This was an okay book. I was disappointed. Definitely not the author's best. About half the book to 2/3 was descriptions on the dog's personality and quirks. Only the last 100 pages or so were suspenseful. Not what I expect from Linda Howard, especially with her labeled as the queen of suspense. I expected more and got what read like it was a writer's first book and right now I'm questioning whether or not get any future books by her.

Too much dog.

Worth a read purely for the dog, who steals the show! The characters aren't especially interesting or believable, and the pace of this supposed thriller takes a lengthy pause in the middle to enjoy the peculiarities of small-town America, but it's a decently sweet story of a wounded paramilitary dude very preoccupied with his manliness-- he eats "he-man" food [eye roll]-- and an apparently "just administrative" [what?] small-town chief of police who has hefty emotional barriers and a diva golden retriever.

So I've been hearing people rave about Linda Howard for the longest time... but I read a co-authored book of hers about a year ago and it was meh. So it took me a while to go for it again. But then this book came up as a book club read AND I could get it at the library. So that did it. I picked it up. And I really loved it.

Troublemaker is definitely a book for dog lovers. The dog in this book, Tricks, really should have a more prominent place in the synopsis, because if you weren't planning to read a book where a dog is easily one of the chief characters, you could be disappointed. I was not. I was thrilled. Tricks is fantastic and easily my favorite character in the book. But I liked all the characters. Isabeau "Bo" was great - I liked that she isn't stupidly trusting, but at the same time doesn't always see danger where she should. I thought I wasn't going to like Morgan, for a couple reasons. 1 - I'm not really a big fan of paramilitary characters and 2- at first, he seemed to not like dogs... which so doesn't fly for me. Thankfully I was wrong on both counts. His paramilitary status was just a part of him, it didn't overrun his ability to have a personality and be interesting... it wasn't all he was. So I liked that. And I liked watching Bo and Morgan fall for each other. It's a slow burn, which is fun - especially once the fire really does hit. The suspense was probably the disappointing piece and why it's not five stars. Personally, I don't need a lot of suspense. But when I pick up a suspense, I expect a lot more than this delivered. It was a couple of moments but otherwise, it was really just a fun romance set in a fun, small town, featuring some colorful small-town characters and hijinks. which I loved, just not really the romantic suspense I expected.

Long story short - I am officially sold on Linda Howard and plan to read more!

3.25⭐️ Troublemaker was not as good as I wanted it to be with far less action than “The Woman Left Behind.” The beginning of the book felt like there were some missing pieces and most of the information was filled in throughout the book, but it was still a little disappointing.

I loved it. I thought Morgan was a well-rounded, but real character (a romance man with faults!). Bo was cute and funny and didn't instantly swoon.

I agree there was too much "Tricks" talk. I am a dog lover myself, but this went a little overboard. Oh well, I still loved the story line.

It is hard to believe the same writer who wrote "All the Queen's Men" and "Kill and Tell" also wrote this book. It is hard to say what this book is all about.

What happened to the suspense? It is like the writer suddenly remembered, in the last 10% of the book, that it was supposed to be a romantic suspense or maybe it isn't ?!?!?!?

My first book by Linda Howard and I enjoyed it.

Mystery is my favorite genre so when I see this book being a romance/suspense plus the dog on the cover, I wanted to read it. I didn't know the degree of "romance" so that was a bit of a surprise.

I would probably give this book a 4 stars; beginning was great and after chapter 18 things start happening. Could have skipped the whole middle section which has nothing to do with Morgan's mystery but just town folk drama and the dog.

Typical of the good Linda Howard. Some of her stuff is just blah, but this one was a very good read. For some reason the sex in her books seems a bit more earthy then in some others, but it is not too crude. Anyway, a very pleasant read, and will probably be in my ok to reread file as well. I still think I like her book that was set on a cruse ship better, but I might decide later to change my opinion