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Cyd Redondo #1
Lost Luggage
2018 Macavity Award nominee for Best First Novel
2018 Lefty Award nominee for Best Debut Mystery Novel
Cyd Redondo, a young, third-generation Brooklyn travel agent who specializes in senior citizens, has never ventured farther than New Jersey. Yet even Jersey proves risky when her Travel Agents' Convention fling, Roger Claymore, leaves her weak in the knees-and everywhere else-then sneaks out of her Atlantic City hotel room at three a.m.
Back in Brooklyn, when she reads about smugglers stopped at JFK with skinks in their socks or monkeys down their pants, she never imagines she will join their ranks. But days after the pet store owner next door to Redondo Travel is poisoned, Cyd wins a free safari. Her boss, Uncle Ray, wants to cash it in for computers, but Cyd is determined to go. When Roger turns up at the Redondo clan's door, Cyd invites him along as her "plus one." And just like that she is thrown heels-first into the bizarre and sinister world of international animal smuggling.
She and Roger arrive in Africa, luggage lost, to find two of Cyd's elderly clients in a local jail. She manages to barter them out, only to discover smugglers have hidden five hundred thousand dollars' worth of endangered parrots, snakes, frogs, and a lone Madagascan chameleon in the clients' outbound luggage. When Roger steals the bags - is the U.S. Embassy in on the contraband ring? - Cyd and the chameleon helicopter into the jungle to go after Roger on their own.
Wondering if "plus one" Roger is actually a minus, Cyd dodges Interpol, faces off with a cobra, steals a diplomatic bag, hijacks a FedEx truck, crashes an eco-safari, winds up in a leopard trap, and is forced to smuggle snakes in her bra. It's a scramble to find the smugglers, save her clients, and solve Mrs. Barsky's murder before finding herself at the top of the endangered species list.
For fans of Elaine Viets, Lisa Lutz, Janet Evanovich, and Blaize Clement.
2018 Lefty Award nominee for Best Debut Mystery Novel
Cyd Redondo, a young, third-generation Brooklyn travel agent who specializes in senior citizens, has never ventured farther than New Jersey. Yet even Jersey proves risky when her Travel Agents' Convention fling, Roger Claymore, leaves her weak in the knees-and everywhere else-then sneaks out of her Atlantic City hotel room at three a.m.
Back in Brooklyn, when she reads about smugglers stopped at JFK with skinks in their socks or monkeys down their pants, she never imagines she will join their ranks. But days after the pet store owner next door to Redondo Travel is poisoned, Cyd wins a free safari. Her boss, Uncle Ray, wants to cash it in for computers, but Cyd is determined to go. When Roger turns up at the Redondo clan's door, Cyd invites him along as her "plus one." And just like that she is thrown heels-first into the bizarre and sinister world of international animal smuggling.
She and Roger arrive in Africa, luggage lost, to find two of Cyd's elderly clients in a local jail. She manages to barter them out, only to discover smugglers have hidden five hundred thousand dollars' worth of endangered parrots, snakes, frogs, and a lone Madagascan chameleon in the clients' outbound luggage. When Roger steals the bags - is the U.S. Embassy in on the contraband ring? - Cyd and the chameleon helicopter into the jungle to go after Roger on their own.
Wondering if "plus one" Roger is actually a minus, Cyd dodges Interpol, faces off with a cobra, steals a diplomatic bag, hijacks a FedEx truck, crashes an eco-safari, winds up in a leopard trap, and is forced to smuggle snakes in her bra. It's a scramble to find the smugglers, save her clients, and solve Mrs. Barsky's murder before finding herself at the top of the endangered species list.
For fans of Elaine Viets, Lisa Lutz, Janet Evanovich, and Blaize Clement.
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 2017
86 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Wendall Thomas
6 books45 followersWendall Thomas has worked as a film and television writer—including stints on PBS’s Wishbone and A&E Biography— teaches in the Graduate Film School at UCLA, and lectures internationally on screenwriting. Her most recent Cyd Redondo novel, Cheap Trills, just won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery of 2023. Lost Luggage, was nominated for the Lefty and Macavity Awards for Best Debut Mystery, her second, Drowned Under was nominated for an Anthony and Lefty award for Best Paperback Original and Best Humorous Mystery of 2019, and the third, Fogged Off was nominated for the Best Humorous Lefty for 2021. Her short fiction appears in Ladies Night, Last Resort, Murder-A-Go-Go’s, Crime Under the Sun, and the upcoming Hollywood Kills. She also contributes to the international mystery blog Murder is Everywhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
December 26, 2017
This was an enjoyable cosy mystery about a Brooklyn travel agent, Cyd Redondo, who wins a trip to Tanzania as a reward for selling 20 packages to her clients, mostly seniors. When her clients keep being found with endangered species in their luggage on their way home, she realises she has stumbled across a major animal smuggling ring. Her attempts to find out what is going on is almost farcical as she stumbles around the African bush in high fashion wear and impractical shoes and keeps being kidnapped and then rescued by a handsome man, Roger who wears sandals and says he is a chiropractor. A good, light read and lots of fun.
February 19, 2019
This was classified as a cozy mystery. When I read about animal trafficking and slaughter, with poisonous snakes, frogs, rhino horns and baby tigers, etc it fell outside my idea of a cozy book. I did not enjoy its frenzied slapstick humour nor its frantic action scenes. I disliked the ditsy heroine and the endless description of fashions, accessories, cosmetics. I managed to finish the book, but it was just not for me. I would have found the plot more enticing with a calmer sort of humour and action scenes. 1.5 stars.
August 25, 2018
Despite working as a travel agent, Cyd Redondo has barely traveled herself. That’s why she is so excited to finally win a promotional trip that sends her to Africa. And if she can check in with some of her clients while she is there, so much the better. At least, that’s what she thinks until she lands and discovers that one couple has been arrest. And there seems to be a rash of lost luggage. What is really going on?
The book took a little bit of time with set up before the story really took off, but once it did, it was a fantastic trip. There were so many twists, I had a hard time putting it down. Cyd is a remarkable, resourceful main character, and it was easy to root for her to overcome the many obstacles in her path. There is plenty of humor to keep things going, as well. There is enough language, sex, and violence (especially against animals done by the bad guys in a couple of scenes) to keep this from being one of the cozies I normally read, but if you know that going in, you’ll be just fine.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
The book took a little bit of time with set up before the story really took off, but once it did, it was a fantastic trip. There were so many twists, I had a hard time putting it down. Cyd is a remarkable, resourceful main character, and it was easy to root for her to overcome the many obstacles in her path. There is plenty of humor to keep things going, as well. There is enough language, sex, and violence (especially against animals done by the bad guys in a couple of scenes) to keep this from being one of the cozies I normally read, but if you know that going in, you’ll be just fine.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
August 11, 2018
This debut novel is a breath of fresh air in a world gone mad. I enjoyed smiling and laughing at the adventures/misadventures of Cyd Redondo so much. There are characters that one falls in love with immediately, and Cyd is such a character. She has a knack for bargains and smart deals, the ability to live with an extended family who is overprotective, and the compassion to take care of those she loves and serves. I always appreciate clever with humor, and Thomas achieves that not only in the witty dialogue, but the mishaps and situations that Cyd experiences are so hilariously unique to anything else I’ve read that I applaud the outstanding creativity of this story. Lost Luggage is Thompson’s first novel, and she already has a tight grasp on dialogue, plot, and characters. Cyd is, of course, the main character and has my vote for one of the best new characters in mystery/crime, but there are other great characters in this wonderfully bizarre book whom the author delights the reader with, from Brooklyn to Tanzania. And, talk about setting. The close Brooklyn community in which Cyd has spent her whole 32 years is a comfort place for sure, and when we get to Africa, the world opens up for the reader as well as for Cyd.
“Hi, I’m Cyd Redondo, Redondo Travel” is Cyd Redondo’s calling card when she meets someone, as she is always promoting her family business. She has spent her 32 years with her extended family, living with them and working with them. She is a travel agent who has not traveled outside her immediate Brooklyn neighborhood, but she is good at her job nonetheless. When Cyd has a chance to travel to Tanzania, Africa in a travel agent contest, she decides it’s time for her to get some miles under her passport. It’s also time to get away from the bad business in the pet shop next door to the Redondo Travel Agency, that of one dead octogenarian named Mrs. Barsky, mysteriously murdered after a couple of break-ins occur. Add in the bonus of Mrs. Barsky’s son living in Africa and needing to be notified of his mother’s death, and the trip seems meant to be.
Going against her Uncle Ray’s wishes, Cyd attends a travel agents’ convention in Atlantic City to try and boost her bookings for the Tanzania trip. She is determined to book enough trips to win a trip there for herself, and she’s already tapped out most of the Brooklyn senior citizens her uncle’s agency specializes in. She doesn’t have much luck in the trip prospects at the conference, but she does meet a romantic prospect, who comes to her aid when she is having words with a particularly annoying travel agent, who is also from her Brooklyn territory. And, as luck would have it, Roger shows up at her house where the extended family of Redondos live, just as the Tanzania trip falls into her lap from enough bookings. Uncle Ray wants to cash in the trip, but Cyd has worked too hard to be denied this reward, so she grabs Roger as her plus-one for the trip and makes her escape.
Upon arrival in Tanzania, and after being informed her luggage has been lost, Cyd is shocked to learn that two of her senior citizen clients are in jail. It may be the first foreign country Cyd has ever been to, besides New Jersey, but this is one travel agent with who knows how to connect with the people she serves and adapt to resources available. It’s not easy, but Cyd manages to spring the couple from jail only to learn before their departure that animal smugglers have targeted the older couple’s luggage for carrying their contraband of baby turtles, parrots, snakes, and poison frogs. So starts Cyd’s introduction to the ugly side of exotic animals and their illegal entry into the United States. As problems seem to keep adding up and Cyd and Roger get deeper into the dangerous world of illegal trade, Cyd begins to wonder if the country she couldn’t wait to get to is ever going to let her go.
Wendall Thomas has created a laugh a minute tale that still manages to touch upon a serious subject. It’s said that a comedian depends upon timing for a successful joke. Well, Thomas has mastered the timing for Cyd’s misadventures, giving readers a delightful journey through the wilds of Tanzania in Cyd Redondo style. I can hardly wait to see what comes next for this plucky travel agent/amateur sleuth.
“Hi, I’m Cyd Redondo, Redondo Travel” is Cyd Redondo’s calling card when she meets someone, as she is always promoting her family business. She has spent her 32 years with her extended family, living with them and working with them. She is a travel agent who has not traveled outside her immediate Brooklyn neighborhood, but she is good at her job nonetheless. When Cyd has a chance to travel to Tanzania, Africa in a travel agent contest, she decides it’s time for her to get some miles under her passport. It’s also time to get away from the bad business in the pet shop next door to the Redondo Travel Agency, that of one dead octogenarian named Mrs. Barsky, mysteriously murdered after a couple of break-ins occur. Add in the bonus of Mrs. Barsky’s son living in Africa and needing to be notified of his mother’s death, and the trip seems meant to be.
Going against her Uncle Ray’s wishes, Cyd attends a travel agents’ convention in Atlantic City to try and boost her bookings for the Tanzania trip. She is determined to book enough trips to win a trip there for herself, and she’s already tapped out most of the Brooklyn senior citizens her uncle’s agency specializes in. She doesn’t have much luck in the trip prospects at the conference, but she does meet a romantic prospect, who comes to her aid when she is having words with a particularly annoying travel agent, who is also from her Brooklyn territory. And, as luck would have it, Roger shows up at her house where the extended family of Redondos live, just as the Tanzania trip falls into her lap from enough bookings. Uncle Ray wants to cash in the trip, but Cyd has worked too hard to be denied this reward, so she grabs Roger as her plus-one for the trip and makes her escape.
Upon arrival in Tanzania, and after being informed her luggage has been lost, Cyd is shocked to learn that two of her senior citizen clients are in jail. It may be the first foreign country Cyd has ever been to, besides New Jersey, but this is one travel agent with who knows how to connect with the people she serves and adapt to resources available. It’s not easy, but Cyd manages to spring the couple from jail only to learn before their departure that animal smugglers have targeted the older couple’s luggage for carrying their contraband of baby turtles, parrots, snakes, and poison frogs. So starts Cyd’s introduction to the ugly side of exotic animals and their illegal entry into the United States. As problems seem to keep adding up and Cyd and Roger get deeper into the dangerous world of illegal trade, Cyd begins to wonder if the country she couldn’t wait to get to is ever going to let her go.
Wendall Thomas has created a laugh a minute tale that still manages to touch upon a serious subject. It’s said that a comedian depends upon timing for a successful joke. Well, Thomas has mastered the timing for Cyd’s misadventures, giving readers a delightful journey through the wilds of Tanzania in Cyd Redondo style. I can hardly wait to see what comes next for this plucky travel agent/amateur sleuth.
February 7, 2022
It was hard to rate this book. It had so many flaws. On the other hand I kept reading it and found it very absorbing. It was poorly written in that I often couldn't tell who said what. The plot was so preposterous that I couldn't suspend reality enough to envision it. Cyd came across as a 22 year old rather than a 32 year old. And her morals were questionable. Still I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next and I plan to read the next book.
October 4, 2017
This is labeled as a cozy mystery but really I think Zany is a better description. This was enjoyment from the first page and all the way through. The main character Cyd works in a travel agency run by her family and through hard work and sneaking around she has managed a trip to Atlantic City and the story takes off!! Cyd lives with her mom and about 8 other family members! Her days are spent trying to sell tours and then help Seniors have some great travel adventures (most of the time minus time in jail). There are bad guys, exotic animals, travel and an OMG Roger, quirky amusing Barry (you'll just have to read it to figure that out) and law enforcement. This book reminded me of a Goldie Hawn movie - lots of silly - great physical humor and a smart character that doesn't always get it. A fun light read with all the right, good qualities.
October 18, 2018
From the jungles of Brooklyn to the jungles of Africa, LOST LUGGAGE by Wendall Thomas is a laugh-out-loud madcap romp! Travel agent extraordinaire, Cyd Redondo is as resourceful as they come and I will never be able to look at Tupperware in the same way. Once the setup is in place, the action never stops and I had to turn the pages faster and faster to find out what predicament the protagonist finds herself in next. I appreciate the research the author must have done to bring the heartbreaking treatment of smuggled animals to light. It truly is appalling. Ms. Thomas weaves the plight of these animals with great effect but without dragging down the pace of the plot. With wild adventure, hot romance, and plenty of humor this book is perfect for armchair travelers.
November 27, 2018
Lost Luggage by Wendell Thomas is a very entertaining mystery.
Cyd Redondo is a travel agent who doesn’t travel. When she finally attends a Convention in New Jersey, she meets Roger Claymore.
Cyd wins a free safari trip and somehow Roger becomes her Plus One. From a domineering family to a free trip to Africa, this young woman learns that just about anything that can go wrong, will, and she’s dragged into the world of international animal smuggling.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lighter reading mystery with a little humor. If you’ve never traveled, this might give you a few clues about what you can expect. Well, not really. But it sure was fun reading this.
Cyd Redondo is a travel agent who doesn’t travel. When she finally attends a Convention in New Jersey, she meets Roger Claymore.
Cyd wins a free safari trip and somehow Roger becomes her Plus One. From a domineering family to a free trip to Africa, this young woman learns that just about anything that can go wrong, will, and she’s dragged into the world of international animal smuggling.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lighter reading mystery with a little humor. If you’ve never traveled, this might give you a few clues about what you can expect. Well, not really. But it sure was fun reading this.
January 14, 2022
Cyd Redondo is my kind of gal: resourceful and prepared for anything. A top-notch travel agent who knows everything about the places she sends people even though she's never traveled outside of NJ. Until she wins a trip to Tanzania. Not the vacation she'd hoped for.
Lost Luggage is a mystery filled with plenty of adventure and humor.
Lost Luggage is a mystery filled with plenty of adventure and humor.
May 18, 2018
Evanovich style humor, which is good when you're in the mood for it.
December 28, 2020
Maybe it's just that I'm increasing old, crabby, and impatient, but "oh, I'm so stupid! *giggle*" is not a satisfying plot device for me.
May 23, 2020
2020 bk 171. The last book I read was about Josh Gates and hunting of big cryptids - that is probably the only reason that I did not toss this book across the room when the heroine found a parrot stabbed to death, a woman killed by poisonous frogs, and snakes. This was a very interesting mystery and I learned a good deal about the world of smuggling endangered animals. It was also a look at life in Tanzania, a country about which I know next to nothing. A very enjoyable mystery, albeit a bit violent at time.
January 26, 2023
While browsing books that my local library tagged as humor I stumbled upon this and thought why not give it a try. Lost Luggage is along the same lines of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and The Spellman series with some Carl Hiaasen shenanigans thrown in. I kinda disagree with the cozy mystery tag as there are more commonalities with Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey comic misadventures than cheesy, predictable cozy series like the never ending Joanne Fluke series.
September 23, 2017
Wendall Thomas will be at will be at The Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Street, Orange, CA 92866 on Saturday, October 28 at 2 PM to discuss “Lost Luggage.” The first person narrative by Cyd Redondo, Redondo Travel, Brooklyn, New York, makes this a fun book to read. She describes herself as:
“the first line of defense.It’s my job to anticipate and prevent any and all travel disasters for my clients.”
We see the wide world of travel through her eyes, and we want her to be our traveling companion everywhere we go. She fills her carry-on bags with all the necessities from malaria pills and Tupperware to a compass and a cocktail dress. She barters her way through everything with travel upgrades, free dinner vouchers, and hotel reward points.
The story’s pace picks up ominously when Cyd and company head to Africa. Entanglements plague her and her senior-citizen travel customers. We share her anxiety and her concern while wondering if she isn’t putting her trust in the wrong people. Why is all that luggage getting lost anyway? Anything and everything that could happen on a sightseeing trip to Africa does happen, and we keep turning the pages to see if she will have enough frequent flyer miles to buy her way out.
“Lost Luggage” will make you wince, cringe, and question Cyd’s sanity. You will feel the tension in the African air, but you will be laughing too much to get a stress headache from the drama.
I received a copy of “Lost Luggage” from Poisoned Pen Press, Wendall Thomas, and NetGalley in exchange for my review. This is an entertaining book to read, despite the murder, law breaking, untrustworthy people, and senior citizens thrown in jail. Be careful, you might just laugh out loud as you read, and you will never travel without Tupperware again.
“the first line of defense.It’s my job to anticipate and prevent any and all travel disasters for my clients.”
We see the wide world of travel through her eyes, and we want her to be our traveling companion everywhere we go. She fills her carry-on bags with all the necessities from malaria pills and Tupperware to a compass and a cocktail dress. She barters her way through everything with travel upgrades, free dinner vouchers, and hotel reward points.
The story’s pace picks up ominously when Cyd and company head to Africa. Entanglements plague her and her senior-citizen travel customers. We share her anxiety and her concern while wondering if she isn’t putting her trust in the wrong people. Why is all that luggage getting lost anyway? Anything and everything that could happen on a sightseeing trip to Africa does happen, and we keep turning the pages to see if she will have enough frequent flyer miles to buy her way out.
“Lost Luggage” will make you wince, cringe, and question Cyd’s sanity. You will feel the tension in the African air, but you will be laughing too much to get a stress headache from the drama.
I received a copy of “Lost Luggage” from Poisoned Pen Press, Wendall Thomas, and NetGalley in exchange for my review. This is an entertaining book to read, despite the murder, law breaking, untrustworthy people, and senior citizens thrown in jail. Be careful, you might just laugh out loud as you read, and you will never travel without Tupperware again.
February 23, 2018
This just seemed scattered to me. I got the overall plot but I found it difficult to follow in the details. I'm not sure if the problem was in the fact that it was a debut writer or if it was intended to keep the reader off-kilter. Overall I liked it, and might consider reading more from the same author, or even another in this series, but I have to say, I found some of Cyd's quirks annoying rather than funny. I *get* that it's supposed to be funny that she had 4 outfits and 5 pairs of shoes in her handbag, but it just seemed unrealistic to me. Or maybe the outfits were somewhere else and I just missed it because the book is so scattered? idk
December 31, 2017
I gave it halfway- then had to put it down. So cheesy and the out of control situations this chick gets out of having never left the country in her life. Grabbing another book and may go back to it in 2018....
January 21, 2018
Quirky story. Slapstick mayhem with surprising twist of identify of the "bad guys." Serious subject, however, that was made rather light of in plot. Some passages were really farfetched--snakes in one's bra???
April 19, 2019
I found the actions of the main character to be all over the place, like she was 4 women crammed into 1 body and it left me feeling like the plot was only half finished in the author's mind. Won't read any more...
February 18, 2019
A Janet Evanovich-meets-Carl Hiaason travel adventure. Only better! Hilarious and wonderful. I highly recommend this book.
December 22, 2021
Cyd Redondo has worked for her uncle’s travel agency since she was a kid, but she’s never been farther from her Brooklyn home than Atlantic City. Booking seniors from the neighborhood on a tour of Tanzania wins her a trip for herself and a plus one. Expected to turn it back into the agency for the money it would generate, Cyd declares that she’s going and sneaks out of the house. She grabs Roger Claymore, whom she’d just met on a quick trip to an Atlantic City travel convention, as her plus one and they’re off on a trip that is anything but normal.
Cyd discovers that a pair of her customers have been arrested and are detained in the local prison. She bribes them out of jail and takes them to the airport to finally collect the luggage that had been lost until now. Cyd insists on inspecting the already checked luggage when Roger grabs the bags and takes off in a cab. Running after him in her Stuart Weitzman heels with her Balenciaga bag that seems to hold every possible emergency contingency, she discovers the luggage has been packed with various species of exotic animals. Parrots, reptiles, duct-taped frogs, and a Madagascar chameleon she nicknames Barry fill pieces of clothing to disguise their presence.
Cyd turns to the American embassy only to discover they’ve taken Barry from her and put him in a diplomatic pouch with paperwork that looks suspiciously like what she found before leaving the US at the neighboring pet store where the owner had died from poison frogs. Just what is going on here? Roger had promised to get the suitcases to the Wildlife Federation, and Cyd catches up to him on the tour she was supposed to be with.
Things only get worse from here, and so much funnier, too. Cyd manages to find the pet store owner’s son, who is her executor, but he isn’t quite who she thought he would be. Roger isn’t who he seems to be either. Even the local tour guide is in on the smuggling ring. She must continuously save her senior customers from incarceration. At every turn Cyd runs into another aspect of smuggling and tries to find ways out only to dig herself in deeper.
I want to say this was a madcap adventure but it truly all made sense and followed in logical order. A begat B which led to C and so on, but each step brought laugh-out-loud consequences. Everything that could go wrong did. I enjoyed this book a great deal and have already begun the second in the Cyd Redondo series DROWNED UNDER which takes our intrepid hero to Australia. Bon voyage!
Cyd discovers that a pair of her customers have been arrested and are detained in the local prison. She bribes them out of jail and takes them to the airport to finally collect the luggage that had been lost until now. Cyd insists on inspecting the already checked luggage when Roger grabs the bags and takes off in a cab. Running after him in her Stuart Weitzman heels with her Balenciaga bag that seems to hold every possible emergency contingency, she discovers the luggage has been packed with various species of exotic animals. Parrots, reptiles, duct-taped frogs, and a Madagascar chameleon she nicknames Barry fill pieces of clothing to disguise their presence.
Cyd turns to the American embassy only to discover they’ve taken Barry from her and put him in a diplomatic pouch with paperwork that looks suspiciously like what she found before leaving the US at the neighboring pet store where the owner had died from poison frogs. Just what is going on here? Roger had promised to get the suitcases to the Wildlife Federation, and Cyd catches up to him on the tour she was supposed to be with.
Things only get worse from here, and so much funnier, too. Cyd manages to find the pet store owner’s son, who is her executor, but he isn’t quite who she thought he would be. Roger isn’t who he seems to be either. Even the local tour guide is in on the smuggling ring. She must continuously save her senior customers from incarceration. At every turn Cyd runs into another aspect of smuggling and tries to find ways out only to dig herself in deeper.
I want to say this was a madcap adventure but it truly all made sense and followed in logical order. A begat B which led to C and so on, but each step brought laugh-out-loud consequences. Everything that could go wrong did. I enjoyed this book a great deal and have already begun the second in the Cyd Redondo series DROWNED UNDER which takes our intrepid hero to Australia. Bon voyage!
August 12, 2017
Title: Lost Luggage - A Cyd Redondo Mystery Book 1
Author: Wendell Thomas
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 10-3-2017
Pages: 229
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers,
Sub-Genre: Suspense, Animals, Cozy Mystery, International Crime
ISBN: 9781464208928
ASIN: B0&4GMCFCN
Reviewed For NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.25 Stars
With a touch of humor to add to the suspense and thrilling crime drama. The Sue Grafton's Snarky character attributes who tries to find her place in the community and life. Another example of similar writing would be Janet Evanovich and her topsy turvy life. Although is loyal to her family and her job at the family travel business, Cyd Redondo wins a trip for two for a safari. When she comes across the body of neighboring shop owner, the disappearance of her boyfriend Roger.
With laughter and hijinks to keep the story light this fast paced story keeps reader involved in the action as Cyd and the other characters introduced sort through the mayhem to find answers.
My rating of "Lost Luggage - A Cyd Redondo Mystery Book 1" is 4.25 out of 5 stars.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GMCFCN/...
B&N Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost...
Books-A-Million Link: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Lost-L...
Google Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/books/d...
Indigo Link: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/...
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Kobo Link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lost...
The Reading Room Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/DelAnne531/status...
Author: Wendell Thomas
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 10-3-2017
Pages: 229
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers,
Sub-Genre: Suspense, Animals, Cozy Mystery, International Crime
ISBN: 9781464208928
ASIN: B0&4GMCFCN
Reviewed For NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.25 Stars
With a touch of humor to add to the suspense and thrilling crime drama. The Sue Grafton's Snarky character attributes who tries to find her place in the community and life. Another example of similar writing would be Janet Evanovich and her topsy turvy life. Although is loyal to her family and her job at the family travel business, Cyd Redondo wins a trip for two for a safari. When she comes across the body of neighboring shop owner, the disappearance of her boyfriend Roger.
With laughter and hijinks to keep the story light this fast paced story keeps reader involved in the action as Cyd and the other characters introduced sort through the mayhem to find answers.
My rating of "Lost Luggage - A Cyd Redondo Mystery Book 1" is 4.25 out of 5 stars.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GMCFCN/...
B&N Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost...
Books-A-Million Link: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Lost-L...
Google Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/books/d...
Indigo Link: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/...
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Kobo Link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lost...
The Reading Room Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/DelAnne531/status...
February 21, 2021
I loved every page of this laugh out loud hilarious mystery. This is just what the doctor ordered to keep me my spirits up during my 10 day quarantine.
The plot is full of twists and turns and the dialogue is laced with some lovely one line zingers. If that’s not enough, our fabulous heroine Cyd Redondo is a single, feisty, fashion-crazed travel agent from Brooklyn who becomes one of the most unlikely crusaders to fight the horrors and despicable acts of cruelty involved in wildlife smuggling.
I can't wait to read another Wendall Thomas book. So much fun!!
Enjoy this short synopsis of Divabetic's Makeover Mystery podcast: There's a good indication that murder might be part of the recipe when Nantucket's ten time reigning Baking Champion's last name is 'Coffin'. But resentment, greed and Britannia's own bad dealings turn everyone into a suspect when she's found dead in the parking lot just before the Annual Decadents on Deck! Bake Off competition is about to kick off.
Delusional baker and amateur sleuth Mr. Divabetic is even shocked to find himself being treated as a suspect in the case by the local police, after meeting her just once!
As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before, escaping a murderous mishap in New York and attempting a fresh start in Nantucket has turned into a complete and utter baking disaster, now Max, along with his friends and nosy mother, have to add tracking down a murderer to his To-Do list, as well.
Can our team hunt down the real murderer before they strike again? Will he become the next victim? Can Max ever manage to bake a cake that's actually edible? LISTEN: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatal...
The plot is full of twists and turns and the dialogue is laced with some lovely one line zingers. If that’s not enough, our fabulous heroine Cyd Redondo is a single, feisty, fashion-crazed travel agent from Brooklyn who becomes one of the most unlikely crusaders to fight the horrors and despicable acts of cruelty involved in wildlife smuggling.
I can't wait to read another Wendall Thomas book. So much fun!!
Enjoy this short synopsis of Divabetic's Makeover Mystery podcast: There's a good indication that murder might be part of the recipe when Nantucket's ten time reigning Baking Champion's last name is 'Coffin'. But resentment, greed and Britannia's own bad dealings turn everyone into a suspect when she's found dead in the parking lot just before the Annual Decadents on Deck! Bake Off competition is about to kick off.
Delusional baker and amateur sleuth Mr. Divabetic is even shocked to find himself being treated as a suspect in the case by the local police, after meeting her just once!
As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before, escaping a murderous mishap in New York and attempting a fresh start in Nantucket has turned into a complete and utter baking disaster, now Max, along with his friends and nosy mother, have to add tracking down a murderer to his To-Do list, as well.
Can our team hunt down the real murderer before they strike again? Will he become the next victim? Can Max ever manage to bake a cake that's actually edible? LISTEN: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatal...
January 24, 2018
Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas
All I can say is wow! Through a little Facebook viewing I noticed Wendall Thomas’s photo with some authors I am huge fans of and it led me to discovering that she had a first novel published by Poisoned Pen Press. I love the Poisoned Pen bookstore, get their E News and have ordered a few books from them in the past. It is on my bucket list to visit the Pen and if ever so lucky to meet THE BARBARA PETERS. Ok geeking out over. Literally a day or two past and Lost Luggage was nominated for a Lefty and I said ok we need to read a little more about this. From the interviews I read it seemed like this book was right in my wheelhouse. A travel agent is caught up in a smuggling operation which was brought on by a murdered pet store neighbor and a free Safari Trip to Tanzania.
So I started reading a couple days later, not willing to wait 6 weeks for the library copy got it on my Kindle, and was gripped. Cyd is a fully realized character with calamity around every corner. Her love for a sale, Stuart Weitzman stilettos that were bought at Century 21 for 15 bucks after the use a coupon, grabbing toilet paper from hotel bathrooms, taking toiletries and saying that she needs replacements and my personal favorite taking Tupperware with her made Cyd instantly relatable. I found Roger the perfect love interest and their antics and hijinks kept me at the edge of my seat. I truly truly truly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
All I can say is wow! Through a little Facebook viewing I noticed Wendall Thomas’s photo with some authors I am huge fans of and it led me to discovering that she had a first novel published by Poisoned Pen Press. I love the Poisoned Pen bookstore, get their E News and have ordered a few books from them in the past. It is on my bucket list to visit the Pen and if ever so lucky to meet THE BARBARA PETERS. Ok geeking out over. Literally a day or two past and Lost Luggage was nominated for a Lefty and I said ok we need to read a little more about this. From the interviews I read it seemed like this book was right in my wheelhouse. A travel agent is caught up in a smuggling operation which was brought on by a murdered pet store neighbor and a free Safari Trip to Tanzania.
So I started reading a couple days later, not willing to wait 6 weeks for the library copy got it on my Kindle, and was gripped. Cyd is a fully realized character with calamity around every corner. Her love for a sale, Stuart Weitzman stilettos that were bought at Century 21 for 15 bucks after the use a coupon, grabbing toilet paper from hotel bathrooms, taking toiletries and saying that she needs replacements and my personal favorite taking Tupperware with her made Cyd instantly relatable. I found Roger the perfect love interest and their antics and hijinks kept me at the edge of my seat. I truly truly truly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
January 24, 2018
All I can say is wow! Through a little Facebook viewing I noticed Wendall Thomas’s photo with some authors I am huge fans of and it led me to discovering that she had a first novel published by Poisoned Pen Press. I love the Poisoned Pen bookstore, get their E News and have ordered a few books from them in the past. It is on my bucket list to visit the Pen and if ever so lucky to meet THE BARBARA PETERS. Ok geeking out over. Literally a day or two past and Lost Luggage was nominated for a Lefty and I said ok we need to read a little more about this. From the interviews I read it seemed like this book was right in my wheelhouse. A travel agent is caught up in a smuggling operation which was brought on by a murdered pet store neighbor and a free Safari Trip to Tanzania.
So I started reading a couple days later, not willing to wait 6 weeks for the library copy got it on my Kindle, and was gripped. Cyd is a fully realized character with calamity around every corner. Her love for a sale, Stuart Weitzman stilettos that were bought at Century 21 for 15 bucks after the use a coupon, grabbing toilet paper from hotel bathrooms, taking toiletries and saying that she needs replacements and my personal favorite taking Tupperware with her made Cyd instantly relatable. I found Roger the perfect love interest and their antics and hijinks kept me at the edge of my seat. I truly truly truly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
So I started reading a couple days later, not willing to wait 6 weeks for the library copy got it on my Kindle, and was gripped. Cyd is a fully realized character with calamity around every corner. Her love for a sale, Stuart Weitzman stilettos that were bought at Century 21 for 15 bucks after the use a coupon, grabbing toilet paper from hotel bathrooms, taking toiletries and saying that she needs replacements and my personal favorite taking Tupperware with her made Cyd instantly relatable. I found Roger the perfect love interest and their antics and hijinks kept me at the edge of my seat. I truly truly truly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
April 27, 2024
Loved, loved, loved this book! Laugh out loud funny. If you like the Stephanie Plum character in the Janet Evanovich series, then you will like Cyd Redondo in this series. Cyd works for her Uncle’s travel agency, Redondo Travel. Cyd and her mother live with Uncle Ray and his wife and a passel of boy cousins in New York. Cyd’s extended family make sure that she doesn’t roam too far from home. Cyd is determined to change all of that. If she can book enough people on a Tanzania trip, then she will win a free trip for herself. Escaping to an Atlantic City travel convention, she meets uber handsome “chiropractor” Roger Claymore (who turns out later to be a government wild life agent) and quickly falls under his spell. Back in New York, Roger shows up unexpectedly on Cyd’s doorstep, Cyd wins the trip to Tanzania, Roger becomes her plus one, and the two are off on an adventure that involves endangered species animal smuggling, saving Cyd’s senior travelers from imprisonment for criminal acts that they didn’t do, and staying alive as the smuggling ring tries to kill Cyd and Roger for foiling their plans. Lots of hijinks and adventure.
March 21, 2018
Thank heavens! I've been waiting for years to find a successor to Janet Evanovich, and I've finally found one. For the first eight books, I was a passionate Stephanie Plum fan. I would read during my breaks, and I would laugh so much and so hard that everyone in the breakroom made me start reading aloud. I can only hope that Wendall Thomas's hilarious Cyd Redondo series will take flight (and not fall victim to stagnant characters and plot lines like the older series did).
Before I go any further, I do want to warn animal lovers that this is not just a laugh-out-loud funny book; it's about the very serious topic of animal smuggling, and there are two short scenes which describe how the animals are readied for transport. These scenes made me yearn for instant karma: may every smuggler be readied for transport in the exact same way and be loaded on around-the-world flights only to end up as unclaimed baggage.
I love Cyd Redondo. Growing up with a herd of "brousins" (a cross between brothers and cousins), she still gets called "Cyd the Squid," but those brousins keep their distance. Cyd is into kickboxing-- in her stilettos-- and when she explained why she trains in that footwear, it made perfect sense. She's got a Balenciaga bag containing so many goodies that she could outfit a platoon, and that bagful of stuff isn't mere feminine vanity. This woman is a worthy successor to MacGyver. Lord, have mercy! And believe it or not, she is one amazing travel agent. Too bad she's fictional: depending on the age requirements, I'd love to have her handle all my travel plans.
Lost Luggage has so many things that made me laugh out loud, and it's the sort of book that I'd love to share all those things with you, but I will exercise restraint and let you discover them for yourselves. (I will admit that Barry the chameleon was my second favorite character, though.) Besides the amazing female lead and the marvelous humor, there's actually a good mystery to solve, too. If you've been pining for a mystery that makes you laugh, Lost Luggage is the one for you. As for me, it's going to be a long wait for the next book in the series!
Before I go any further, I do want to warn animal lovers that this is not just a laugh-out-loud funny book; it's about the very serious topic of animal smuggling, and there are two short scenes which describe how the animals are readied for transport. These scenes made me yearn for instant karma: may every smuggler be readied for transport in the exact same way and be loaded on around-the-world flights only to end up as unclaimed baggage.
I love Cyd Redondo. Growing up with a herd of "brousins" (a cross between brothers and cousins), she still gets called "Cyd the Squid," but those brousins keep their distance. Cyd is into kickboxing-- in her stilettos-- and when she explained why she trains in that footwear, it made perfect sense. She's got a Balenciaga bag containing so many goodies that she could outfit a platoon, and that bagful of stuff isn't mere feminine vanity. This woman is a worthy successor to MacGyver. Lord, have mercy! And believe it or not, she is one amazing travel agent. Too bad she's fictional: depending on the age requirements, I'd love to have her handle all my travel plans.
Lost Luggage has so many things that made me laugh out loud, and it's the sort of book that I'd love to share all those things with you, but I will exercise restraint and let you discover them for yourselves. (I will admit that Barry the chameleon was my second favorite character, though.) Besides the amazing female lead and the marvelous humor, there's actually a good mystery to solve, too. If you've been pining for a mystery that makes you laugh, Lost Luggage is the one for you. As for me, it's going to be a long wait for the next book in the series!
April 2, 2018
What an interesting and humorous book. Cyd Redondo a young third generation Brooklyn travel agent who specializes in senior citizens has never ventured further than New Jersey. Back in Brooklyn when she reads about smugglers stopped at JFK with skinks in their socks or monkeys down their pants she just cant imagine that she would join the ranks. But next door to the Redondo travel agency the pet store owner is poisoned. Cyd wins a free travel safari. Her boss uncle Ray wants to cash it in for computers but Cyd will go. Cyd invites Roger to go. She and Rodger land in Africa with their luggage lost to find two of Cyd's elderly clients in a local jail. She manages to barter them out only to find smugglers have hidden Five Hundred Thousand dollars worth of endangered Parrots,snakes frogs and a Madagascan chameleon in the clients out bound luggage. Cyd dodges Interpol faces off with a cobra steals a diplomatic bag hi jacks a Fed x truck winds up in a leopard trap. It a scramble to save her clients and find the smugglers before finding herself at the top of the endangered species list!!!!
July 23, 2017
Completely wild, wonderful, and wacky! I've never read anything quite like this before. I was hooked by the fourth page, but the almost non-stop madcap action only starts there. A once-in-a-lifetime African safari vacation turns into a harrowing and hair-raising race to rescue endangered animals, spitting snakes, and seniors in matching tennis visors and Skechers. Despite never having been anywhere, our funny and feisty heroine has packed for every emergency, and is prepared to handle even the most unexpected situations with courtesy, aplomb, and a healthy spritz of designer perfume. This has something in it for everyone, from the best of small-village Agatha Cristie mysteries to Janet Evanovich's wise-cracking, whip-smart single-girl-in-the-city (and her stilettos). I even picked up a few travel tips! Sure to delight a wide range of mystery fans. I can't wait to see where in the world Cyd goes next!
October 15, 2017
Travel agent in the business owned by her over-protective family, Cyd Redondo never seems to get away for her own vacation, even after she has the shock of discovering the elderly pet-store owner next door dead. But when she wins a trip to Africa, and a handsome, though possibly disingenuous stranger comes into her life, she invites him to be her plus one and sneaks down the fire escape to go to Tanzania. Once there, a problem that some of her clients have brings her into the world of illegal animal smuggling, and anything goes after that. You can't keep a Brooklyn girl down, especially one who knows a lot about handling people. One caveat: Someone as afraid of reptiles as Cyd claims to be would not be able to carry snakes around in her bra; she'd be a gibbering idiot by the time she'd gone two steps.
June 16, 2022
This book was recommended to me by someone who likes the Plum novels by Evanovich. I liked them, about the first 10 before it became stale. I should have known I wouldn't like this because so many books are compared to the Plum novels and very, very few are similar.
I used to be in the travel business and have enjoyed other mysteries that take place on tours and such. I saw where Thomas was trying to be amusing here, but there was just a disconnect with me. One of the many things I just didn't appreciate was relationship with her family. I'd cheerfully walk away from the lot.
I did check out Drowned Under, book 2, on the off chance that book 1 or how I was feeling when I read it was a fluke. I love to cruise and the mystery in that story takes place on one. We'll see how it goes.
I used to be in the travel business and have enjoyed other mysteries that take place on tours and such. I saw where Thomas was trying to be amusing here, but there was just a disconnect with me. One of the many things I just didn't appreciate was relationship with her family. I'd cheerfully walk away from the lot.
I did check out Drowned Under, book 2, on the off chance that book 1 or how I was feeling when I read it was a fluke. I love to cruise and the mystery in that story takes place on one. We'll see how it goes.
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