2018 Macavity Award nominee for Best First Novel 2018 Left 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 … 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.
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This book is the first in a new series featuring Cyd Redondo, a travel agent, who had yet to travel outside her office until she wins a trip to Africa. The book has been nominated for multiple awards, all well-deserved. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve read in ages. I stayed up until 4:00 A.M. just to get to the surprise ending. Highly recommended.
Trigger warning: The plot of this book deals with the illegal trade of exotic animals. I found parts of it difficult to read. But it’s based on real events. I applaud the author for not shying away from the truth.
This book came at me like a speeding train. There’s a murder, exotic locations, danger, an adorable chameleon, romance, and a heroine who always wants to look her best. Action-packed is an understatement. Cyd (the travel agent who has never traveled) gets herself into one mess after another. But she’s done her homework. On her first trip ever (to Africa!), she proves that she can handle any situation that comes her way. She’s always prepared, down to keeping formal wear in a pocket in her purse. I love how she’s funny without being made to look stupid. And she has a big heart. I look forward to finding out what Cyd does on her next adventure.
A Stephanie Plum-meets-Carl Hiaasen adventure, only better. My favorite humorous book of 2017. No wonder it was nominated for a Lefty Award.
A terrific mystery, hilariously funny (I laughed out loud dozens of times), and the first in a series that, as of now, only has two books in it, so she’d better write some more. Brooklyn travel agent Cyd Redondo escapes her loving but smothering family to take off on her first actual trip abroad — to Tanzania, no less — accompanied by someone she, ahem, met only 24 hours earlier. And there’s a murder, some hilarious action, great characters, and — unlike most of the books I wrote this year, it’s too short. Get it. If you don’t laugh, see your doctor.
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.