First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if, instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

The Rules:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
• Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

“Usually, the booze made him angry. Tonight, Shawn Finley felt introspective. What kind of father ghosts their teenage daughter when she needs him the most?“

Well, Shawn Finley sounds like he has some potential for growth, because he isn’t winning any admirers with these first lines.

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is a cozy mystery novel.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It is a debut novel by Rob Phillips.

The First Lines Friday book is:

Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips.

About the Book:

• Title: Stakeouts and Strollers
• Author: Rob Phillips
• Page Length: 336 pages
• Publication Date: March 17, 2026
• Publisher: Minotaur Books

Synopsis:

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 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.”

Links: Goodreads     

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.