Footnotes are just one of the things I love about Lisa Lutz‘s Spellman series: she’s got a fun premise (a family of detectives!), great characters (oh, that little sister! And the 80-year-old best friend!), and the series is just plain madcap.* So, of course I was intrigued when my loving husband brought home a book I’d some how overlooked: Josh Bazell’s 2009 debut thriller, Beat the Reaper. The protagonist is like Izzy Spellman, only dangerous instead of ditsy. That’s Pietro “Bearclaw” Brnwa, former teenage mob hitman, now undercover as Dr. Peter Brown, an intern at a Manhattan# hospital. All is well until a dying mobster shows up at Dr. Brown’s hospital, recognizes him, and suddenly the sharks are circling. Literally.
Bazell is evidently some kind of madcap creative genius. He holds a BA in literature from Brown and an MD from Columbia. And Brnwa is a character you’ll never forget – violent, smart, irreverent, caring, funny. Did I say violent? At the end of Beat the Reaper, he’s alive … and it’s time to move on. I won’t say more except that you will be astounded at what Bazell comes up with for Brnwa. And you’ll be gobbling up those darn footnotes like they’re M&Ms.
Book #2 – the new one – is Wild Thing. It’s eleven years later and Brnwa is now a doctor on a cruise ship. A reclusive billionaire – we know him as Rec Bill through the whole book – hires Dr. Lionel Azimuth to accompany paleontologist Dr. Violet Hurst to a small town in Minnesota. Rec Bill wants to know if it’s true that there is a monster in the lake. Upon this simple premise a thriller is built.
It goes without saying that Brnwa will be mightily attracted to Violet, that the plot is packed with mayhem, hilarity, and wit in about equal parts. In addition to the footnotes, Bazell has included an appendix and sources. I promise you, you will read them.
And on page 210, you will gasp aloud at his audacity.
*I know, the photo is not Lisa, it’s Josh Bazell, looking all Clive Owen-y.
#A Manhattan hospital, because Bazell got his MD degree at Columbia University, which is right there, and he lives in Brooklyn. As I am going to NYC for spring break I will be scanning the streets for him.
Trail of the Spellmans another fun read
For those who haven’t read the series, here’s the premise: Protagonist Isabelle Spellman is enmeshed in the family business. Mom and Dad Spellman (Olivia and Albert) run a PI firm. Younger sister Rae (smart and smart-alecky) is also on board, but not big brother David. There’s a host of other characters, including family members, love interests, clients and associates. They’re easy to keep track of, because the personalities practically spring off the page.
The series is light hearted, the crimes are not heart-breaking, nobody gets murdered, and quirks abound. The interpersonal relationships take up a lot of psychic energy, but that’s cool – a big part of the charm is figuring out who’s pulling the wool over whose eyes, and why.
So it is situation normal in Trail of the Spellmans. Client A has hired the firm to trail her rich husband, but seems more interested in making sure that she knows where he is than who he is with and what he’s doing. Clients B and C have hired the firm to follow their college student daughter. Quirkily charming obsessive-compulsive client D has hired the firm (specifically, Isabelle) to run over and make sure he hasn’t left the faucet running or the toaster plugged in when he is overcome with faucet-or-toaster related anxiety. And circling back around, something seems to be sort of wrong with Client A’s husband.
This professional investigation work pales in comparison to the personal investigation work. Why is Olivia Spellman suddenly taking on hobby after hobby? What’s up with employee/chef Demetrius (formerly convicted of murder, now exonerated) and his growing friendship with the irascible Grammy Spellman? Why is brother David on the outs with sister Rae, and does it have anything to do with why toddler Sydney does not seem to understand what the word “banana” means? And what’s up with Isabelle’s relationship with boyfriend Henry? Is Henry’s mom Gertie really getting it on with bar-owner Bernie?
I’m making this sound more convoluted than it is. All the plot points get resolved satisfactorily, Izzy has a couple of big life changes but we’re okay with them, and everything works out for the best with the various clients. Read the book, it’s fun. When I told my husband I had finished “the latest Spellman,” he asked “Is that the footnote girl?” and reached for the book.
Indeed, Isabelle Spellman is the footnote girl. Her narrative is peppered with short, hilarious footnotes (not David Foster Wallace footnotes, I promise). There’s also an appendix. If you remember the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when funny stuff happens during the credits and then Ferris comes out and asks you why you’re still here, that’s what Spellman appendices are like. Highly entertaining.
PS – For those who recall that there was going to be a crime drama based on the Spellmans, no news. IMDB says it’s still in development.
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Posted in Commentary, Review
Tagged comedy, Ferris Bueller, footnotes, Lisa Lutz, private detective, Review, Trail of the Spellmans