francisco State University, she still does not have a bachelor’s degree. Lisa spent most of the 1990s hopping through a string of low-paying odd jobs while writing and rewriting the screenplay Plan B, a mob comedy. After the film was made in 2000, she vowed she would never write another screenplay. A motion picture adaptation of The Spellman Files is in development with Paramount Pictures.