Thursday, April 24, 2008

Review of Curse of the Spellmans


I whizzed through this book. It's the second in a series; I loved the first one, so I was happy that a sequel was out. It's about a family of private investigators, in particular the oldest daughter, Isabel Spellman. The family is super quirky and always performing surveillance on each other to try to ferret out secrets about their personal lives. Although they are unusual people (and a little bit crazy), you can empathize with the characters; they're pretty funny and endearing throughout.

As I mentioned, the Spellmans live in SF, so a lot of the scenery is familiar, which is also really fun for a local to read.

Unfortunately (and I was a bit worried about this--sequels are so frequently not as good as the first!), the author uses a lot of the same devices as in the first novel: the book starts in the middle of the story, and then takes you back to explain what's going on, and Isabel becomes so wrapped up in an investigation that she is blind to what's truly going on around her. So, that made the end a bit predictable, unfortunately.

However, I really really loved visiting with the characters again, and this was one of those books that made me stay up late because I couldn't get enough. It's not literature, but it's fun. I recommend getting acquainted with the Spellmans!

Next up: Touchstone by Laurie King.

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