Another Spellman success

As a child and a teen, I devoured series books. I'm pretty sure I've read every Sweet Valley book written - including specials - and every Babysitter's Club book. As an adult, though, I find very few series that make me super excited for the next installment. Of course there are fabulous trilogies all over the place, especially in teen literature (The Hunger Games, etc), but for some reason I haven't found many series with characters that I really like in the adult section of the library. One of the few grown-up series that I can say that I one hundred percent love is the Spellman Books by Lisa Lutz. These stories about Isabel "Izzy" Spellman and her zany family of private detectives are some of my favorites, and the newest installment, Trail of the Spellmans, is no exception.

As in all the best series, entering into Izzy's world after the long months between the publication of new releases is easy and delightful. In this book, the fifth in the series, a few years have passed since the last time we followed Izzy on a case, and much as changed. Her little sister Rae is now a college student, her older brother David is now a father, and her parents have taken on a new employee, changing the dynamics of their family business. As usual, though, there are cases to be solved, and as Izzy takes on a surveillance job that becomes more than simple stake-outs, her ethics - both professional and personal - are put to the test.

Of course, as in every Spellman book, there are a number of hilarious subplots and characters that pop up, and these diversions are every bit as engrossing as the solving of the mystery itself. If you haven't read any books in the series yet, I highly recommend them all. Have you read any other series with spunky protagonists that I should try?