Rob Phillips

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Amateur private investigator and new dad Charlie Shaw gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to track down a young girl’s missing father in Rob Phillips’ award-winning debut.

Charlie Shaw is low on sleep. And cash. Otherwise, life is going pretty well for the ex-crime reporter: He’s happily married to his college sweetheart, he’s a first-time dad to the most adorable baby girl in existence, and he’s making ends meet as a rookie PI. But show more when Charlie meets Friday Finley, a frightened sixteen-year-old runaway on a stakeout-gone-wrong, his world gets a little more complicated.

Friday is looking for her estranged father Shawn, an unreliable alcoholic who left when she was young—and who also happens to be her only shot at avoiding the foster care system since her mother’s death a few weeks earlier. At first, Charlie believes the man is simply hiding out somewhere, avoiding his responsibilities as usual, but the more he investigates, the more unsettling—and dangerous—Shawn’s disappearance becomes. When his own family is threatened, Charlie realizes he’s in over his head, but can he back out now that he’s begun to care for Friday as his own?

A perfect blend of humor and high stakes, Stakeouts and Strollers is a heartwarming story of fatherhood, family, and what it really means to be a “Girl Dad.”

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: This story won the 2024 Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Mystery Novel...an "award-winning debut" just sounds odd, at least to me it does.

There's little doubt in my mind that it deserved the award, though. Charlie Shaw was a newspaper crime reporter who, when laid off as it seems all must be in pursuit of more for the ownership class, pivots to using his detecting skills as an actual detective. This is not quite as easy as it might sound, since in addition to losing his reporting job, he's just become a dad for the first time. It's important to the plot: he's so besotted with his baby girl, he has her crib monitor up on his phone at all times thus using up his battery; when he needs to use the camera to document the identity of cheating spouse's side piece, he's got no juice to make the shot. This leads to closer involvement in the perpetrator's life than is healthy...for lots of reasons, Charlie should not get deep into this divorce.

Yet here we are.

Red herrings abound. Ryan, Charlie's wife and co-parent, is in a high position in her company so Charlie's flexible PI schedule makes this job perfect for new parenting, but also means he's sleep-deprived at weird moments so Ryan's making adjustments too. It's a story that brings the stuff of real life into its fictional plot in well-judged ways. All the players in the story are embroiled in family dynamics that give them depth greater than surface level. They all move through life making themselves crazy over trifles, worrying about how to connect better with their families, thinking about what to do to face problems and fix mistakes. It's a very good enhancement to a pretty standard PI plot.

What really sold me on the read was Charlie himself. He's narrating the events with a constant self-deprecating edge of humor. When violent things occur, it's not minimized by his sardonic edge. It's a different register from most PI mysteries, so it comes across as...surprising? fresh?...not as expected, anyway, which is greatly to the story's benefit and Author Phillips' credit.

I can't offer a fifth star, however, due to some squicky stuff around sexism. It's always down to male-gazery isn't it? Noticing and complimenting other women on their appearance, barely avoiding openly comparing his new-mother/full-time executive wife's body and style changes to pretty young things. The "night nurse" Ryan and Charlie employ is more a housekeeper than a nurse, uncomplainingly cleaning, caring for Baby Callie, then taking on a new caretaking job for a teen thanks to Charlie's impulsiveness. It's a stylistic choice to make the story very talky by having dialogue function as exposition at times...why would a man's wife say out loud that his sister died when he was a kid?...which is a trap as often as a bonus chance for emotional resonance.

I'll skip past some stuff that's all on the editor, because the author needs to be able to trust the guidance he's given. Our villain ain't a mystery for long; there are enough red herrings to make it plausible the villain might just be a shitty human being but I pegged the identity early on. *tsk* on you, Editor! Not factored into my rating.

I'd recommend the read, flaws and all, because Charlie's a particular kind of Guy, not a dudebro, not a Cinnamon Roll, but a regular ol' Guy you'll meet on a barstool, at a barbecue, in a post-office line. He means well, he's got a good attitude, he isn't interested in ragey stupid testosterone-y 'tude. I like him, and I think you might too. Get it from the library, by all means, but it's worth getting. show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. If you like this post, you might like others on that site. Consider checking it out!
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WHAT'S STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS ABOUT?
Charlie Shaw, a former investigative reporter, is now a rookie P.I. His boss has him working low-risk cases as he learns the job—and because he's a new dad. Charlie is besotted with his little girl, Callie. So much so that he does things like wear down his phone battery enough watching her on the monitor so he show more doesn't have enough power to take the photos he needs to document his target's affair.

Soon after, he's back on the case and tracks the woman to the home of the man she's having an affair with. Beyond getting the photos he needs to satisfy the client, two significant things happen.

First, he runs into a teenage girl who is seemingly trying to follow the same person. Secondly, he witnesses the man his target was seeing get beaten by a large man and acts to help him.

My summary is getting convoluted—that's on me, not Phillips. Charlie tracks down the girl—Friday Finley—who didn't turn out to have anything to do with anyone that was at the scene he met her at. She's actually trying to track down her father, who ghosted her and her mother years ago, and is now seemingly tied to some criminals working out of a dive bar.

Charlie's between jobs, thanks to getting the incriminating photos, so he can help Friday track down her dad. This is where things get complicated and dangerous.

WHY DID I PICK THIS UP? WHY DID I KEEP READING?
The cover and title caught my eye, and the premise sold me.

I kept reading because Phillips' text is smooth and engaging, and Charlie is one of those narrators that you can't help but like immediately, so you want to see how things turn out for him. And I can't imagine how a reader can't want to know what happens next for Friday once they've met her.

Basically, everything about the book made me want to keep going.

WHAT DOES THIS BOOK TELL US ABOUT HUMANITY?
The big through-line with this book is family. Sometimes we're talking about found families, but most of this is blood family.

Some of the families are dysfunctional, some are loving and supportive, some are still figuring themselves out, some are falling apart—but this novel is just littered with families. It's the key to practically every motivation, decision, and goal for these characters.

Family is something many of us take for granted, at least one we can undervalue, given whatever day/stage of life we're in. But seeing these characters do all these various and sundry things because of family rings so true. When X is doing Y for reason Z, it's easy to dismiss Z as folly or greed. But as soon as it becomes "for reason Z and family," both the character X and the action Y become relatable, understandable, and possibly even sympathetic.

This is on just about every page of this novel, and more than any other reason, it's what grounds this work and draws you in.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS?
This is just fun—Charlie's got all the makings of a decent fictional PI, but Callie is a big distraction for him. Which makes you like him all the more—he's such a girl dad. When it comes to Friday, he assumes a role between paternal and big brother.

A book that starts with a P.I.'s phone battery dying because he's watching his daughter starts off with a certain tone—mildly comedic and light. Sure, there are legitimately tense and violent scenes (nothing that couldn't show up on Prime Time TV), but the book retains that lightness. It's practically wholesome—particularly any scene that features Charlie's family.

The investigation itself is full of a bunch of great turns. And Charlie's investigative chops are pretty evident.

I don't know if this is the beginning of a series or just a fun one-off. Either way, it's a satisfying time, and I recommend you pick it up. I'd enjoy watching little Callie grow while her dad tackles more cases. But if this is it, I can imagine that happening anyway. I expect I won't be alone in hoping we get to see the family again.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin's Press & Minotaur Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this. show less

Charlie Shaw, former newspaper crime writer, it working as a rookie private investigator. Despite a lack of cash, things are pretty good for Charlie. He's married to his high school sweetheart and is the father of a six-month old daughter. While tailing a woman whose husband suspects her of cheating, he sees the other man attacked and beaten by someone unknown. He also notices that he isn't the only one watching.

Friday Finlay is sixteen and looking for her father. Her mother has just died, show more and she hasn't seen her father for a number of years. He did communicate with her occasionally but has dropped off the radar. Charlie agrees to help her find her father not knowing what a can of worms he's opening for himself. Friday's father was working for a couple of local mobsters when he dropped out of sight. They want to find him too since he didn't leave empty handed.

As Charlie and Friday search them find themselves involved in illegal gambling, drug dealing and murder.

I really enjoyed this story. Charlie was a great character filled with a reporter's curiosity and a girl dads caring not only for his own daughter but for Friday too. I liked Charlie's point of view and his snark. show less

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Both Charlie and Ryan Shaw would appreciate a good night’s sleep, if only their six-month-old daughter, Callie, would cooperate. But the baby is teething . . . .

Ryan is a bit concerned to discover that Charlie, a newly-minted private investigator working for retired San Francisco Police Inspector Dwayne Powell, had taken Callie with him on his stakeout earlier in the day. “Surveillance,” he tells his wife.

And all goes well until his camera doesn’t show more work and he misses getting the pictorial evidence he needs for the case. But another attempt proves successful and Charlie continues his assignment [interspersed with thoughts of Callie].

And then, in a stakeout gone sideways, he meets Friday Finley.

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This quasi-cozy tale, presented with a heft dose of cute, funny, and charm, is an interesting blend of family dynamics, father-and-daughter relationships, and an intriguing mystery. Quirky, yet believable, characters, a captivating mystery, and a delightful glimpse into the world of fathers and daughters all work together to keep the pages turning in this not-quite-cozy mystery tale.

There is much to appreciate in this tale of fathers and daughters, of stakeouts and whodunits. Heartfelt, humorous, and entertaining, the story takes a few unexpected twists and turns as it heads toward a denouement readers are sure to find acceptable.

There’s only one disconnect here and it is the overuse of a particularly objectionable expletive that is likely to cause some cozy readers to choose to abandon the book.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#StakeoutsandStrollers #NetGalley show less