Review – The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews

Posted July 9, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 9 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – The Newcomer by Mary Kay AndrewsThe Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews
Narrator: Kathleen McInerney
Published by Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Publishing Group on May 4, 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Women
Length: 14 hours 30 minutes
Pages: 448
Format: ARC, Audiobook, eBook
Source: Library, Publisher
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four-stars

Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.

In trouble and on the run...

After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield. Even in the grip of grief and panic Letty heeds her late sister’s warnings: “If anything bad happens to me—it’s Evan. Promise me you’ll take Maya and run. Promise me.”

With a trunkful of emotional baggage...

So Letty grabs her sister’s Mercedes and hits the road with her wailing four-year-old niece Maya. Letty is determined to out-run Evan and the law, but run to where? Tanya, a woman with a past shrouded in secrets, left behind a “go-bag” of cash and a big honking diamond ring—but only one clue: a faded magazine story about a sleepy mom-and-pop motel in a Florida beach town with the improbable name of Treasure Island. She sheds her old life and checks into an uncertain future at The Murmuring Surf Motel.

The No Vacancy sign is flashing & the sharks are circling...

And that’s the good news. Because The Surf, as the regulars call it, is the winter home of a close-knit flock of retirees and snowbirds who regard this odd-duck newcomer with suspicion and down-right hostility. As Letty settles into the motel’s former storage room, she tries to heal Maya’s heartache and unravel the key to her sister’s shady past, all while dodging the attention of the owner’s dangerously attractive son Joe, who just happens to be a local police detective. Can Letty find romance as well as a room at the inn—or will Joe betray her secrets and put her behind bars? With danger closing in, it’s a race to find the truth and right the wrongs of the past.

I had a fantastic time with this book! I have wanted to read Mary Kay Andrews’s work for a while and I am glad that I finally had the chance to do so with this book. I was hooked by this story right away and it held my interest until the very end. I am so glad that I was finally able to give this author a try.

Letty is on the run with her niece, Maya, after finding her sister dead. She ends up in Florida at The Murmuring Surf Motel. The motel is filled with senior citizens and they aren’t exactly welcoming to Letty and Maya at first. She knows that the police in New York are looking for her as they investigate her sister’s death but she just wants to lay low and keep her niece safe. She didn’t expect the complication of the owner’s son Joe, who happens to be a local police officer.

I really liked the characters in this book. Letty was such a good person. She took Maya as her sister asked her to do because she wanted to make sure that her niece was safe. Ava, the hotel owner, was incredibly kind to both Letty and Maya and I loved the relationship that developed between them. Joe was more cautious but quickly proved that he was a good guy that could be trusted. I liked the chemistry between Letty and Joe and appreciated the slower-burn romance between them. I thought that the other characters at the motel added a lot to the story as well.

The mystery in this book kept me guessing. I was really curious about what had happened to Letty’s sister, Tanya. There is another element to the story which explored how Tanya was tied to the motel and what happened in her past before joining her sister in New York. The story was rather exciting and there were times that I was really worried about Letty and Maya’s safety.

Kathleen McInerney did a fantastic job with this narration of this book. There was a pretty big cast of characters and she handled all of their voices with a lot of skill. I thought that she added a lot of excitement and emotion into her reading. She had a very pleasant voice and I believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the book.

I would recommend this book to others. I had a great time with this book and found it to be filled with great characters, a wonderful plot, and just enough romance to keep things interesting. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley and I borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.

9 responses to “Review – The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews

  1. It’s been a while since I read an Andrew’s book too. I tend to like her women’s fiction more than her mysteries, but this sounds pretty good

  2. I just finished my first Mary Kay Andrews read and I really enjoyed it. I like the mystery element of this one and between the blurb and your review I’m really curious about Tanya’s past life. I definitely need to see if I can get this on audio!