Izzy Spellman is the protagonist of Lisa Lutz’s comedy mystery series. She is the middle child of the Spellman family, San Francisco private investigators who treat surveillance as both a profession and a lifestyle. Izzy has been tailing people and running background checks since childhood, and she applies those skills to her family members as readily as to paying clients.
The Spellman books are built on Izzy’s voice: dry, exasperated, and unable to stop herself from snooping even when it causes trouble. Her family loves her and spies on her in equal measure, and the series follows her attempts to live a normal life while surrounded by people who consider wiretapping a form of affection. The Izzy Spellman series collects all the books in reading order.
Reading Order#
See the complete Izzy Spellman reading order for all books in the series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Izzy Spellman?
Izzy Spellman is the middle child of a family-run private investigation firm in San Francisco. She grew up conducting surveillance and running background checks, and she brings those skills to both her professional cases and her chaotic family relationships.
How many books feature Izzy Spellman?
Izzy is the protagonist of six main novels in the Spellman series, starting with The Spellman Files (2007) and ending with The Last Word (2013), plus several related works.
What makes the Izzy Spellman series different from other mystery series?
The series is more comedy than crime fiction. The Spellman family cannot stop investigating each other, and the books are driven by family dysfunction, rapid-fire dialogue, and escalating absurdity rather than dark or violent plots. The mysteries are there, but the family chaos is the real draw.