Book 2 of the Chloe Parson Mysteries, “Death of a Texan”, is available now! Lies, secrets, and a sinister plot hide in broad daylight at the heart of the Club Pacifica.A beautiful tropical resort, exciting new friends, … exciting new friends, and a handsome guest liaison – it’s the perfect getaway for Chloe, a free-spirited Baltimore girl just getting to know herself. But the vacation of a lifetime quickly takes a dark turn when a young, overly flirty bellhop starts following her everywhere. It gets even worse when he disappears, and Chloe is the sole witness.
As bellhop after bellhop goes missing, she struggles to figure out what’s happening. When suspicion falls upon her, Chloe must not only try to rescue the kidnapped bellhops, but also to clear her name.
Complicating things further is the relationship she forms with Mateo, Club Pacifica’s guest liaison. Charming and easygoing, he is everything that her fiancé at home is not, and she finds herself fighting a growing attraction to him. But can he be trusted?
She soon discovers that she’s landed herself in a world of secrets, and, worse, that these are not just those of others, but also the secrets she keeps from herself.
Can Chloe find her way through all the lies to finally discover the truth before it’s too late?
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An anonymous shrieking toddler and an annoying, overly attentive, flirtatious young bellhop not only interrupt a young woman’s morning yoga routine on the beach, but they’re just the beginning of the vacay-from-hell.
Chloe’s already on edge, proven when Cooper, the steadfast and dependable… and controlling and boring fiancé back home continues to intrude into her thoughts.
Determined to enjoy her Costa Rican getaway, Chloe pushes the negativity from her mind and goes on a guided tour of the island’s volcano trails a few hours away the next day.
However, during her outing, the pesky bellhop, Jaime, shows up again, waving his arms and calling her name. Perturbed, before Chloe can respond, Jaime disappears… without a trace. No one else saw Jaime. Not the park ranger or the resort employees escorting her, but they all discount anything serious happening to the errant bellhop.
Unable to shake her feelings of dread, especially after finding a pendant of Tlaloc—referred to by locals as the God of Death—on the spot where Jaime disappeared, Chloe’s fears are realized when other bellhops go missing from Club Pacifica and other surrounding resorts.
Before the mystery is solved, Chloe will make two new friends, confront a drug dealer, assault a chicken, take a mind-altering drug, become a prime suspect in the case, and develop feelings for one of the resort employees.
And Cooper shows up.
As Chloe plays private investigator, she’s also on a path to self-discovery. One she’s avoided for far too long… and may not live long enough to enjoy.
While I would have liked more details about Chloe’s backstory, her growth during the story made up for what I didn’t know. She’s surrounded by a great cast of characters who may or may not be worthy of her trust.
Despite the dark overtones of kidnapping, The Bellhop Only Stalks Once is a fun read. Well-written with a smooth pace, it was an easy one-sitting read as I needed to know “what happened next.” Mystery readers will enjoy Chloe’s journey.
Enjoy!
This book had too weird a premise to make it believable. It involved slavery to build a yoga retreat.
Chloe is enjoying her vacation at a tropical resort. When she has a bellhop be a little to overly friendly towards her she just shakes it off. When all the bellhops go missing she is worried and tries to help find out what happens to them. When she meets two other women interested in yoga they decide to be detectives and find them.
This book has plenty of twists and it was fun to see what Chloe would get herself into next. The mystery of the missing bellhops ends with a twist that I did not see coming.
A bit weird and struggled to finish
………Too much banter between characters that did little to contribute to the story. It needs more meat on its bones. Basic story ok.
What a quirky imaginative story this was! Chloe is on holiday on her own, having for once left her slightly sinister and controlling fiancé back home. This is the catalyst for Chloe to have an adventure and finally learn to stand on her own two feet. Will she do it? Well her holiday gives her plenty of opportunities. There’s a bellhop who stalks her, then he mysteriously disappears… along with all the resort’s other bellhops. Something strange is definitely going on. So Chloe decides to investigate with the help of two new unusual friends. From a luxury tropical resort to a dormant volcano in the jungle, and a sinister cult’s secret hideaway, this story takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride. If you’re looking for a story with a difference, laced with humour, suspense, and intrigue, this might be just what you need.
The Bellhop Only Stalks Once is a cracking crime mystery set in an exotic location, featuring a cast of colourful and diverse characters and presenting the reader with a puzzling case to solve.
Chloe is an American lass on a solo holiday in Costa Rica. Things start going terribly wrong with firstly just one overzealous bellboy from Chloe’s hotel going missing, soon followed by another two. Chloe is the only person to have witnessed his bizarre disappearance. One minute he was there waving to her, the next he sauntered into the jungle. He had made a nuisance of himself prior to his vanishing act, and consequently suspicion falls on Chloe. You feel for her. She is in a foreign country and quite out of her comfort zone. But she is one feisty gal, determined and smart, and she has some allies, such as Juan as well as the charming Mateo, until he too is gone, that is.
Apart from the relatable and likeable characters, the setting also plays its part in the story. The deep and dangerous Costa Rican jungle, the heat and the beautiful but precarious crossings create a thrilling ambience. Amulets and accessories featuring mysterious local deities add more mystery. Little hairs stand up on the back of your neck as you dive into that world with Chloe.
Although there is humour and adventure, there is also an element of grim, brutal reality and pure unrepentant evil. You certainly wouldn’t want to send your child on a holiday where they could end up just like those missing bellboys.
A thrilling and clever book. Highly recommended.
I was hooked by the description of the creepy child on the first page. It’s such an original plot – why are all the bellhops disappearing? I really felt Chloe’s awkwardness as a lone traveller in a new environment and squirmed at the scenes with Jaimie, the bellhop. There’s humour, especially in the interactions between Sopie and Kaia, but the idea that there’s a sinister cult worshipping Tlaloc keeps up the suspension. The descriptive detail of the journeys into the jungle with biting ants, rope bridges and volcanoes is very evocative. This is such a great mix of intrigue and romance all wrapped up in an exotic Costa Rican setting. I loved it.