Missing in Mexico

Missing in Mexico

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77  ·  rating details  ·  26 ratings  ·  21 reviews
Missing in Mexico is a mystery novel set in Los Cabos, Mexico. Sarah is a 19-year old who wasn't on the return plane trip from a family vacation. Her parents hire Stan, a Private Investigator, to find her. Even with local help and some promising leads, Stan returns to Seattle to tell her parents that he can't find her. Months later he receives a letter from someone who say...more
Kindle Edition, 271 pages
Published January 2nd 2011
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Vicki
How would you feel if your daughter never returned home from a family vacation? That is the fate of Sara's parents when she disappears.

Missing In Mexico is a well written book, with very detailed descriptions of Los Cabos. You can "see" the city, it's streets, shops and plaza because the author is so thorough in his descriptions.

I loved that each chapter begins with the chapter number, a word, and then that word used in a sentence, in both English and Spanish.

This book was a lot "tamer" than the...more
Romancing the Book
Review by Stephanie O: An only child, Sarah goes on Christmas vacation to with her parents and BFF Mary. Sarah’s parents Robert and Tina leave both Sarah and Mary in Mexico for a few more days of vacation as they return home after the New Year. When it’s time to board the plane, Sarah tells Mary go ahead without her, she will be right there. However, the plane is forced to take off without Sarah on it. Now it’s a race to discovery where Sarah is. With so many questions, and very few answers will...more
Cheryl C.
A ripped from the headlines type of mystery is what you'll discover in Missing in Mexico by Stuart Gustafson.

College students Sarah and Mary spend some time vacationing in Mexico. But when Sarah doesn't get on the plane for home, private investigator Stan Walkorski is hired by Sarah's parents to find out what happened to her.

Racing against the clock, Stan's investigation finds him jaunting between the States and Mexico to uncover clues about Sarah's disappearance. When he receives a mysterious...more
Anne
In his first mystery, Stuart Gustafson uses his intimate knowledge of Los Cabos , Mexico to take us in search of a young girl gone missing at the airport on her way home from vacation. Sarah’s parents hire Stan, who is a private investigator, to find her. Being an avid reader of mystery/suspense books I’m usually pretty good at figuring out the big “secret” but I was actually surprised by the eventual reason for Sarah’s disappearance.

I do like high level suspense in my books and this one is mor...more
Giovanni Gelati
To read or not to read, that is the question here. I mean Mexico; it is used many times in many ways in novels and not all of them good. I had trepidation and was a bit uneasy. Stuart Gustafson put that all aside very quickly for me. How? Why? I mean, really? Yes to all three. As you will see in the synopsis Stuart is a world traveler, has seen most of the globe, has flown many,many, many miles. My point is he was able to put that in print. He was able to convey to me what he saw while he was in...more
Sandra Stiles
Some books seem like they have been pulled right out of the headlines of the newspaper. This book is one of those books. I teach a lot of kids who come from Mexico. Never in all my years of teaching and talking with these students have I felt like I was there. Stuart's descriptions put the reader in Los Cabos. I believe I would really enjoy visiting. There were many twists and turns in this book. I think the reason I liked this book so much is because I love mysteries. I'm not good at solving th...more
Dana Burgess
If you decide to pick up this book, the number one thing you must be sure to do is read the chapter headings! There are a couple reasons for this: 1) they give you your Spanish lesson for the chapter. Each chapter is numbered in English and Spanish and the heading includes a Spanish word, pronunciation, meaning and a sentence to show context. I think it has already been established that I'm a bit of a geek and I really enjoyed these little lessons. 2) pay attention to the date included in the he...more
Tammy
Jul 31, 2011 Tammy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Tammy by: Molly
Missing in Mexico is the first of the Mystery Tourism Book Series by Stuart Gustafson, America’s International Travel Expert. Stuart has flown over one million miles and has been to 27 different countries. The Los Cabos area of Mexico’s Baja California is one of his favorite places to visit and the location for this book.
Missing In Mexico begins when Mary, Sarah's friend, realizes that Sarah is missing, just as the plane is about to take off. Mary frantically beeps the stewardess and tells her...more
T.L. Cooper
Stuart Gustafson’s debut novel, Missing in Mexico, isn’t your typical mystery. The main character, Stan Walkorski, is a private investigator searching for Sarah, a college-aged girl who didn’t return home to Seattle from a trip to Mexico. Sarah’s parents hire Stan to go to Mexico to look for Sarah.While Stan searches for Sarah, he meets helpful people, discovers tourists sights and local attractions, encounters a bit of romance, and makes friends with the people of Los Cabos. Gustafson portrays...more
Katie
First posted on my blog, Legacy of a Writer.

While suspense is my favorite genre to read, I do enjoy a good mystery on occasion. The title of Stuart’s debut novel, Missing in Mexico, really intrigued me. The story plot of a girl disappearing while on vacation in Mexico, the heartbreak of her parents, and the investigation that would follow all encouraged me to try out this new author who, after reading this book, obviously has a lot of knowledge about Mexico and San Jose del Cabo.

Stan seemed a p...more
Kristin (Kritters Ramblings)
A plot line that was to die for and made you think about all the missing persons cases that have taken place abroad lately in the news. A story centering around a young girl who goes missing after a family vacation in Mexico. Was she kidnapped? Did she go missing willingly? You want to find out what happened to this girl and help get the clues as to where she has gone.

With a PI named Stan, the reader goes on a journey trying to find the missing pieces to help him and her parents discover where s...more
Donna Brown
Missing in Mexico is described as a tourism suspense novel and that’s certainly a sub-genre that’s new to me; however, Gustafson’s writing and clear knowledge of his setting, local customs and the language does make it easy to slip into the novel and feel perfectly at ease with the locations of the book.

Stan Walkorski is a jaded but excellent PI: he’s clearly seen too much of the world and its troubles and this has made him a little weary and cynical but conversely has also served to make him ex...more
Aaron Lazar
Missing in Mexico is a fine first novel, filled with a genuine sense of place and easy-to-read prose. Many debut novelists fall prey to overwritten prose with too many adverbs or adjectives, excessive “telling,” and laborious narratives. Mr. Gustafson has, for the most part, avoided those traps, and does a good job of simply telling the story in a natural style. Gustafson also includes a bit of education at the beginning of each chapter, where he provides us with a simple Spanish lesson. I enjoy...more
Michael
This was such an awesome book to read. I really loved it. It is about a girl, her name is Sarah, and she goes missing in Mexico and no one knows what happened to her. So her parents hire a private investigator to try and find her, and his name is Stan. This book really makes you invested in trying to find out what happened to Sarah. You start caring about a girl you don't even know. Was she abducted? Is she hurt? Stuff like that. This book was so detailed and interesting it was like I actually t...more
Kathleen Kelly

I thought that Missing in Mexico is a very well written, well researched book. It tells the story about Sarah Johnson, who along with her roommate Mary, decide to stay in Mexico for an extended vacation with Sarah's parents before they go back to college. As the blurb stated, Sarah is not on the plane with Mary and Sarah's parents hire Stan, a private PI to try to find Sarah. At times a very tense story as the parents try to figure out and come to terms as to where their daughter is, is she dead...more
Misty Rayburn
Sarah and her family were visiting Los Cabos, Mexico on vacation. Her parents leave early, letting her and her friend spend some time together before college classes start. When the friend comes back but Sarah is nowhere to be found, they hire Stan. The private investigator leaves seemingly no stone unturned and has to return empty handed. This appears to be a cold case until a mysterious letter turns up from someone saying they can help. Will this be the lead to crack this case or will she rema...more
Darlene
I received this book for review from the author as part of his virtual book tour. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

Sarah Johnson, a 19 year-old college freshman, is vacationing with her parents and best friend (Mary) in Los Cabos, Mexico. Her parents return to the United States, but Sarah and Mary stay behind for another week to enjoy some time alone before they return to college. Sarah and Mary are getting ready to board the plane to re...more
Mary
My Opinion:

I liked this story. It was both compelling and intriguing. I thought it was well written and it kept me wanting more. I didn’t feel like I wanted to put the book down! Stuart creates a mysterious tale about what happens when someone you love goes missing in another country.

In the beginning you don’t know what is going on with Sarah or why she has disappeared but as the story progresses everything starts to unfold. Stuart spins a tale and you can tell he must have visited Mexico as you...more
SenoraG
Nice little mystery, lots of interesting lessons on Mexico. Full review can be found on my blog
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Missing in Mexico (ebook)
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