Rob Phillips - Writer

Officially a new member of the Mystery Writers of America, Southwest Chapter. Thank you for the invitation and the welcome packet!

Thanks to Barnes & Noble Frisco (Stonebriar Mall) for a fun event and a great turnout! (And for keeping my daughter happily occupied in the children’s section downstairs for two hours, a rare feat)

If you’re at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco staying out of the heat today, I’ll be at Barnes & Noble from 1-3.

Drop by, say hi, talk some Cowboys, laugh at me, etc. 😂

After fifteen straight years of closing stores, Barnes and Noble just flipped the script.

Sixty new locations are opening across the country in 2026.

This is not a one time bounce.

The company already opened more than 60 new stores in 2025, and 2024 marked the first year Barnes and Noble opened more new bookstores than it had in the entire decade from 2009 to 2019 combined.

Leases are already confirmed in ten states plus Washington D.C., including Ohio, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Washington state, California, Virginia and Georgia. Several openings are expected between now and June 2026 alone.

The turnaround traces back to a strategy shift.

New leadership handed control of individual stores back to local booksellers, letting each location curate its own selection and build its own identity instead of running everything from a corporate playbook.

Sales in existing stores have stayed strong enough to justify this level of expansion.

There is also a bigger story underneath this one.

Independent bookstores have been growing too, and has turned reading into something people want to be seen doing in person, not just something they scroll past online.

Everyone spent the last two decades assuming physical retail was a dying category. Books just proved that theory wrong.

So, I wrote this book way back at the start of Covid because 1) I’m big on mysteries/thrillers; 2) I had far too much time on my hands; and 3) being a girl dad is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

If you’re stumped on Father’s Day ideas, it might make a great summer gift for a dad in your life.

—

(Some positive press)

“This was the exact kind of fun, quirky novel that is perfect for summer!”
-Missy, Goodreads Reviewer

“Perfect for fans of mysteries and mayhem.”
-Library Journal (Debut of the Month selection)

(Stakeouts and Strollers book jacket)
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’ humorous and fast-paced Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Award-winning debut.

Old friends and new friends: I have a new book signing scheduled for Saturday, July 18th at the Barnes & Noble Stonebriar Mall (Frisco). Stop by and say hi 🤝

Happy , readers! New this week:

⚡ STORM WARNING by James Byrne
🦴 ODE TO THE BONES by Carolyn Haines
🌲 SHAW CONNOLLY LIVES TO TELL by Gillian French (now in paperback!)
🥂 THE BACHELORETTE PARTY by Camilla Sten (now in paperback!)

Never gets old to see the book in stores.

Thanks Barnes & Noble for stocking signed copies now available at Addison and Plano locations here in DFW. (New copies also at the Stonebriar Mall location in Frisco!) 🙏