For those in search of trouble or just a fun summer read, children’s bookseller Amy Brabenec at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Mass., is looking forward to handselling Stephanie Tromly’s debut novel Trouble Is a Friend of Mine, due out in August.
Zoe is not thrilled to have been relocated out of Brooklyn and into the suburbs when her parents divorce, but she has a plan. If she can make it through the year she can transfer back into the city and live with her Dad. Easy enough. But then manic, fast-moving, and even faster-talking Digby shows up at her door and the plan falls to pieces. Before long, practical Zoe has been sucked into Digby’s fevered investigation into a string of cases of missing local girls. Digby is nothing but trouble and trouble is the last thing Zoe needs. Isn’t it?
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with a character who’s so easy to understand in her wry practicality. Zoe is clever and totally willing to call Digby out on doing something ridiculous but always curious enough to go along anyway. She’s not improbably brave or foolishly cowardly. For his part Digby is charming in his Sherlockian madness and utterly infuriating in his flippant insensitivity. They’re the perfect pair to root for.
Whenever the jacket copy describes a book as “unconventional,” my first reaction is to be as wary as Zoe. However, once I started, I laughed, I cheered, and caught myself reading with my hands pressed over my mouth. Most importantly I barely put the book down between the three times that I read it cover to cover. Stephanie Tromly’s writing makes you feel part of Digby’s madcap plans and you’ll get sucked in just as easily as Zoe. Trouble Is a Friend of Mine is the book you didn’t realize you were holding out for.
Trouble Is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly. Penguin/Dawson, $17.99 Aug. ISBN 978-0-5254-2840-4
