Trouble Makes a Comeback. (Trouble #2). Stephanie Tromly. New York, NY: Kathy Dawson Books (Distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House), 2016. 304 pp., hardcover, $23.99. ISBN 978-0-525-42841-1. Subject Headings: Missing children-Fiction. Friendship-Fiction. Mystery fiction. Grades 9 and up / Ages 14 and up. Review by Wendy Phillips. ***½ /4

excerpt:

A tall figure in black flitted across the field of my peripheral vision and disappeared behind an SUV. Something about his syncopated gait reminded me of something that made me super-a happy, and then angry, and then confused.

Suddenly, there he was. Digby. Standing beside me. He seemed taller and broader than when he'd left, but that could've been because of his thick parka. He looked road-weary and his jaw was stubbled. He dropped his backpack in the snow. Clearly, it was the end of a long journey.

"Hey, Princeton," Digby said. "Need help?"

After the irritating, disruptive and somehow compelling Philip Digby left Zoe Webster to hunt down clues about his sister's mysterious disappearance, Zoe's life shakes down into what seems "normal." She's hanging out with popular new friends, going out with the school quarterback and focussed on getting into Princeton at the end of her last year at high school. Then Digby returns and, against her will, Zoe is drawn into what seems like a hare-brained scheme to find his kidnapped sister. In the process, Zoe and Digby, along with their sidekicks, muscular Henry and science geek Felix, uncover a steroid smuggling ring that reaches into the depths of their own high school. Meanwhile Zoe is trying to figure out how much a stolen kiss really meant, and how she can be so powerless to resist Digby when he drives her so crazy.

The second book in a series that started with Trouble is a Friend of Mine, Trouble Makes a Comeback is full of zany characters and bizarre plot twists. Tromly is a master of dialogue that crackles with energy and clever comebacks. Digby's brilliant deductions send the team on a wild chase that includes dizzying adventures and misdemeanours and, of course, a culminating explosion. The mystery is less compelling but does balance logically at the end. Digby's Sherlock Holmes-like detection ability is matched by his irritating habits of stealing food and offending everyone in range. Yet Zoe finds herself drawn away from her conventional life towards his irresistible chaos.

      A funny, entertaining and snappy sequel, Trouble Makes a Comeback brings a combination of action, clever dialogue and romance that will appeal to teen readers. The book leaves the story open for a third instalment, something which will please fans who will likely be looking for more.

Highly Recommended.

Wendy Phillips is a teacher-librarian in Richmond, BC. and the author of the Governor General's Literary Award winning young adult novel, Fishtailing.

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