Wendall Thomas’ debut mystery, Lost Luggage, is a romp that may remind readers of the best of Janet Evanovich or Tonya Kappes. But, Cyd Redondo, narrator and amateur sleuth, may actually be more reminiscent of MacGyver. She’s resourceful, intrepid, and uses her shoes to get out of so many jams.
Cyd is a hard-working travel agent in her family’s business in Brooklyn, Redondo Travel. At thirty-two, she’s only broken away from her male-dominated family once, and it resulted in a fast marriage and divorce. She’s never been farther than Atlantic City. When she finds a dead parrot on a office desk, she feels as if she’s covering up for a family member again. But, it’s even worse when she finds the dead body of Mrs. Barsky, the woman who owns the pet store next door. Right after the funeral, Cyd makes a break for Atlantic City and the Travel Agents’ Convention she yearns to attend. Maybe Cyd’s judgement is still bad, though. She has a fling with Roger Claymore, who sneaks out of her room in the middle of the night.
If Cyd can sneak away from her family once, maybe she can do it again. She wins a trip to Tanzania, but her uncle wants to turn the vouchers in to buy new computers. Instead, she scoops up Roger as her plus-one and heads off to Africa. Her trip immediately goes haywire when she arrives. Their luggage is missing. She receives a call from a cousin who says she’s the primary suspect in her neighbor’s murder. Murder! And, she has clients in jail in Africa. It just gets worse for poor Cyd as she’s soon caught up in the illegal animal smuggling trade. But, the resourceful woman is up for all the misadventures.
Lost Luggage is a funny romp with a little bit of sex and a lot of humor. As I said, think of Cyd Redondo as MacGyver on an African adventure.
Wendall Thomas’ website is www.wendallthomas.com
Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas. Poisoned Pen Press, 2017. ISBN 9781464208928 (paperback), 258p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.
