The Wipeout Affair (Red Frog Beach Mystery)
by Rachel Neuburger Reynolds
Character Guest Post
June 2
TO: Lexie Milano
FROM: Lloyd Wilson, Ananke Laboratory
Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro
RE: I’ve heard about your relocation
PRIORITY: High
VIA EMAIL
———————————————-
I was surprised and shockingly pleased to hear that you are relocating from New York to this Panamanian archipelago. Bold, as I thought, maybe you would be one day. After almost dying and solving an almost perfect crime, I can’t tell if your decision is madness or genius. Only time will tell.
I appreciate calculated spontaneity.
Which brings me to why I am getting in touch with you, not just laying out a welcome wagon. As you can see from the above paragraph, I have what one might call a filter missing when talking or corresponding with people.
Since the death of our mutual contact in April, I find the main source of investment in Lloyd Wilson Enterprises shriveled up like a past-its-prime carved pumpkin. I’m currently seeking venture capital for my newest endeavor, Ananke. I’m obviously not looking for investment from you, as I can with probability guess your financial state of affairs.
See? Filter missing. I can now identify it, but I can’t stop my train of thought. It has left the station.
The ladies love me. Lord knows why.
Though initial interest in the company was high, it seems that I am offending the people with the money. I’ve been called condescending, offensive, and often a downright [expletive] [expletive].
With your limited funds and from what I understand of nature of the part-time work you’ve lined up on the island, I’d surmise you’d needing some cash. Working at a surf camp on Bluff Beach won’t exactly keep you in mink bikinis.
I’d like to offer you part-time work at Ananke, working with me on correspondence with the potential investors. First, in written material to take what I’ve written and make it sound. Less. Like. Me. We’ll cross the in-person meeting bridge when we come to it.
One thing I recall is that you had was a way with words. I observed that people found you charming. Too humble for your own good, but likable.
My company is a medical research facility. Bocas del Toro being an almost unknown island chain, there is the potential for amazing exploration of plants and species that don’t exist in the rest of the world. We’ve also come across new and strange poisons in our quest to advance the world of medicine. Up your alley, I’d say.
This offer expires at the end of the month. You’ll find the salary more than generous. There will be a non-disclosure agreement to sign before you start, of course.
Benefits include one of the only places on the island with air conditioning. You don’t know how attractive that will be as summer carries on.
I look forward to working with you.
And as I always say to you, Lexie, you can run, but you can’t hide.
Warm personal regards,
Lloyd Wilson, Ph.D., MD, MBA
About The Wipeout Affair
The Wipeout Affair (Red Frog Beach Mystery)
Cozy Mystery/ Chick-Lit
2nd in Series
Setting – Bocas del Toro
Jeepers Way Press (October 17, 2019)
Number of Pages: ~300
ASIN: B07TBGQFN4
There’s trouble in paradise, in the hilarious second book of the Red Frog Beach Mystery Series.
Ready to go back to the beach?
Lexie Milano left her heart in Bocas del Toro, and the new and improved New Yorker makes the big choice to move to the laid-back Caribbean island permanently. Piña coladas, white sand beaches, and a little cabin of her own on the edge of the rainforest complete her picture of the perfect tropical future awaiting her. But if it looks too good to be true, it usually is. . . .
When the body of a beautiful wealthy local is found at an isolated surf camp, the owner calls on Lexie to help him figure out who did it in this delicious whodunit. Reluctant sleuth Lexie first turns to the police, but her sudden access to a treasure-trove of island secrets convinces her it’s time to solve another murder on her own.
Favorite characters from Drowning Lessons return to grace the pages of this comedic mystery, including Migs, the handsome photographer; Lloyd, the genius with the cryptic past; and Lexie’s new best friend, Detective LaGuardia. Between old friends, new associates, and the added potential of shark attacks, The Wipeout Affair will leave you laughing and guessing until the very end.
This is the second in the series but can be read as a stand alone novel.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Alexandra ‘Lexie’ Martone’s first visit to Bocas del Toro was as maid of honor for her friend Olivia and let’s just say that wedding didn’t go as planned. She returned to New York but it isn’t long and she is back on the island and this time she is planning to stay. She rents a little cabin and gets not one but two jobs and makes herself at home.
But just like the last time, a murder mucks up her plans. She is shocked to learn her friend Jazz, was found dead at a local surf camp where Lexie works one of her jobs. The owner is pegged as the prime suspect and he begs Lexie to help him find the real killer. She agrees and she tries to keep the local police abreast of everything she learns but they aren’t very receptive until they find they need her to solve the case.
___
I was so excited to get ahold of this book and I was not disappointed. Rachel Neuburger Reynolds takes her readers right to Bocas del Toro. We proceed on a journey with Lexie that at one time or another takes us from one side of the island to the other and almost everywhere in between. Lexie does have a vehicle but there are very few roads and the ones that are marked are rough. There is a bus that Lexie takes occasionally but that ride sounds like a bucking bronco so for the most part, Lexie walks and the author describes everything so well we are able to walk right along with her.
Lexie has become very independent but she is still trying to conquer her fear of water. Jazz was working with her before her death to get past her fear. She was trying to get Lexie in and under the water telling her about all the undersea beauty, she would see if she would just “slide” into the Carribean. While I can swim I still can identify with Lexie. Several years ago I was on vacation in Mexico and we decided to go snorkeling. My husband and our friends all had a great time. I just couldn’t get the hang of it. It was so bad, the guide told me to get back in the boat because I was ruining it for everybody else. 🙂 I would love to try again someday maybe with a patient guide like Jazz.
Lexie’s fear of water doesn’t hold her back from her sleuthing. In fact, she puts herself in some crazy and sometimes dangerous predicaments. Like most amateur sleuths sometimes she leaps before she thinks things through. She has a few suspects on her list and follows the clues wherever they lead. In book one, I said Lexie had the patience of a saint and that helps this time because everyone seems to have a secret or two and things aren’t as they first appear and she doesn’t give up. What makes it hard is that some of the suspects are people she cares about and she realizes she doesn’t know who she can truly trust.
What I really enjoy is the humor the author weaves generously throughout the entire story. As with book one Drowning Lessons
You can read my review of Drowning Lessons
Praise for Drowning Lessons, Book One in the Red Frog Beach Mystery Series:
This series is one that I will be watching.
~Baroness’ Book Trove
This story is much more than a cozy mystery. It is a dramedy where literally everything that can go wrong does. Twists, turns, craziness, and good old mayhem fill these pages all on an idyllic chain of islands . . . This was a fun book to read and a great start for this series.
~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
Drowning Lessons is filled with humor from beginning to end, not to mention several twists along the way. It’s the perfect beach read.
~Socrates’ Book Reviews
Great debut for this new series: a compelling plot, a spectacular setting, and bizarre characters, nothing is missing.
~LibriAmoriMiei
Praise for The Wipeout Affair, Book Two in the Red Frog Beach Mysteries Series:
I have to comment that a cozy set in the Carribean is awesome. The islands in this setting are almost a character in themselves with such wonderful detail about the daily life of the locals strewn throughout the story.
~I Read What You Write
The author has a flair for mixing humor with mystery to create a story that kept me intrigued until the very last page. Not to mention that she did a wonderful job of transporting me to this beautiful island.
~Socrates’ Book Reviews…
About Rachel Neuburger Reynolds
Rachel Neuburger Reynolds is the author of the Red Frog Beach Mystery Series. Book 1, Drowning Lessons, was released on May 21, 2019, and the second in the series, The Wipeout Affair, was released on October 17, 2019. She’s also working on a separate series, The Evelyn Bay Murder Mystery series, and has written book one The Death Of A Classic. If all goes as planned you’ll be reading this in 2020. This is the first of book of seven in the series. Two of her plays have been produced in recent years. The Silencer, a cautionary tale about the perils of online dating, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, followed by a run in New York. Nepenthe, a one-woman show about the 1960’s Hollywood-fication of the Holocaust had its premiere in London, and she is currently in talks about a film adaptation in 2021. Previous to her life of putting pen to paper, she produced theatre in New York City for fifteen years. Though she bounces back and forth between London in New York my headquarters is in Crowhurst on the South Coast of the UK. Please check out more at RachelNeuburger.com
Author Links
Webpage and Blog: RachelNeuburger.com
Twitter: @rainyday11 FaceBook
Instagram: @rainydaywrites Goodreads Pinterest
Purchase Links
Amazon – Kindle
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November 14 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
November 14 – Lori’s Reading Corner – GUEST POST
November 15 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, GUEST POST
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November 27 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – REVIEW
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
