The Business Trip | Jessie Garcia (spoilers and ending explained)
I am dying to talk about the ending to Jessie Garcia’s thriller, The Business Trip, and here is the place we can do that. Sigh of relief! But if you are looking to avoid spoilers, head back over to the other review where I keep it spoiler-free. You can always come back here when you’re done! In the meantime… can you get over that ending? It’s one I won’t forget for a long time, I suspect. Did I love it? Hate it? Guess it? Let’s get into it!
What is The Business Trip about?
Two women have seemingly nothing in common, until they board the same flight and disappear not long after. Jasmine lives in a trailer park with an abusive boyfriend Glenn When they first met, Glenn was a charmer and she fell hard. But it wasn’t long before she became trapped in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship.
Stephanie is a successful news producer in Madison, WI. Stephanie loves her job, but she’s recently divorced and is restless in her life. She never takes time off work (I’d argue this is her own fault though, can’t blame others for it) and she is lonely. Her main out-of-work life surrounds her adult son (who doesn’t speak to her much) and her gay neighbor Robert (their friendship is adorable, actually). She dreams of just picking up and leaving her life behind.
Jasmine’s friend Anna lends her money to escape on a flight to Denver, which she does after drugging Glenn and fleeing to the airport. Stephanie is headed to a business trip in San Diego with a layover in Denver. Two women, one flight. A few days later, both women are missing and sending cryptic messages about meeting a man named Trent and spending time with him in Atlanta. Where did Stephanie and Jasmine go?
What happened to Stephanie and Jasmine?
We don’t know much at first. Stephanie texts her best friend Robert that she met a man is extending her trip to visit Atlanta with him. She tells her producer Bruce that she had to extend her business trip and he needs to handle things (Bruce is not happy about this). But the real clue comes from Lucy, a young woman who works for Stephanie and who shares an inside joke about actor Mark Ruffalo, who they refer to as “Mark R.” Lucy texts Stephanie with a joke: “Should I reschedule that meeting with Mark R.? I’m sure he’ll be upset about it!” And Stephanie responds strangely, instructing Lucy to reschedule the meeting. Lucy is puzzled because this is not the response she’d expect from Stephanie. Hmm…
Eventually, Bruce, Lucy, and Robert come together and realize that Stephanie doesn’t seem to be in possession of her phone. Someone is texting from it, though. Meanwhile, Jasmine’s friend Anna receives money to repay the loan she gave Jasmine and an update that Jasmine met a man and is headed to Atlanta. Strange, right? Jasmine’s old friend Raven offers to help her, and perhaps she is the key to it all…
Robert and Lucy head to Atlanta to track down Stephanie. They think they are getting close when they learn that the police have found DNA at the house of a man named Trent (the same name as both women texted their friends about) that links to two women. One they suspect to be Stephanie, and the other they have confirmed is Jasmine. Yikes!
Who is Trent?
Trent is a news producer from Atlanta attending the same conference as Stephanie (and he sucks). On the first day of the conference, Trent meets Stephanie and immediately takes a liking to her. He thinks she is hot and won’t leave her alone. Ugh. Later that day, he learns Stephanie has a room near his in the hotel and he knocks on the door. Stephanie claims a migraine and asks him to leave, but he won’t lay off. Eventually, he offers her a key to his hotel room in case she changes her mind, and Stephanie takes it. Interesting…
On the second day of the conference, Trent is hungover but notes that Stephanie isn’t there. After the conference ends, Trent heads back to Atlanta. It doesn’t seem that he and Stephanie ever met up. I bet you are wondering what she did with that room key, right? I certainly was. That answer will come later, though. Meanwhile Trent goes out as soon as he arrives home and meets another attractive woman at the bar. She introduces herself as Jasmine. Interesting! The next day he is unwell and the day after he is still sick and calls out of work.
At work, Trent is trying to woo some ad people when the police ask to speak to him about a missing woman. Trent manages to resolve this temporarily, but it isn’t long before he is arrested. They found Stephanie’s wallet and other items at his house and DNA from two women. But no bodies.
What really happened to Stephanie and Jasmine?
Let’s take it back to the day of the flight, which is where the last section of the book takes us. Stephanie and Jasmine board the flight to Denver and happen to be sitting in the same row. An older woman is between them and mistakes them for sisters, pointing out how much they look alike. Eventually, the woman finds an open seat and moves, leaving Stephanie and Jasmine alone. The two women get to talking and have a nice conversation. Stephanie mentions how she heard about a website where someone can upload a picture of themselves, and it will find their doppelganger. That caught my attention. Is that how Stephanie and Jasmine found one another? (No, but that would have been a fun twist!)
Jasmine has latched onto the resemblance between herself and Stephanie. Could she steal Stephanie’s ID and credit cards, just to help herself get away? Eventually Jasmine has a better idea. Or at least, she has another idea. And that idea involves following Stephanie on her second flight to her conference, biding her time, and then breaking into her hotel room and killing her. Jasmine finds the password to Stephanie’s laptop on a post it note (lol) and she has access to all of her accounts. She takes money, then dresses in her clothes (leaving the dead body in the hotel room the whole time!!!) and goes to the conference to make an appearance. Wild!
Jasmine is texting Stephanie’s friends and colleagues, so they don’t suspect anything (that backfired eventually, we know). Jasmine decides to frame the creepy guy hitting on her at the conference, Trent. He deserves it, and he left her his key and everything. She takes a towel that has DNA on it (I don’t think I need to say more). She asks her friend Raven to drug him when he arrives back in Atlanta and plant the evidence. Then she texts Robert to make him worry and send the police to Trent’s house. Diabollical! I forgot to mention she also dumped Stephanie’s corpse into the ocean stuffed in a suitcase. Cold blooded! Raven also gets her a fake passport and she heads to Mexico. Free at last!
How does it end?
Did you think that was it? There is one more twist in store, and it’s bonkers. The police arrive in Mexico and find Jasmine. How can this be?Her friend Raven sold her out and told the police about the fake passport. She tries to flee but they tackle her and that’s when it all unravels. Remember when Jasmine murdered Stephanie, left her body in the hotel room for over a day, and then dumped it into the ocean? Well it turns out Stephanie is alive and present in Mexico for the arrest. Jasmine can’t believe her eyes! (I also didn’t believe her eyes at first because that woman was about as dead as can be)
It turns out Stephanie went to the doppelganger website she mentioned on the plane and hired a woman named Diana to impersonate her at the conference so she could go have a vacation. After the flight, Stephanie gives her clothes and belongings to Diana, who checks into the hotel for her, only she doesn’t get a chance to fulfill her duties because Jasmine murders her. Poor Diana! Also crazy to think there are actually three doppelgangers. Stephanie realizes that Diana is dead after she never shows, and the whole story unravels. Jasmine is arrested, and Stephanie heads back home where she gets fired and starts a PR firm.
What did I think?
That ending is absolutely INSANE. I had mixed feelings on that last twist. Overall, I found the book completely gripping. The multiple narrators and the way the book was broken into parts with new information being introduced in each kept the pace quick and the plot lively. I didn’t feel bored at all. Jasmine is the type of villain with a rich backstory that I kind of rooted for. The story about her murdering another girl in high school was awful but it made sense how she got into that situation (that story is also why she thought she could trust Raven, who never told on her).
On the other hand, the murder of Stephanie was so deliciously opportunistic! It was bold. BALLSY, if I’m being honest. As far as fiction goes, I kind of loved it. Wicked and selfish. She saw the opportunity and took her shot! Jasmine is nothing if not a hustler and a survivor. It’s also clear to an extent that Jasmine defaults to kindness until she is backed into a corner. Then the gloves come off. People underestimate Jasmine!
I would have actually loved for the book to end with her getting away with everything. I had no love lost for Trent, who was wrongly convicted of the murders (and eventually released). He may not have murdered anyone, but that man should still be in prison for being an insufferable a-hole, if you ask me. Lock him up. I like when a book lets the villain win sometimes (actually I almost always enjoy that).
Stephanie’s return was a wild twist. It was fun and definitely unexpected. There is some suspension of disbelief required, but not as much as I expected. While it was clear to the reader that she was dead, there were plenty of clues throughout. The author drops that hint about the doppelganger website and I admit I thought about it several times. It seemed like it must play a role, but I never guessed how. Early in the book, Stephanie discusses her dream of simply taking a break from her life and a real vacation. The fact that an intelligent woman like Stephanie would write her passwords on a post-it and stick it to her laptop seemed bizarre, until it became clear it was for Diana. Stephanie herself is no angel. The person in this book who really got stuck in it all is actually Diana. Poor Diana!
All told, this is an entertaining and wild read. The ending didn’t quite go how I personally wanted, but I suspect it’s very satisfying for those that wanted Jasmine to face justice.
