How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz is the story of three best friends; Anna, Kate and George. The girls meet in college and their lives are forever entwined. They are the type of friends that can go six months without talking but pickup the phone and ask for help and their friend is on the next plane to lend a hand. Each girl is quirky in her own little way and they’ve each got a wild side and a love for adventure that often gets them into trouble. And the women each have their own vices. Anna describes them as Kate’s cocktail is TV, men are George’s cocktail and Anna’s own cocktail is a cocktail itself.
Each chapter of How to Start a Fire takes the reader to a different point in time of the women’s lives. The chapters are titled with the current year and place but at times it can be difficult to follow the timeline and if it was before or after certain events. Some readers might prefer a more linear storyline but then Lutz wouldn’t have been able to create the same intrigue. It’s easy to get absorbed into the lives of the three friends and trying to predict and understand why the women behave as they do.
Lisa Lutz is also the author of The Spellman Books; a six book series about Isabel Spellman, a quick witted Private Investigator. Fans of the Spellman series will certainly enjoy Lutz newest novel.