Drowning Lessons

A Red Frog Beach Mystery Book 1

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Pub Date 21 Mar 2019 | Archive Date 01 May 2019

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Description

You are cordially invited to a destination wedding to die for...

Welcome to Bocas del Toro, a remote chain of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Five days of glorious sun and lush rainforest await the forty guests celebrating Bridezilla Olivia’s dream wedding—but will a murder sink the catered affair?

Before anyone’s got time to start working on a tan, an unfortunate snorkelling accident eliminates a member of the wedding party. Maid of honor Lexie Marino smells trouble, and is thrust into the responsibility of investigating, needing to solve the case before her bestie’s trip down the aisle gets tropically derailed. The show must go on.

Lexie’s a little too tall, a little too awkward, and a little too brokenhearted, but she’s determined to nail the real killer. Can this unlikely sleuth stay afloat as she’s hit by wave after wave of wildly entertaining characters, including an alpha bride, surfing detectives, and a high school flame long forgotten?

You’ll find yourself laughing until the very end of Drowning Lessons, a debut cozy mystery that makes the perfect beach read. Rub in some coconut oil, dangle your feet in the crystal-blue waters of Dolphin Bay, and sip a cool drink as Lexie discovers the deductive superpowers she never knew she had.

Let the party begin!

This is the first book of five in the Red Frog Beach Mystery Series. For information and updates, please visit RachelNeuburger.com


You are cordially invited to a destination wedding to die for...

Welcome to Bocas del Toro, a remote chain of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Five days of glorious sun and lush...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781733837804
PRICE $3.99 (USD)

Average rating from 26 members


Featured Reviews

Drowning Lessons us a fun, cozy mystery series that will have reader falling in love with one very awkward Lexie who is trying to survive a broken heart is determined to give her Bridezilla the wedding of her dreams.
This story will have readers laughing so hard and dying to visit the wedding destination point in this Cozy Mystery.
The book also has wonderful recipes readers will be able to recreate in their home if they have the ability to cook.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Debut novel by Rachel Neuburger Reynolds Drowning Lessons

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A Bridezilla's wedding on a tropical island, should be peaceful, except that she's given each of her four bridesmaids a file with details on the guests, the activities and what they will be in charge of and when. Oh and the bridesmaids have been given all red clothes for the five days. Everything is organised - even down to the guests having to hand over their phones, cameras and any other technology before leaving the boat to land on the island for the first of many parties.

It takes a couple of hours before the first thing goes wrong. One of the snorkellers doesn't return to the boat and can be seen lying face down in the water. Lexie, chief bridesmaid and the bride's best friend is left in charge of 'sorting everything out' while keeping it a secret.

A good fun read.

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This was a crazy one that I am already obsessed with and making all of my friends read it as well! So definitely go out and read this one. The characters are amazing and I absolutely loved the way it read. A true must read!

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It took me a bit to get into this book but once i did i couldn't put it down. Lexie, a writer, arrives on a tiny island in the Carribean to help coordinate her best friend's lavish wedding. As her friend is turning into Bridezilla and Leslie is having to deal with a number of wealthy unpleasant friends and family the best man is found floating face down during a snorkeling trip. Everyone is a suspect, Olivia, the bride, is determined to hide the murder and the groom finds himself behind the bars as the prime suspect. Lexie is tasked with covering up the homicide, getting the groom out in time for the wedding and helping the local police solve the crime.
As another murder takes place on the island she is forced to reassess her lifelong friendship with Olivia and her own life and beliefs.
I did figure out the murderer relatively early in the book but the book was introspective, well written and captivating regardless of that.

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Drowning Lessons by Rachel Neuburger Reynolds is the first book in the Red Fog Beach Mystery series, and my first book by this author. I found this book to be fun with many twists and turns to keep me reading. The plot and characters are well developed, and I enjoy the quirky characters in the book. I recommend this book, and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

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This not typically the kind of book I find myself reading, but I was drawn to the blurb and the cover! Surprisingly, I liked it! Drowning Lessons by Rachel Neuburger Reynolds is book 1 in the A Red Frog Beach Mystery Book series. Its suspenseful, fun and a very enjoyable read.
Alexandra 'Lexie' Martone is the maid of honor at her best friend Olivia Fowlers over-the-top extravagant destination wedding at Bocas del Toro, a remote chain of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Olivia and her gang of bridesmaid have kept a file, with snarky details of all her wedding guests. When one of the members of the bridal party has a snorkelling "accident" Lexie finds herself in the middle of a mystery, she must solve in order that her best friend Olivia gets the wedding of her dreams. Except that Olivia is not your typical bridezilla, she's much more 'extra' and it takes Lexie a great deal of patience and perseverance to see this to the end! When a second member at the wedding drops dead, Lexie knows she's dealing with someone sinister and must put a stop to the murders( with the help from the local police, offcourse) before the wedding celebrations end up as a colossal failure.
I liked mostly all the characters in this book, especially our protagonist Lexie. The monologues she has with herself are too funny and too good! This looks to be the start of a fresh new series I look forward to following! I'll be eagerly waiting to get my hands on the next in the series - The Wipe Out Affair.
Thank you Netgalley, Rachel Neuburger Reynolds & BooksGoSocial for an arc!

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A beautifully writtwn domestic drama, sure to tug on your heartstrings and make you appreciate your relationships more . Will definitely read more book by this author.

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Do not read this thinking you are reading a book you can take seriously. Sure, people die, but that barely puts a dent into the plans Olivia has for her wedding. She just adds "find the killer" and "don't let the guests know" to her maid of honor's huge to-do list. Why? Because this week-long lead-up to her nuptials will not be ruined by someone getting murdered! That pretty much sets the mood for a campy romp of a cozy. Lexie, the maid of honor, quickly finds out that a beautiful secluded island is not a magnet for the best police detectives and starts to investigate on her own. She manages to do this between other bridesmaid duties like zip lining and themed cocktail parties. Like I said, it is a campy romp. A great read when you don't really want something serious.

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Didn't get to this book before it was archived, so I couldn't download it after it was approved. Sorry

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“There are so many fine things about this novel that it’s difficult to enumerate them all. The characters are beautifully drawn; the dialogue sparkles; the setting is vividly rendered…This is sure to delight followers and fans of mystery novels !!

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When you read a ton of books a year (a fact for which I will remain eternally grateful) there will always be cases of books both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprising you. When the former happens, it makes your day. This is one such case.

I have had this book with me for a while, and I somehow never got to it. I corrected that error recently and sat down with it. It was a very different version of cozy mystery/chicklit/drama than I am in the habit of reading. It is multi-layered and has interesting characters and even more interesting relationships. This last fact is analyzed to a very high degree and I am sure all of you reading would find something to commiserate with. I have had my share of great friendships (most of which still exist) and a couple of ones which border on toxic. I unknowingly might have been the aggressor in a few and I tried my best to learn from those mistakes but the others left a mark. This is one such story. 

Lexie is not in a happy place but has to participate in her childhood best friend's wedding. She has been roped in to bend to the bridezilla's every whim and things start to get crazy. Nothing about the setup feels right and one of them turns up dead. This, as it turns out is another thing the bride needs her help keeping away from her party because she needs the show to go on. There are multiple suspects, a lot of crazy activities being organized and slip-shod detecting done by Lexie. Every person in the party is a suspect and while being surrounded by water-Lexie does not know how to swim. She learns through the book to not only not-drown in the water but to stay afloat in her normal life.

I highly recommend this book, I would have given it a full five stars if it was a tiny bit shorter. I was restless to see where the story was headed. The writing was great and the narration flowed otherwise.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is completely based on my own reading experience.

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I really enjoyed this book! Contemporary literature really isn't my genre but I must say this was a great read. Rachel Neuburger is a new author for me and I dare say this won't be the last book of hers I read.
If books made me cry, this one would have done the trick. There was humor alongside sadness! It was a great debut book!

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Lots of Fun… and an Endearing Heroine

What a fun and funny cozy mystery! Our heroine is an endearingly awkward young woman, best friend to the bridezilla of the destination wedding at the heart of the story. I adore cozy mysteries, but I've rarely found one so laugh-out-loud funny in places. The place, too, sounds like a great one to visit. All in all, this was a fantastic and very humorous read.

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Drowning Lessons is a great cozy mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Loved the characters especially Lexie. Great storyline.

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Cracking cozy crime, with fabulous Caribbean setting and a Bridezilla who isn't going to let a little homicide get in the way of her big day. The beachside mystery that's perfect for reading at the beach!

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