THE SPELLMAN FILES

Ari Graynor narrates this debut novel, telling the story of 28-year-old Isabel “Izzy” Spellman, who is struggling to stay sane while working for her family’s private detective agency. It’s difficult to imagine a better fit than Graynor for recounting Izzy’s madcap adventures, romantic disasters, and attempts to locate her missing sister, whose unhealthy habit of “recreational surveillance” has gotten her in trouble more than once with the police. With “normal” behavior in her family including going through other people’s trash, snooping outside hotel rooms, trailing men in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, and doing background checks on all of her “future ex-boyfriends,” Izzy’s story is one funny adventure after another. Graynor’s aplomb, dynamism, and sassiness help make this first novel a laugh-out-loud treat. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]