The Spellman Files

誰說不專業不能破案！不專業偵探社來囉。

伊莎貝爾．史派曼，她是一位私家偵探。現年28歲的她曾犯下多起戀愛錯誤、有著瘋狂酗酒的癖好和破壞公物成性的慘烈過往，愛看《糊塗情報員》（Get Smart）影集幾乎到上癮的狀態。身為偵探的她偏好從窗戶潛進屋內，但重點是，能當一位領有執照的私家偵探，侵犯他人的隱私根本是很自然的事。事實上，這種工作對史派曼家族來說，都是再自然也不過的家常便飯。

伊莎貝爾既像是神探南茜，也有那麼一點警探哈里的樣子，但她的角色，遊走在史派曼家庭成員和史派曼偵探社員工的模糊地帶上。她的職責包括了：完成上司（又稱為爸爸和媽媽）指派的任務（當然最好別在雞蛋裡挑骨頭）、滿足她永遠完美的律師哥哥的要求（通常都是被脅迫的）、替她十四歲的妹妹（對「休閒式跟監」上了癮）立下楷模，並追蹤她大伯的去向（他時不時會在號稱「消失的週末」裡失去蹤影）。當父母雇用她的妹妹來跟蹤她，以便查明伊莎貝爾新男友的身分時，伊莎貝爾怒火中燒，並認定自己唯一能變得像個正常人的方法就是脫離家族事業。可是，在讓她走以前，他們要她接下最後一件任務，那是一件關於十五歲失蹤少年的陳年舊案，完成此案也將成為她生命中最重要的一役。

作者Lisa Lutz曾在加州大學聖塔克魯茲分校、加州大學爾灣分校、英國里茲大和舊金山州立大學就讀。她曾在低薪的工作中換來換去，同時寫作犯罪集團喜劇電影《第二方案》（Plan B）的劇本。電影於2000年完成後，她誓言絕不再寫另一齣劇本。通常她在一個地方不會居住超過兩年，目前暫居西雅圖。

Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors -- but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.

The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious new series featuring the Spellman family in all its lovable chaos.