The Novels

The Trouble: Girl Detective mysteries are a planned series of five novels, the first four of which are available now, with the final book coming in 2025.

My Name is Trouble

Jenny Valentine has a secret!

Jenny Valentine is a secret!

Most of her classmates think Jenny is crazy. Sure, everyone read the Trouble books as a kid, but then they moved on. Grew up. But not Jenny. She’s still running around in a purple trench coat at age 16, sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong like it’s her job. No one knows she’s actually the estranged daughter of RJ Valentine, famed author of the bestselling Trouble: Girl Detective book series.

But when tragedy strikes, Jenny is summoned at long last to Valentine Manor. A vast fortune is up for grabs, but only if she can live up to her fictional counterpart’s reputation and solve the biggest mystery of her life. She’ll have to chase the ghosts of a life denied while staying one step ahead of a killer who has made Jenny his next target. It’s a dangerous game, but Jenny likes her odds.

After all, Trouble is her middle name.

My Name is Trouble is a young adult murder mystery novel written by James Taylor, with a story by James Taylor & Marco Sparks.

To read an excerpt of My Name is Trouble, click here.

Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle | Apple Books

Trouble Always Finds Me

Jenny Valentine won the prize

Keeping it won’t be easy

She’s filthy rich, she’s dating the head cheerleader, she’s blackmailing the star athlete, and she’s got an ace up her sleeve that no one will see coming. Life is good for Jenny Valentine, the tiny teenage sleuth and misanthropic heiress to the late RJ Valentine’s bestselling Trouble: Girl Detective publishing empire. After putting her evil stepmother away for Dad’s murder, book sales and merchandise are way up, and Jenny’s anxiety is way down.

Only trouble is, the real killer is still out there, and he knows Jenny is lying. With six heirloom clues left, the game remains afoot, and a shocking murder case from the past might be the Stranger’s new playground. Between an active serial killer, mean girls at school, an anonymous cyberbully, and a nosy reporter, everyone wants a piece of Trouble. Can’t a girl have it all? The money, the fame, the romance, the secrets, and Danger too?

Trouble Always Finds Me is a young adult murder mystery novel written by James Taylor, with a story by James Taylor & Marco Sparks.

To read an excerpt of Trouble Always Finds Me, click here.

Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle | Apple Books

Trouble Takes a Holiday

Jenny Valentine has gone on vacation

While Trouble’s away, the Stranger will play

Sunscreen? Check! Phone charger? Packed! Flip-flops? Already wearing them! Trouble? …Trouble!? TROUBLE!?!? Where oh where has our itsy-bitsy spy girl gone? Wasn’t it her idea to visit this spooky castle in the Bavarian Alps on the senior class trip in the first place?

With Jenny vanished to parts unknown, her classmates find themselves marooned at fearsome Schloss Schwarzwald. The remote fortress-turned-hotel features luxury rooms with gorgeous, scenic views of the mountain range. Don’t miss out on the five-star amenities, including: a hedge maze, hiking trails, indoor pool, free WiFi, casino, Michelin Star cooking, ancient curses, hidden treasure, vengeful ghosts, and murder!

The Blackbird Springs teens can handle one simple mystery without their Girl Detective, can’t they? Or will they find more Danger in Old Bavaria than they bargained for?

Trouble Takes a Holiday is a young adult murder mystery novel written by James Taylor, with a story by James Taylor & Marco Sparks.

Kindle and Apple Books pre-orders are available now. Hardcover and Paperback editions will be available on release.

To read an excerpt of Trouble Takes a Holiday, click here.

Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle | Apple Books

Game On, Trouble

Jenny Valentine is public enemy no. 1

Just wait till she gets off house arrest

After a bloody class trip to Europe, and new evidence that puts her inheritance in jeopardy, your girl Trouble is out of money, out of friends, and out of second chances. When a shocking new heirloom clue falls at her feet, Jenny finds herself sleuthing solo in a hostile environment, searching for the connection between murdered father RJ Valentine, a seedy video game arcade on the wrong side of town, and her late mother’s misanthropic youth.

Will retracing mom’s retro footsteps uncover the key to the Stranger’s identity? Or could this latest mystery find the world’s greatest Girl Detective in too deep, without a single ally left to pull her out?

Game On, Trouble is a young adult murder mystery novel written by James Taylor, with a story by James Taylor & Marco Sparks.

To read an excerpt of Game On, Trouble, click here.

Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle | Apple Books