Friday Memes: Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly. 334 p. Kathy Dawson Books/ Penguin Group (USA) LLC. August, 2015. 9780525428404.

Publisher synopsis: Sherlock meets Veronica Mars meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in this story of a wisecracking girl who meets a weird but brilliant boy and their roller-coaster of a semester that’s one part awkward, three parts thrilling, and five parts awesome

When Philip Digby first shows up on her doorstep, Zoe Webster is not impressed. He's rude and he treats her like a book he's already read and knows the ending to. But before she knows it, Digby—annoying, brilliant and somehow attractive?—has dragged her into a series of hilarious and dangerous situations all related to an investigation into the kidnapping of a local teenage girl. A kidnapping that may be connected to the tragic disappearance of his own sister eight years ago.

When it comes to Digby, Zoe just can't say no. Digby gets her, even though she barely gets herself. But is Digby a hero, or is his manic quest an indication of a desperate attempt to repair his broken family and exercise his own obsessive compulsive tendencies? 

A romance where the leading man is decidedly unromantic, a crime novel where catching the crook isn't the only hook, a friendship story where they aren't even sure they like each other—this is a contemporary debut with razor-sharp dialogue, ridiculously funny action, and the most charismatic dynamic duo you've ever met. 

First Line(s): Of course I didn't like Digby when I first met him. No one does. He's rude, he doesn't ever take no for an answer, and he treats you like a book he's already read and knows the ending to even if you yourself didn't yet.

Page 56: What are the chances he;ll give me an F if I complain to the principal?
     Like, a hundred percent. Bur you might as well since he's gonna fail you anyway because you're partners with me."
     "That's just great. So what about my computer?"
     Dominic let Felix looking meserable.
     "Yeah, this is definitely something else." Digby said. "Oh, and...I was about to tell you this morning, when the Children of the Corn jumped us. I read Shell's records. Guess What? Marina saw him right before she disappeared."

I already love this book based just upon the cover/ author jacket info alone. The author photo mimics the cover and the back cover shows a boy in a suit holding binoculars with a female silhouette in the lens. Very cool.