Drowned Under by Wendall Thomas is the second book in the “Cyd Redondo” traditional mystery series. Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, coming March 19, 2019.

Eggnog notwithstanding, travel agent Cyd Redondo is not looking forward to the holidays. The borough of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn—along with most of her family—holds her responsible for landing her Uncle Ray in a minimum-security prison.

So, when Cyd’s ex-husband, Barry Manzoni, announces his parents have disappeared from an Australian cruise, she rushes Down Under to enlist the help of travel liaison and friend Harriet Archer, who offers a free cabin on the Tasmanian Dream and insider assistance with the search.

Cyd’s flights are delayed, so she hitches a helicopter ride to the ship—which lacks a heli-pad. She and her Balenciaga bag barely survive the harrowing drop, landing on a gorgeous man in a Speedo. When she finally makes it to her cabin, she finds Harriet dead, lying in a pool of blood.

The ship’s doctor/coroner—now wearing a tux instead of his Speedo—declares the death an accident. While Darling Cruises hurries to cover up the “unfortunate event” and sanitize the crime scene, Cyd scrambles to preserve evidence, terrified the murder is connected to the Manzonis’ disappearance, and to prevent the heist of the world’s last Tasmanian tiger.

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Talk about a madcap ride, that is what you’ll find in this delightfully engaging hilarious romp through the wilds of cruising and being down under. Cyd has her hands full looking for missing ex-in-laws and finding a killer among the thousands of people on board the Tasmanian Dream.

This was a fast-paced, action-packed drama had me completely immersed in all that was happening from the first page, quickly becoming a page turner that I could not put down. The mystery was done with expertise, pulling me in and never letting go with narrative that was visually descriptive. From the landing on the ship, to finding Harriet’s dead body to Koozer to Doc to the morgue to Ron Brazil to Howard to Sister Ellery all aided and abetted, wait, can’t forget her Balenciaga in her quest to find the murderer as well the missing in-laws — and what a surprise that was for Cyd.

The author knows how to tell a story that encapsulates all the trials and tribulations that Cyd faced with sheer determination using her knowledge and resources at her disposal. This multi-plot arc was set up to keep me intrigued in the possibilities and entertained with slapstick humor and the combination of the two made for great reading. And that ending. . . pure genius on the part of Cyd. Boasting an eccentrically quirky cast of characters, fetching dialogue, and the perfect backdrop, this is a terrific book and one of my favorites of the year. I laughed and laughed at the antics of Cyd and that is thanks to an author who knows how to spin a story worth telling.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author.