Oh. My. Awesome.
That's what this book is. It got a great review in Entertainment Weekly a couple of months ago, so I was really looking forward to it since I trust their reviewers. But what that short capsule did not convey was the excruciating mixture of sharp comic writing, good characters, and heartwarming family love that makes this an super enjoyable novel and perfect for summer reading.
Izzie Spellman, 28, works for her parents' San Franscisco private investigation firm, and has managed to turn herself into something resembling an adult after a long and tumultuous stint as her family's devil child. She's even got a new boyfriend, a nice normal dentist. True, he thinks she's a substitute teacher, and is curious about her family, but when your family violates other people's privacy for a living and an avocation, certain countermeasures have to be taken to keep them out of the loop. Izzy's going make a big step--she wants to quit the business and move out of the apartment in her parents' house, but before they'll accept her resignation she has to solve a 15 year old missing persons case that been languishing in the dead file.
Are you looking for a plot? There's not much of one. It's totally character driven, and Izzie's telling the story that outlines out the history of her family and tracks events up to the ostensible opening, which has her being interrogated by the police investigating the disappearance of her 14 year old sister Rae. It's a lightly told tale of family love-hate, and excellently written, and very, very funny. Every page is amusing, and I can't even start quoting because I'd violate copyright and post the whole thing. It's that good.
The book's being marked to adults, but I'd give it to a high schooler-the themes of independence and how family shape you are right for that demographic. Excellent book, one of many great reads I've encountered recently.
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