Lisa Lutz
Lisa Lutz has published 13 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with Curse of the Spellmans (2008).
Lisa Lutz is an American author of mystery novels and a screenwriter. She began her career writing Hollywood screenplays, a path that unexpectedly led to her first novel when one rejected script became the basis for The Spellman Files. That book launched the Spellman series in 2007, a collection of six novels that explore the eccentricities of the Spellman family. Lutz has also written standalone novels including How To Start A Fire and The Passenger, and co-authored Heads You Lose with David Hayward. Her latest novel, The Accomplice, was published in 2022. She has received an Alex award and an Edgar Award nomination for Best Novel. Before finding success as a novelist, Lutz spent the 1990s juggling odd jobs while working on a mob comedy screenplay titled Plan B, which was eventually made into a film in 2000. She lives in the Hudson Valley, New York.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Izzy Spellman Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionIzzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, a consequence she chalks up to occupational hazard. She's been obsessively surveilling her new next-door neighbor, convinced he's up to no good, even if Spellman Investigations management—her parents—disagree. When they refuse to bail her out, Izzy's octogenarian lawyer, Morty, comes to her rescue, but first, he needs the facts. Over diner sandwiches, Izzy recounts the whole truth, as only a thirty-year-old professional can. When she's not staking out her neighbor or keeping tabs on her sister, Rae, Izzy is attempting to apprehend a copycat vandal whose crimes eerily mirror a series of incidents from her own rebellious past. As Izzy juggles her cases—her own and every other Spellman's—it's clear that while Morty may be on retainer, Izzy is still very much on the case. Re-meet the Spellmans, a family where eavesdropping is mandatory, locks are meant to be picked, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation, all in the name of unconditional love.Publication dateMarch 11, 2008Amazon rating4.3/5Print length416LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- TagsmysteryDescriptionTo be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman. Twenty-eight-year-old Izzy Spellman works for her family's private investigation firm, where invading people's privacy comes naturally to everyone, including each other. While Izzy may have a checkered past, she's good at her job, but she decides she wants out of the family business. Her parents agree, but only if she solves one last case: a fifteen-year-old missing person, impossible-to-solve cold case. But when a disappearance hits far too close to home, Izzy's final assignment becomes the most important case of her life.Publication dateMarch 11, 2008Amazon rating4.2/5LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
- TagsmysteryDescriptionPrivate investigator Izzy Spellman is on hiatus from Spellman Inc., trading surveillance for bartending after a previous case landed her in court-ordered therapy. But when her boss introduces her to a potential client seeking a private eye to tail a suspicious wife, Izzy reluctantly takes the case, expecting it to be short and sweet. Instead, the simple surveillance job spirals into a complex puzzle, leaving her with more questions than answers. As Izzy grapples with her new client's secrets, her personal life and mental health begin to unravel. She’s facing a housing crisis, struggling with insomnia, and finding her therapy sessions fruitless. Meanwhile, her brother David adopts a disheveled attitude, and her sister Rae alienates her study partner, Detective Henry Stone. Her parents, ever the schemers, continue their thinly veiled surveillance, trying to lure her back to the family business. Izzy's carefully constructed peace is disintegrating, leaving her to confront the mysteries of the case and the chaos of her own life.Publication dateMarch 10, 2009Amazon rating4.5/5Print length384LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- TagsmysteryDescriptionIn a family where surveillance is a birthright and secrets are currency, Izzy Spellman, former wild child and private investigator, has finally agreed to take the reins of Spellman Investigations. But the transition from prodigal daughter to head of the family business is anything but smooth. The office itself seems to be unraveling, with doorknobs and light fixtures vanishing daily, and Mom caught weeping in the pantry. A new set of increasingly rigid Spellman Rules, like 'No Speaking Today,' barely contain the chaos. Izzy plunges into a baffling missing-persons case, enlisting a friend to go undercover as a butler, a role he might enjoy a little too much. Simultaneously, she's being blackmailed by her mother with photographic evidence of a wild Prom Night 1994, forcing Izzy into a parade of blind dates that do not thrill the Irish bartender who may soon be ex-boyfriend number twelve. Meanwhile, her younger sister Rae's pro bono legal work could free an innocent man, or land Rae herself in serious trouble. As Izzy navigates demands from her octogenarian lawyer and a detective's renewed interest, the Spellmans prove that even as the end of their story approaches, they'll never be able to follow Rule #1: Act Normal.Publication dateMarch 16, 2010Amazon rating4.6/5Print length388LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- TagsmysteryDescriptionFor the first time in Spellman history, Isabel Spellman might be the most normal member of her family. Mom has taken on outrageous extracurricular activities. Dad has a secret. Her brother and sister are at war. Meanwhile, her niece keeps saying “banana” even though she hates bananas. Izzy’s boyfriend, Henry Stone, keeps wanting “to talk,” a prospect she evades by going out with his mother. On the business side, Rae fakes surveillance reports. A math professor hires Izzy to watch his apartment while he unravels. A socialite has Isabel tail her husband, despite a lack of suspicion. Then a man hires the Spellmans to follow his sister, who turns out to be the socialite. As the cases pile up, Izzy won’t stop hunting for answers, even when they threaten to shatter both the business and the family.Publication dateFebruary 28, 2012Amazon rating4.5/5Print length384LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- DescriptionIsabel Spellman offers her direct observations on a range of subjects. Her behavioral manifesto, Isabel Spellman's Guide to Etiquette: What Is Wrong with You People, addresses common questions about eating, email, dating, weddings, driving, umbrellas, and more.Publication dateMay 28, 2013Amazon rating4.1/5Print length67LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- DescriptionThe air in the Spellman Investigations offices hangs thick with unspoken resentments. Izzy Spellman, PI, has orchestrated a hostile takeover, but her employees are far from collegial. The family firm, once a source of constant, if chaotic, vigilance—from sisters tailing sisters to mothers wielding blackmail material—now feels less like home and more like a battlefield. Izzy’s own history of breaches, blackmails, and clandestine boyfriends seems a distant memory compared to the current struggle to simply pay the bills. But the true storm gathers when Izzy is accused of embezzling from the obscenely wealthy Mr. Slayter. The implications are staggering: indictment could mean the loss of her PI license, the ruin of her family’s legacy, and her own freedom. It’s a precarious precipice for Izzy, a woman accustomed to navigating her family’s eccentricities and the inherent dangers of her profession. Now, she must confront the possibility that this might be the last word on her career. This installment plunges deeper into the complex world of the Spellmans, where family loyalty and professional ambition collide with potentially devastating consequences.Publication dateJuly 9, 2013Amazon rating4.4/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Tags---DescriptionHave you ever wanted something and been told “No”? This is the book for you. Learn the best way to ask for what you want. Learn how to ask for more. Discover the importance of not overreaching. Through several simple steps, you can get everything you want. Even an elephant. With helpful illustrations and a complete glossary, there is no end to what these skills can get you. Authors David Spellman and Lisa Lutz and illustrator Jaime Temairik show you that it is possible to negotiate for everything. There will be no more hearing “no”.Publication dateMay 21, 2013Amazon rating3.8/5Print length32LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagscrimemysteryliterary-fictionDescriptionIn the rolling hills of Northern California, a modest rambler is home to pot-growing siblings Paul and Lacey Hansen. Their quiet existence is shattered when they discover a headless corpse on their property. Faced with a grim discovery they can’t exactly report, they attempt to relocate the body, only for it to reappear, a chilling message that grows riper by the day. But this is only half the story. The murder mystery unfolding in their fictional world is mirrored by a real-life rivalry between its authors, Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. Once partners, professionally and personally, they’ve reunited to write this novel in alternating chapters, but their creative differences are escalating. As the body count rises in Paul and Lacey’s story, so does the intensity of Lisa and David’s disagreement over how the narrative should progress. The result is a literary brawl, a murder mystery as unpredictable and bloody as the authors’ escalating feud, where the lines between fiction and reality blur with every turn of the page.Publication dateApril 3, 2012Amazon rating3.6/5Print length300LanguageEnglishPublisherPenguin Publishing Group
- Tags---DescriptionTwenty years after college roommates Anna and Kate wheeled Georgiana Leoni to their dorm in a shopping cart, the three women gather around a campfire. What happened in between—the wild adventures, unspoken jealousies, and one night that changed everything—is the story of their friendship. Anna is the fearless leader. Kate is the loyal sidekick, until she is pushed too far. George is always desired, but frequently dumped. Lisa Lutz pulls us into the tangled bond of these three women and pays homage to the love we have for the family we choose.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2015Amazon rating3.9/5Print length339LanguageEnglishPublisherHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
- TagsthrillersuspensemysteryDescriptionForty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois is a fugitive. It’s not the first time. She dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice, and flees town. She meets Blue, a bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes. An uneasy, dangerous alliance is born. Together, they attempt to live off the grid, hopscotching from city to city. But Debra, as she is now known, is chased by a very dark secret. Can she outrun her past? Lutz develops riveting suspense, pouring threats on her gritty heroine’s increasingly tenuous bids at survival. This blistering thriller is about defining yourself while pursuing your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.Publication dateMarch 1, 2016Amazon rating4.2/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherSimon & Schuster
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionAlexandra Witt arrives at Stonebridge Academy seeking refuge. But a writing assignment sparks disturbing student responses, drawing her into an investigation of the school's elite and their secret 'Darkroom.' Alex galvanizes girls questioning the 'boys will be boys' culture, igniting a resistance. Her actions, however, attract a dangerous enemy who knows her past. Senior Gemma plots her revenge. Loner Norman endures the Darkroom, seeking courage. English teacher Finn Ford watches Alex, his own ambitions in play. A gender war erupts, fueled by unfolding secrets and personal stakes. The conflict escalates, with potentially fatal consequences for all.Publication date2018
- TagsmysterycrimeDescriptionWhat binds Owen and Luna together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? These questions haunt the best friends, whose bond formed the moment they met in college, their names soon becoming indivisible. Years later, Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. While the police investigation unearths long-hidden secrets, it cannot penetrate the wall of mystery surrounding Owen. To uncover the truth, Luna must confront a secret of her own, one she has spent her life burying. The Accomplice examines the cost of breaking shared history and the chilling realization of how little you may know the person who knows you best.Publication dateJanuary 25, 2022Amazon rating4.2/5Print length369LanguageEnglishPublisherBallantine Books
Frequently Asked Questions about Lisa Lutz
The Izzy Spellman series should be read in publication order. The first book is The Spellman Files, published in 2007. The series continues with Curse of the Spellmans (2008), Revenge of the Spellmans (2009), The Spellmans Strike Again (2010), Trail of the Spellmans (2012), and so on. There are six books in the original Spellman series, and the series was later continued with additional books. Following this order will allow readers to best understand the intricate family dynamics and ongoing storylines that develop throughout the series.
A good starting point for Lisa Lutz's books is The Spellman Files, published in 2007. This novel introduces the eccentric Spellman family and establishes the tone and style that characterize her popular series. It was the first novel she published and set the stage for the subsequent installments in the Spellman saga. Readers who prefer to begin with a standalone novel might consider How to Start a Fire (2015) or The Passenger (2016), which offer self-contained narratives.
While the Izzy Spellman series has an overarching narrative and character development that is best experienced in order, some readers may find individual books can be enjoyed on their own. However, to fully appreciate the intricacies of the Spellman family's investigations and personal lives, reading them in publication order is recommended. The relationships and plot points build from one book to the next, making a sequential reading experience more rewarding. Standalone novels by Lutz can, of course, be read independently.
Lisa Lutz writes both series and standalone novels. Her most well-known work is the Spellman series, which follows the investigations and chaotic lives of the Spellman family. She has also published several standalone novels, including How To Start A Fire, The Passenger, and The Swallows. Additionally, she has co-authored a book titled Heads You Lose with David Hayward. This variety allows readers to choose between immersive series experiences or self-contained stories.
Lisa Lutz has written a considerable number of books across different forms. Her bibliography includes the popular Spellman series, which comprises six original novels and later continuations. She has also authored several standalone novels such as The Passenger and The Accomplice. In total, she has published over a dozen books, including novels and co-authored works, offering a diverse body of work for readers to explore.
The first book Lisa Lutz published was The Spellman Files, which came out in 2007. This novel introduced the quirky Spellman family of private investigators and immediately established the unique blend of humor and mystery that would become her signature. The book's success led to the creation of a popular series that has continued to explore the family's escapades. Before writing novels, Lutz worked as a screenwriter.
Lisa Lutz's most recent novel is The Accomplice, published in 2022. This standalone book continues her tradition of crafting compelling narratives with intriguing characters. It was released after her other standalone novels such as The Swallows (2018) and The Passenger (2016). Readers familiar with her work will find her characteristic wit and engaging plotlines present in this latest offering.
Lisa Lutz primarily writes mystery novels and thrillers, often with a strong comedic element. Her work frequently explores themes of family, secrets, and investigation, particularly within the context of her popular Spellman series. While she is best known for her mystery fiction, she has also ventured into standalone novels that delve into different narrative styles and subjects. Her background as a screenwriter also influences her dynamic storytelling.
We verified the reading order for Lisa Lutz's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Lisa Lutz Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/lisa-lutz