Cheap Trills by Wendall Thomas

 

 

First Line: Eat. Pray. Barf.

 

It's 2007, and Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love has swept through the book clubs of Brooklyn-- so much so that travel agent Cyd Redondo's mother books a trip to Bali with a rival agent and sneaks away for her own adventure. 

When her mother's trip goes horribly wrong, Cyd grabs her Balenciaga bag and flies to the rescue, little knowing that she'll also be battling songbird smugglers, thieving monkeys, mother-daughter issues, and a killer along the way.

 

~

 

If you want to be transported to Bali, book a trip through Redondo Travel and find yourself enjoying the landscape, wildlife, customs, and culture of this marvelous place in Wendall Thomas's Cheap Trills. What Cyd Redondo doesn't know about booking the perfect trips for her clients isn't worth knowing, and if her agency were real, she'd definitely have all my business. 

Being broiled alive in a brutal (and seemingly endless) Phoenix summer, I loved sinking into the pages of this book and losing myself in the descriptions of Balinese scenery and wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, it always plays an important role in any Cyd Redondo mystery, and in Cheap Trills, I learned about smuggling songbirds and the fight to protect the endangered Bali Starling. But-- as much as I love learning about wildlife and the customs of other countries-- I wouldn't be a diehard fan of this series if it weren't for Cyd Redondo herself. Cyd is extraordinary, from her knowledge and contacts in the travel business to her smart-alecky view of the world to her ability to kickbox in stilettos to her passionate endeavors to save wildlife. She has a Balenciaga bag that MacGyver would give his right arm for, and one of the highlights of Cheap Trills is discovering that Balinese women also know the importance of a good set of Tupperware.

 

Cyd Redondo is so very easy to laugh with and to love. I would willingly follow her anywhere. I could even be of assistance in a future adventure. You see, Cyd doesn't have a good relationship with bats, and it just so happens that I was the bat wrangler at a previous place of employment. Think about it, Cyd. I could really help you out!

As you can see, I've fallen head over heels for Cyd and her adventures. If you love mysteries with strong female leads that are light-hearted, visual feasts, let me steer you straight to Redondo Travel. You're going to love Cyd.

 

Cheap Trills by Wendall Thomas

eISBN: 9781960511195

Beyond the Page Books © 2023

eBook, 302 pages

 

Humorous Mystery, #4 Cyd Redondo mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley and the Author.

Fogged Off by Wendall Thomas

First Lines: January 2007. "Jack the Ripper had it made."

When travel agent Cyd Redondo finds herself responsible for bringing home the body of Shep Helnikof, client and Jack the Ripper expert, she wastes no time flying to London to cut through all the red tape and get the job done. What she doesn't expect is the fact that Shep's death was not due to natural causes; it was murder.

Cyd has a lot to keep her occupied on this trip to London. She was forced to bring along her uncle, Leon Spartacus Redondo, and her Aunt Helen has charged her with keeping a close eye on the man. That's not going to be easy since Uncle Leon vanished the second his feet touched British soil, and he won't return her calls. Getting Shep's body back to Brooklyn is proving problematic as well, and Cyd is beginning to think the only way she'll achieve her goal is to find Shep's killer herself. And-- as if she needed anything else to worry about-- she and her formidable Balenciaga purse run headfirst into a rodent smuggler.

Disappearing uncles, unemployed actors, Shep's former girlfriends, incompetent Embassy employees, amorous rodents... will Cyd ever find the time to actually enjoy her first trip to Jolly Olde England?

~

Do I ever love this series! When I'm reading the latest adventures of Wendall Thomas's Cyd Redondo, I forget that I have to spend an hour a day hooked up to a (sometimes painful) machine. Instead, I'm laying there smiling, chuckling, and sometimes laughing loud enough that my husband comes into the room to find out what's so funny. The humor, the references to old movies, the characters, the mystery... everything weaves together into a winning combination that will brighten anyone's day.

Cyd is front and center. This is her show, and I love her voice. For a travel agent, she's done very little traveling herself, and I have to admit that I enjoyed watching her as she traveled the streets of London-- seeing places she'd discussed and booked for her clients and dreamed about, learning that the first floor isn't the same floor in England as it is in the United States... and who knew that closets were American? 

No mention of Cyd Redondo is complete without her Balenciaga bag, the bag that MacGyver would kill to possess. It is even gaining a reputation. Don't believe me? Well, one character confronts Cyd and tells her, "I don't trust you. I trust your purse." All women should be so lucky to have a purse like Cyd's. Armed with such handbags, it would only be a matter of days until women ruled the world. Maybe even the universe.

Cyd's uncle and aunt add even more spice to the tale, especially Aunt Helen. All I can say is mess with the Redondos at your own peril. And don't forget that no Cyd Redondo adventure is complete without a critter. This time it's Bruce, the Casanova of rodents. So not only do I want a Balenciaga, I want a Bruce, too.

If you're in the mood for a good mystery filled with wit and humor, do yourself a favor and read all of Wendall Thomas's Cyd Redondo mysteries. Start with the first, Lost Luggage, enjoy your way through Drowned Under, and finish off with Fogged Off. Then you and I will be in the same boat-- waiting to see what Cyd Redondo gets up to next. This is a series that's good for what ails you. Do not miss it!

Fogged Off by Wendall Thomas

ASIN: B09D4145XK

Beyond the Page Publishing © 2021

eBook, 241 pages

 

Humorous Mystery, #3 Cyd Redondo mystery

Rating: A

Source: the author, Net Galley

Drowned Under by Wendall Thomas

First Line: December 2006. It was Tiki Night at Chadwick's.

Due to some fallout that occurred after Cyd Redondo's trip to Africa (Lost Luggage), she isn't the most popular person in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn-- and that's tough to deal with at Christmas. In order for the rest of her family to enjoy the holidays, Cyd decides to help her ex-husband whose parents have disappeared on an Australian cruise.

She wastes no time-- enlisting the help of travel liaison and friend Harriet Archer to get a room aboard the cruise ship. When she arrives on board ship, she finds Harriet dead in the cabin they were supposed to share. Now Cyd's got to find her ex's missing parents and identify a killer. It's not going to be easy: the cruise ship is busy covering up the "unfortunate event" and sanitizing the crime scene, but if anyone can get the job done, it's Cyd Redondo of Redondo Travel armed with her Balenciaga bag.

Once again, Wendall Thomas has crafted a laugh-out-loud funny mystery that will have readers learning things along the way. There always seems to be a wildlife angle for Cyd-- by the way I liked finding out what happened to Barry the chameleon from Lost Luggage-- and this time it involves her former teacher, Sister Ellery Magdalene Malcomb, in addition to an international fugitive with more wigs and costume changes than a Las Vegas showgirl, and a Tasmanian Tiger. Never heard of a Tasmanian Tiger? Neither had I. See what I mean about learning stuff?

That's one of the things I like the most about Thomas' writing. Yes, I have a blast laughing my head off, but I also like to learn. In Drowned Under, I not only learned about those tigers, I learned quite a bit about the cruise ship industry, and although I can't say I want to board one any time soon, at least I understand them and the people who frequent them much better.

If you're in the mood to laugh, pick up Drowned Under, and if you haven't had the pleasure of reading Lost Luggage, get your hands on that one, too. And you're not just reading these books to laugh. In both, Thomas has crafted intriguing mysteries to solve with a main character who has to be related to MacGyver. Now all I have wonder about is what my husband is going to say when I tell him that I want a Balenciaga bag personally packed by Cyd Redondo herself?

Drowned Under by Wendall Thomas

eISBN: 9781464210631

Poisoned Pen Press © 2019

eBook, 288 pages

Humorous Mystery, #2 Cyd Redondo mystery

Rating: A

Source: NetGalley

 

Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas

First Paragraph: Travel is my business. Or at least it was. After the last two weeks, no one may trust me with a drink order, much less their seat assignments, cabin preferences, or credit card numbers.

Third-generation Brooklyn native Cyd Redondo may be a travel agent who specializes in senior citizens, but she's never ventured farther than New Jersey. (The elders in her family suffer acute separation anxiety.) Shortly after the pet store owner next door to Redondo Travel is poisoned, Cyd wins a free safari. Going against her Uncle Ray's wishes, Cyd doesn't cash in the tickets for computers, she packs her bags and heads for Africa. Going along as her "plus one" is her convention fling, Roger Claymore.

The two arrive at their destination to find that their luggage has been lost and two of Cyd's elderly clients are in jail. Cyd barters them out only to discover that smugglers have hidden a half million dollars' worth of endangered parrots, snakes, frogs, and a Madagascan chameleon in their outbound luggage. Thus Cyd Redondo is rudely and abruptly welcomed into the world of international animal smuggling, and only her smarts, her stilettos, and her Balenciaga bag are going to get her out in one piece.

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!

Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas

eISBN: 9781464208935

Poisoned Pen Press © 2017

eBook, 259 pages

Humorous Mystery, #1 Cyd Redondo mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.