The Wipeout Affair (Red Frog Beach Mystery)
Cozy Mystery/ Chick-Lit
2nd in Series
Jeepers Way Press (October 17, 2019)
Number of Pages: ~300

Synopsis

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.

——

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

Guest Post

The Unlikely Favorite

I’d never written a mystery before Drowning Lessons. I’d read of ton of them but never crafted one myself. I was having a great time working with the main character and maid of honor, on a luxury destination wedding gone horribly wrong, starting with the death of the best man. I don’t believe I’m ruining anything for you, as it happens on page ten, and is also in the description on the back of the book.

I loved the characters I had created for this humorous Caribbean mystery; wicked or not. However, I’d only come up with three suspects and was straining to come up with a convincing fourth. Late into the night during a cold snap in New York City, I came up with the man who became the most beloved of the series.

Lloyd Wilson.

Dangerous. Handsome. Mysterious.

Oh, and he happened to go to college with the groom and the best man.

Did I mention that during their years at Washington College, he was under suspicion but never arrested for a serial killing spree of young blond co-eds? The smartest man at the wedding, with a DR, MBA, Ph.D., and most other titles you could think so. In the introduction document to the bride’s attendants, she wrote in all caps: BEWARE. HE IS SMARTER THAN YOU AND DANGEROUS.

Clear enough.

He was dismissive and quirky, with an unexpected sexy side. This throw away creepy character had become the favorite of the group. Many reader reviews ended with comments like, “Please bring Lloyd back,” and, “I would read book two just to see what Lloyd does next.”

Who am I to disappoint?

In The Wipeout Affair, we are reacquainted not only the main character, Lexie, who returns to live on the tropical island. Lloyd Wilson also stays around to experience the magic of Bocas del Toro. He is an entertaining character, but not one that I’d like to hang out with on any regular basis.

He is a man with no filter who doesn’t particularly like people (though he does enjoy monkeys). He’s opened a medical research laboratory, and dismissive. He’s tolerant of Lexie, but not many others.

People do like quirky.

One of my original beta readers wrote in a comment, “Is it wrong that I have a crush on Lloyd?” My editor and a few other readers made similar comments. One wrote, “Please tell me she eventually gets together with Lloyd.”

Eww. No.

I’ve thought a bit about why he’s such an attractive character. He’s handsome for sure with a brain that won’t quit. Have we been taken a step back to be drawn into men who aren’t particularly nice and on the dismissive side? There are quirkier characters.

Tall, dark, and handsome certainly describes him.

So does my description of him as, “if you can imagine a slightly taller Gregory Peck as a tan vampire, you’d just about be right.”

Lexie can’t end up with Lloyd, right? She’s got nicer gentlemen callers around her.

I ask her, Lexie, please don’t be drawn to the dark side. I hope you agree.

About the Author

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 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.

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