Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trail of the Spellmans is fifth in the series so the only way to review it is to compare it to the other Spellman novels. Because, as I’ve said before, by now you’re either committed or not bothering—no one’s reading this book as a stand alone. And if you are, I don’t know what to say other than: don’t, go read the first one first. If you don’t have anything else to read, then why you on the internet reading my silly reviews?
Anyway, Trail: same old Spellmans, really. Maybe a bit watered down this time. Rae has become sort of a cliche unto herself, very predictable. One would love to see Lutz write a novel from Rae’s point of view sometime, maybe, since cliche or not, she’s interesting.
Dad Spellman is little less just his wife’s shadow in this one, but only for the sake of, I think, the sequel. I won’t spoil it; suffice it to say that while book four might have been the last of the Spellman novels, book five can’t be.
We finally get to meet Grammy Spellman, and as strong as she comes in, she’s not really all the significant. She’s touted as an Izzy foil, but really she’s just a plot device. Specifically, she’s a mean by which Mom Spellman gets to be mysterious for half the book.
Cause that’s how these Spellman novels work, right? Lots of family mysteries, which fuel the conflict that complicate the pursuit of outside mysteries. Lutz is really really good at this. Even if, in my opinion, some of the family mysteries are a bit contrived. Sometimes it’s hard to swallow that this family of investigators is so dedicated to hiding truths from each other. Just as Rae has become a bit of a stock character, so too has this secrecy penchant become sort of schticky.
But it doesn’t matter. I thoroughly enjoy these books. Looking forward to number six!