Trouble is a Friend of Mine Hardcover – August 4, 2015

Trouble is a Friend of Mine starts off with 16 year old Zoe Webster. She and her recently divorced mom move to the very suburban area of River Heights. There she meets the mysterious Digby. Digby seems to know everything there is to know about Zoe and immediately she doesn’t like him. Yet somehow she gets dragged into his life. Together, Zoe and Digby, go on crazy adventures and end up solving a multitude of crimes, and somehow these seemingly unrelated crimes lead up to one clever and exciting finale.While I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it somewhat relatable, I found it to be extremely unbelievable at the same time. The author depicts high school very inaccurately with the popular cheerleaders staying in the bathroom to do their makeup, the stereotypical dumb football players, and the short, pimple-faced nerd in glasses. The inaccuracy didn’t just revolve around school though. Digby and Zoe were able to get into some pretty messy situations, yet Digby was always able to talk them out of it and get them in the least amount of trouble. The plot, which was extremely unrealistic, was comical and made the reader want to keep reading. The story was written in a witty fashion that made it easier to read and helped keep the reader engaged. The plot made you want to be there in action with Zoe and Digby. Everyone wants to be rebellious at one point in their life, and in a way you could be through Zoe and Digby. While reading this, I felt like I was doing the crime fighting, rather than Zoe and Digby.Even though I found the plot to be unrealistic, I loved the storyline. This book was really just meant for a good laugh. It’s more for pleasure reading, than it will ever be for academic reading. The characters cracked me up and at times I actually laughed aloud at what the characters said. For example, an all-star line from my favorite character Digby- “When there’s an end-of-the-world cult living next door to you, make it your business to find out what they’re up to. That’s, like, a basic life rule” (Tromly). While this quote sounds weird out of context, it goes along with one of the many hilarious, unbelievable side stories to the main plot.This book is full of ongoing adventures with your best friend. Overall, the book was good. The plot was a bit confusing and all over the place, but the story was there. I have to say my least favorite part of the book was the ending. To me it seemed to be too rushed to be an ending. As a reader you weren’t able to fully comprehend what was going on at the end. The whole book was leading up to the end, yet the end flew by in a few minutes. I turned the page and suddenly I was at the acknowledgements. I feel as though the author could have spent a little bit longer explaining the ending and summing up the major conflicts of the story. The ending to me was unsatisfying and left me questioning some parts of the story. But fortunately, there are rumors of a sequel coming out soon, so hopefully all our questions will be answered!I do recommend this book, but I suggest this as more of a tween book than a young adult, where it will be more enjoyed and appreciated. But if you are older and want a good laugh, this book is for you!

I'm a gigantic Veronica Mars fan, and I love teen noir, so you can take my review with a grain of salt, if you'd like. This novel was probably the best I read recently, and by recently, I mean in the last year. When I saw the pitch of Veronica Mars meets Sherlock meets Ferris Bueller, I almost hurt myself rolling my eyes, since that is basically a "too good to be true" description, but in many ways, it's incredibly accurate.Zoe, the narrator, AKA Princeton, is the child of two recently divorced individuals who has started at a new school which is not very accepting of new students. She's lonely, sad, and recovering from watching her parents' marriage dissolve slowly. Digby is a liar, on a cocktail of drug prescriptions, who is trying to solve several mysteries at once, which might or might not be related. Through out the first half of the book, it's hard to say if they're even friends. Digby's motivations for friendship seem clearer at first, but aren't really. It's hard to figure out why he's chosen Zoe to befriend other than she doesn't know how to permanently reject him. Zoe's choice to continue to hang with Digby is even more confusing, but, oddly, I don't fault her. Sometimes we meet people who are horribly bad for us, and we just continue to hang out with them anyway because they seem fun.The third in their group is Henry, the highschool QB who is "hero handsome" according to Zoe. She's incredibly into him, but Digby is forever reminding her "for her own good" that Henry will never be into her. This is pretty much their dynamic. Digby is nonchalantly cruel to his friends, Zoe is pragmatic about the attentions and attractions of Henry and Digby while enjoying their friendship, and Henry seems swept away by their madness.The main "case" of the novel is a missing teen, but along the way, drug deals, religious cults, a really skeezy doctor, and bombs factor in. There are kidnappings and multiple guns aimed at the main characters, who barely manage to keep it together. At the beginning, each of the mysteries seems to be a separate string which isn't related to anything else, but if you've seen enough noir or mysteries, you'll recognize that they all start to wind together into a greater story.You might think this sounds like a horrible novel, but it's the opposite. It's great. Each scene builds off the last perfectly. I actually laughed out loud at the book, which I almost never do. The mystery is fantastic, the romance is both barely there and realistically awkward for teens, the action is fast-paced, and the humor top notch!By the time the book was done, I was ready to read the sequel. Why isn't the sequel out already?! It's killing me! Please buy and read this book so the author can continue to write about Zoe and Digby.

Mystery is my all-time favorite genre. I love everything about a good crime novel; guessing possible theories, keeping an eye out for clues, and thrilling adventures. I love being duped, tricked, and deceived by a clever author when reading a surprising revelation of the detective’s. So as soon as I saw the words “crime novel” on the description of Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine by Stephanie Tromly, I jumped right in. And while this isn’t the type of classic mystery I’m used to, this book was not disappointing. It starts off with our main heroine, Zoe Webster, who, after her parents’ divorce, moves to the small town River Heights with her mom. Not long after a boy named Digby pops up on Zoe’s doorstep, involving her in investigating the disappearance of a wealthy teenage girl a couple of months before. This results in a series of thrilling and hilarious events, involving a creepy doctor, drug dealers, and a bear in a tutu. Oh, and on top of all their detective work, Zoe and Digby have to deal with the challenge of navigating high school. Like Zoe said, “preparing to survive a typical day of being Digby’s friend wasn’t that different from preparing to survive the apocalypse” (Tromly). This story definitely gets an A+ in comedy; I laughed out loud at several parts. However, I felt the conclusion to the mystery could have been more satisfying. It didn’t seem to wrap things up as nicely as I’d like it, and I wanted more of a surprise as to the solution of the crime. There’s nothing like confusing red herrings and outrageous, yet completely believable, climaxes. Also, the plot seemed to be all-over the place and hard to follow at points. All in all, this books seems to be more of a comedy than a crime novel. It is a great read for both teens and adults who are in need for a good story and a laugh.

Much better then I expected! Couldn’t put it down! Perfect for the fans of Charlotte Holmes novels and Truly Devious.

A cross between Veronica Mars and Sherlock Holmes with a bit of a Mulder and Scully vibe to the main characters.This book had me hooked from the first sentence , and I couldn't stop till I'd finished itDigby always had the answers in an infuriating but endearing (and very funny) wayOur heroine was always a step behind,always being put upon but came through when it counted. She and Digby made a great team, and the secondary characters work well,tooCan't wait till the next one

Se 3 stagioni di Veronica Mars ed il film non vi sono bastati, questo libro è assolutamente un degno sostituto. Una lettura facile e veloce, di grande intrattenimento: c'è un triangolo amoroso, un personaggio investigatore che è uno Sherlock Holmes teenager in chiave moderna. Non vedo l'ora di leggere il secondo nella serie.

Ich kann mich der vorigen Rezession nur anschließen, ein bisschen Holmes, ein bisschen V. Mars. Meine Tochter wartet ungeduldig auf den nächsten Band.