Tromly’s latest brings the best kind of trouble

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This article was published 21/01/2017 (3540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Countless novels and Hollywood movies have taught us great stories often mean disappointing sequels.

But Winnipegger Stephanie Tromly gets it right. The screenwriter turned novelist debuted in 2015 with Trouble is a Friend of Mine, a young adult story that successfully blended a crime caper with coming-of-age elements.

As the title indicates, Trouble Makes a Comeback continues the story.

In the first novel, Tromly introduces readers to Zoe Webster, a smart, sarcastic and capable young woman who’s recently moved to an upscale town in upstate New York.

Zoe narrates both stories, telling us how she met the brilliant but disaster-prone Philip Digby, a slick-talking, suit-wearing charmer on a mission to discover who kidnapped his little sister, Sally, eight years earlier.

The sequel begins five months after the first novel ended. Zoe has settled into life in River Heights. Though she hasn’t completely come to terms with her feelings for Digby, she’s managed to put him out of her mind.

She’s made two new best girlfriends, started dating her school’s star football player and is ready to ace the SATs in a few weeks.

“Finally, finally, I’m a normal,” Zoe tells us.

Given his habit of showing up when she least expects it, she’s not overly surprised when Digby arrives unannounced at her house to update her on the progress of his investigation.

“We’ve been looking at this all wrong, Princeton,” Digby tells Zoe, using his nickname for her. “Sally wasn’t taken by some pervert… it’s a whole other thing.”

Despite Zoe’s reluctance to jeopardize her hard-won “normal” status, she jumps back into the investigation. Before long, she, Digby and a host of their friends are getting closer to the truth of Sally’s disappearance and finding out even more ugly secrets about their oh-so-proper little town.

The best sequels pick up the story from where it left off and take it further without trying to change details or characters or — worst of all — simply telling the same story again in a different settling.

Tromly avoids all of this. Digby is the same annoying but likeable genius as before, and we start to understand his persona.

“The thing is, when Sally disappeared, I think everybody forgot that Philip was just a little boy himself,” Digby’s mom confides to Zoe.

While Digby often stole the reader’s attention in the first book, Zoe firmly keeps her place as central character this time, and she’s often the one moving the plot forward and noticing clues.

Tromly gives us a wonderful character in Zoe — smart, competent and stereotype-shattering. She’s a girl who respects herself and calls out peers and adults for inappropriate behaviour.

Tromly’s screenwriting background shows in the snappy dialogue, calculated character development and tight sequence of events.

Her plot is so seamless, one suspects the story is already plotted and just waiting to be typed onto the page.

In fact, she overdoes it. Zoe and Digby get so busy trying to solve a new mystery while digging deeper into their ongoing search for Sally, it’s tough for the reader to keep up with the action.

For that reason, Trouble isn’t one of those companion books that be enjoyed as a standalone. However, the Trouble books do seem to be one of those wonderful series that appeal to both adults and youths.

Adult readers may be reminded of the classic John Cleese film A Fish Called Wanda.

Even though Zoe and Digby have enough adventures in two books to fill two lifetimes, it’s clear Tromly’s story isn’t finished. Be ready for more trouble.

Kathryne Cardwell is a Winnipeg writer.