At Simon & Schuster: I’m going to switch things up and thank Jonathan Karp first. Thank you for bringing my editor back. Although that was a fun six months or so when I was telling people you were my editor. That brings me to my editor, Marysue Rucci. You were very wise to suggest the book switcheroo,1 but at the time I was researching mental health facilities in upstate New York. Now I realize we would be doomed if we’d stuck with the original plan. So, thank you. And thank you for your wise guidance, insight, and friendship.
I am incredibly grateful for all the other outstanding people at Simon & Schuster. As always, I am indebted to Carolyn Reidy for her unwavering support for the Spellman series. Also, thank you to Richard Rhorer, a huge thanks to Emily Graff, Wendy Sheanin, Andrea DeWerd, Tracey Guest, Jessica Zimmerman, Jackie Seow, Irene Kheradi, Gina DiMascia, Davina Mock, and everyone else who has worked on the Spellman books over the years.
A special thank you (always) to Jonathan Evans, my production editor, and Aja Pollock, my copyeditor. I’ll be honest: This time around I couldn’t even wrap my head around the timeline. It hurt my head so bad. And frankly, I just thought, well, Jonathan will fix it. It’s wrong, I know, and one day you won’t be there for me. But thank you. My next book is going to take place over a one-week timespan. Every chapter will be a day of the week, and I’ll dedicate it to you.
As I mentioned before, this year kind of kicked the shit out of me. I couldn’t have survived without Julie Ulmer, Morgan Dox, and Steve Kim. I don’t think I could have survived the last twenty years without you. And Rae Dox Kim, I’m going to be borrowing your name just a bit longer. Dude, thanks for making the year more interesting and reminding me that I’m not that far from civilization.
Next up, David Hayward and his clan. Dave, thanks for years of covering up my crimes against the English language and being my joke conscience and listening to me as I sobbed repeatedly on the phone during my many nervous breakdowns this year. I would also like to thank you for lending me your nephews for my author video. I’m pleased to hear about their steady recovery and I will continue to abide the restraining order. Thank you, Alex, Charlie, and Willie Rounaghi. As always, thank you Linda and Jerry Hayward for your hospitality.
Julie Shiroishi, thank you for finding me my beautiful home and being a good friend. And I’m going to thank you in advance for lending me at least one of your children for book promotional purposes. He’ll be just fine. He’s tough. I can tell.
My family: Dan Fienberg, you really saved the day (well, the year) last year. Damn, I don’t know what I would have done without you. Maybe tried to eat that fish in my creek? Started living off the land? Become way more country than I’ve already become, which I’m starting to think already is too country. Jay and Anastasia, thank you again for your website genius, Robbie Gruber for consulting and gardening advice. Thanks, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Eve, Uncle Mark, Aunt Bev. Thanks, Kate, for the gardening labor.
And to all the people who help me survive book tours or book promotion: Diana Faust, Jaime Temairik, Jon and Ruth Jordan, and Judy Bobalik. Bill Young, I’ll always smoke a cigar with you, even though I don’t smoke cigars. And thank you to all the awesome booksellers who refuse to give up on a world where Fifty Shades of Grey can top the bestseller list for what seems like a decade.
I am grateful to the many writers I’ve met along the way whom I can now count as friends. This year a number of you have shown me a great deal of kindness and I will be eternally grateful. I’m not going to name names, because then it sounds like I’m name-dropping.2
I know I’m forgetting many people. Thank you _________________.3
If you’re thinking of moving this year, I’ve given you some valuable information about what to look for or look out for in a moving company and basically given you a thinly disguised name of a moving company you should not use. Please heed my advice. They really are the new mob.
Finally, I’d like to thank my readers for staying with me all these years. I especially want to thank the ones who understand that the world isn’t made up of happy endings, but messy, complicated, and untidy ones.
* * *
1. 1 See, this won’t make sense if you’re a stranger.
2. It’s already common knowledge that I have a standing poker game with Lee Child every Thursday.
3. Please write your name here.
The Last Word
By Lisa Lutz
Reading Group Guide
In this sixth (!) document of the Spellman series, Isabel is back and things are as normal as ever: she’s being framed for embezzlement, her boss is being sabotaged while losing his memory to Alzheimer’s, her sister is running an unethical side business, her parents won’t talk to her, and her ex-boyfriend is engaged and knocking at her door.
Can Izzy put all the pieces back together before she loses everything? Who will have The Last Word? Find out in this continuation of Lisa Lutz’s charming, madcap, award-nominated sleuth series.
Questions for Discussion
1. As Isabel goes under for the bone marrow extraction, do you truly believe that her heaviest investigating days are behind her? (And considering Rae’s afterword, do you think Isabel will ever regain that classic Izzy energy?)
2. Discuss Izzy’s semi-romantic relationships in The Last Word (Henry, Damien, and Max.) With whom are there the most sparks? Do you trust her and Henry to honor their handshake? Do you think Max (and Claire) is a good match for Isabel?
3. Who was your prime suspect for the embezzling and drugging of Slayter? Were you surprised by the identity of the perp(s)?
4. Given Rae’s new stake in Spellman Investigations, do you believe the firm has a future? Can her new CRS branch of the business coexist with traditional Spellman work?
5. Do you think Isabel’s new living arrangements at the story’s end will force her to act more like an adult? Are her days of goldfish and cheap whiskey behind her?
6. What was your favorite case in The Last Word, and why? Possibilities include Lightning Fast Movers, Ethan’s mysterious trouble, Rae’s CRS business, the embezzling, Divine Strategies, Edward’s drugging, and the Washburn case. Do you think Izzy despises Princess Banana as much as she lets on? Is it possible she was secretly a little happy to be ambushed with babysitting Sydney and Claire? What kind of mom would Isabel make?
7. Did you think Isabel’s parents were overly harsh in their stonewalling of her, or did Isabel’s coup warrant the pajama-and-silence treatment?
8. Discuss Izzy’s relationship with Slayter. Has working with him been beneficial for her personal development? Do you think she’ll continue to jog?
9. Did you think Damien was somehow involved in the embezzling and corporate sabotage? Why do you think he lied to Isabel?
10. Would you have slashed Lorre’s tires, too?
11. Is Rae the next Izzy? Would you be interested in a Spellman case with her at the helm?
Expand Your Book Club
1. Izzy takes Damien on her perfect tour of the Bay Area—with stops at all the places notorious for crimes, murders, and scandal. Research and discuss similar spots in your neck of the woods. Are there any locations famed for their dark history?
2. What would be the three words you’d give Edward to remember?
3. List and discuss the sorts of situations (hypothetical or real) that might require a CRS. Has anything happened to you that called for Rae’s particular brand of justice?
4. Visit LisaLutz.com to read her blogs, catch up on previous cases, and even have Lisa herself (possibly) call in to chat with your book club!
The Interrogation:
Lisa Lutz, author of Curse of the Spellmans
1. Are any of the cases in The Last Word based on real-world crimes?
I didn’t knowingly mine any specific real-life cases for the ones in the book. But I’m sure there are similar cases out there.
2. Along those same lines, how much research goes into creating Izzy’s investigative to-do list?
I’m not a h
uge fan of research, but sometimes you get an idea and then you realize you don’t know anything. Like I don’t know anything about acute myeloid leukemia. So research had to be done. I’m not saying I did it.
3. Is The Last Word really the last word? Has the Izzy we’ve known and loved really grown up?
I’ve said this before (I think in Document #2): I don’t think people really grow up. But she’s evolved some. Those are two separate questions. I don’t plan on writing another novel in Isabel Spellman’s voice. I feel like she’s said all she needs to say. But you’ll hear from her in other ways.
4. Would you consider starting a spinoff series about Rae’s CRS business?
I’ll say this much: there will be at least one book from Rae’s point of view. I, personally, think she has a solid business model. So expect more than one.
5. Which Spellman character do you relate to the most?
Cousin Francesca Spellman. She lives in a Tuscan villa and married well. She spends her days drinking wine and eating really good food and she has the awesomest metabolism. (Technically, we have nothing in common, but it would be nice if we did.)
6. Is there really a wrong way to eat a Mission burrito?
There are a million wrong ways. I don’t have room here to get into the finer points of burrito management, but in short, if you’re not in any danger of staining anything or looking like a pig, you’re doing it wrong.
7. If someone, hypothetically speaking, had a problem that required less-than-delicate handling of a less-than-decent landlord, would you be able to recommend a CRS? If not, how good are you with a whipped cream canister?
Yes, and pretty good. Actually, that’s a lie. My penmanship with a pen is awful; I can’t imagine it would be any better with a can of Reddi-wip. Then again, how hard is it to mess up FU?
8. Do you see a future for Max and Isabel? Rae doesn’t seem to think it’ll last.
Rae doesn’t know everything. I have a good feeling about Max and Isabel.
9. What are your feelings about jogging? Be honest.
I have a love/hate relationship with jogging. We’re currently broken up.
10. What lies in store for the Spellman clan? Do they have a future?
You do know they’re not real, right? But, yes, they have a future.
© MORGAN DOX
LISA LUTZ is the author of the New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award–and Macavity Award–nominated, and Alex Award–winning Spellman series. She is the coauthor of Heads You Lose, written with David Hayward. She lives and works in upstate New York.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Lisa-Lutz
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Also by Lisa Lutz
The Spellman Files
Curse of the Spellmans
Revenge of the Spellmans
The Spellmans Strike Again
Trail of the Spellmans
Heads You Lose (with David Hayward)
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster eBook.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Spellman Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition July 2013
SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Designed by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Jacket design by Jackie Seow
Jacket illustration by Noma Bar
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lutz, Lisa.
The last word : a Spellman novel / Lisa Lutz. — First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
p. cm.
1. Spellman, Isabel (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women private investigators—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3612.U897L38 2013
813’.6—dc23 2013005096
ISBN 978-1-4516-8666-1
ISBN 978-1-4516-8668-5 (ebook)
CONTENTS
Voice Memo: 12:38 A.M.
Part I: Opening Statements
Chapter 1: “Boss”
Chapter 2: Running on Empty
Chapter 3: Subordinates
Chapter 4: The Ides of March
Chapter 5: Princess Banana and her Wicked Great-Grandmother
Chapter 6: Where Was I?
Chapter 7: Inside Job
Chapter 8: No Snitch Izzy
Chapter 9: The Visitor
Part II: Arguments
Voice Memo: 3:15 A.M.
Chapter 10: Bledsoe
Chapter 12: The Nite Cap
Chapter 13: Domestic Disturbances
Chapter 14: Missing Words
Chapter 15: Lacrimators
Chapter 16: Bledsoe: Round 2
Chapter 17: Glorified Snitch
Chapter 18: Rae Spellman, Conflict Resolution Specialist
Chapter 19: Misdiagnosis
Part III: Last Words
Voice Memo: 2:23 A.M.
Chapter 20: Sick
Chapter 21: The Specialist
Chapter 22: Unresolved
Chapter 23: Intermezzo
Chapter 24: Exposed
Chapter 25: Throwing in the Towel
Chapter 26: Aggressive Treatment
Chapter 27: Conspiracy of Silence
Chapter 28: One Answer
Chapter 29: Working Backward
Chapter 30: The Defective Detective
Chapter 31: Smoked Out
Chapter 32: Reversal of Fortune
Chapter 33: The Last Footnote
Afterword
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
Reading Group Guide
Questions for Discussion
Expand Your Book Club
The Interrogation