Mary Kay Andrews knows how to write an interesting, entertaining, funny, sad, intriguing story. The High Tide Club girls will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to slap someone but you will definitely want to read this book to the very last page!

3.5/5 This book was part mystery, part romance. The mystery was so interesting I could have done without the romance. Every time the narrative would switch back to the protagonist's life- whether it was about her kid, her dating life, her babysitter, etc. I would just want to shout- your life's not that interesting! Let's get back to the good part!

So for me I could have done with more flashbacks from the past, more intrigue, and more of the actual High Tide Club itself. Overall though, a good beach read. Fun and readable.

I have always enjoyed this author’s books.…this was a bit of a departure from the breezy, funny, colorful character filled reads I have come to love. I found this story to be more multi-layered & complex than previous novels. I am a sucker for a story from the past intertwined with the present, with an intriguing mystery thrown in. And if it is set in the South, I’m all in. The author used the multi-narrator, past & present narrative to very effectively propel the action forward. The colorful characters & humor are still present, but issues of race, domestic violence & murder are also present. If you are already a fan of Mary Kay Andrews, you are in for a delightful surprise. If you haven’t read her previous novels, get on board, you are missing out!

While I've loved several past Mary Kay Andrews books, I just didn't connect to this one. Her books are either hit or miss for me. I didn't connect to the characters and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. Those who love MKA should definitely read this book, as the writing is great as usual. This one just wasn't for me! Still gets three stars from me due to the great writing though.

I don't often choose "Beach Reads" in my normal reading life, but I have read Mary Kay Andrews writing as Kathy Hogan Trochek and really enjoyed it so when I saw the High Tide Club in an email from Netgalley, I decided I should give it a shot. I wasn't disappointed.

This book mixed a beach setting with strong female friendships like most beach reads seem to do. The author then threw in a dash of age-old family secrets - skeletons hidden in closets explored through chapters that flashback to the past. A bit of romance - of course. And finally murder. Let's be honest, this book was crying out for me to read it!

As the past and present stories began to echo each other through friendships old and new, the character that joined the two generations together was hard to like as she pushed people away. Is it because of the secrets she's hiding? Or is she just a miserable old woman on death's doorstep?

There were times I found the new friendships developed faster than expected, but as a hermit, I'm not sure I'm the person who should be commenting on how friendships form. Overall this didn't distract from my real reason for reading the book - the secrets and murder. This is where I thought the book truly shone. Just enough information was delivered through the chapters that delved into the past to make the reader want (or need) to know more. And the present day chapters had their own conflict and mystery imbued in them.

Completely enjoyable read and a reminder that Mary Kay Andrews is a force to be reckoned with in the beach read/suspense area.

Mary Kay Andrews always makes me feel like the characters are my friends and I'm part of the story. This was a great multi-generations, women's fiction book.

This was a good beach read mystery from an author I hadn’t read before and really enjoyed.

Josephine, a rich old woman, has invited Brooke, a small-town lawyer, to her home on an island. She wants Brooke to help her find the family of her old friends so she can make amends before her time is up now that she is 99 years old. Josephine takes her time telling her story that started in the 1940’s. Some of her friends’ family members are also invited to the island and they along with Brooke eventually fill in the missing information to unravel a tale of friendship, love, betrayal and secrets.

You get to see the choices that were made and the consequences and fall out from those choices. So many people were affected in ways no one could have predicted. Some of those results weren’t revealed until the very end and made for some interesting twists. An enjoyable read!

ARC generously provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, I have read everything from this author. I will continue to recommend all her books, particularly this one.

I have read most of Mary Kay Andrews previous books and I must say this one is different. The second half of the book was solving a mystery and just when you thought you had it figured out there was another twist or turn. The book started out in 1941 telling the story of four friends: Josephine, Millie, Ruth, and Varina. They share a secret that doesn't it told until Varina is the only one left. It is a secret that has haunted Josephine most of her life. Flashforward to present time and we are introduced to Brooke, Lizzy and Felicia. You will not want to put this book down to see how all these women's lives are intertwined. Talisa Island and Shellhaven, Josephine's home and family island plays a very big role in joining these women past and present together to form the High Tide Club. If you like a little history and how it affects the present you will love this book. The characters are like family when you finish reading their stories.

I can just imagine people sitting by the pool and beach with an adult beverage in one hand and The High Tide Club in the other hand.
First, the cover is perfect to attract people to this book looking for a vacation/summer read..
I'm a big fan of author, Mary Kay Andrews. This book was a good blend of mystery, murder and a little dash of romance.
Josephine is 99 yrs of age and has cancer. She hired attorney Brook from Savannah to assist her with her will and to stop the State of Georgia from taking her beloved home and land on the island of Talisa.
The story takes place in the 1940's and current day.
A murder takes place during a party at Josephine's home in 1941. Who killed Russell Strickland and why?

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review, The HighTide Club by Mary Kay Andrews, St Martin's Press, due to be published 05/08/18.

I have read, and loved, everything written by Mary Kay Andrews. I felt that her newest book, The High Tide Club, was very different from her previous work. While I loved this second half of this book, the legal details on estate planning in the first half seemed to drag on forever. Normally, I can read a book by Andrews in a day or two, but this took me over a week! And, for some reason, the characters in this book were not quite as engaging as in her other books. Still, this novel is worth a read for the twists and turns that occur at the end.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin Press for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I'd not read Mary Kay Andrews for a bit, and this title makes me wonder why I let her fall off my radar (it won't happen again!) One might make the mistake of thinking this is just a beach read for the summer (especially with the title and cute cover), but it's more than that. The narrative bounces back and forth in time, which is a style that keeps me reading! I loved the characters, and would really probably prefer to give this a 4.5. There were several mysteries and twists going on throughout the book, as well as issues about women that really transcends the time period. I think we sometimes forget that. This is highly recommended and I'm going to put the author on my "follow" list so I don't miss another title!

I'm a big Mary Kay Andrews fan and based on the premise of this book I was really excited to read it. A once grand house on a coastal island, an eccentric old woman, a young idealist lawyer? Sounds like a winning combination! Unfortunately the execution left me a bit wanting. Josephine, Brooke, and Varina are likable enough, but something was missing despite the multi-layered plot. My other quibble is that the legal stuff dragged on and wasn't that interesting to read about. I'm not sure if this is because I'm a lawyer or despite it? All in all, THE HIGH TIDE CLUB isn't a bad read. I love the friendship / strong women theme and the ending was perfectly lovely.

Warning. This is not a beach read. This is a story of barely developed characters, subtle racism (overt in some cases) a secret child story-line (I hate those) and a plot that zigs-zags from the past to the present repeatedly. I was left 100 percent disappointed with this read and baffled that Andrews wrote this. I have enjoyed her books over the years and this book feels/reads like a rough first draft to me. I think if maybe the amount of characters had been cut out and or just had Josephine and Brooke as the only "voices" maybe the book would have worked out better. Instead we have a plethora of points of view (POV) in this one and random actions by characters that I didn't believe at all.

"The High Tide Club" deals with almost 100 year old heiress, Josephine Warrick calling up Brooke Trappnell telling her she wants to hire her. Josephine wants to do what she can to leave her estate to friends of her that were part of a so-called "High Tide Club". The state wants to buy all of Josephine's land/home and wants to demo it. Josephine wants Brooke to prevent that by seeking out her friends and wants the opportunity to make amends with them.


Seems simple right? It's not. From the first we have Josephine telling Brooke her story in fits and starts. It doesn't work as a narrative device to have Josephine telling a story and then the book flashing back to the past, and then flashing back to the present, then flashing back to the past again. That happens repeatedly while reading. It took me out of the story every single time. And at one point I started to skim in self defense because I just didn't care anymore and wanted to be finished with this book.



And I did laugh though when Josephine lets Brooke know that one of the people she wanted to contact was Brooke's now dead grandmother. At this point we find out that two of the women from the club are dead and only one, her name is living, her name is Varina, but they had a fight related to Josephine not selling back land she bought from her and other Geechees living on the island.



So then the book segues into Brooke contacting the heirs of the dead women and then coming to the island to hear about what they could possibly be inheriting. Instead there is a death, confusion, and just general bedlam of people scrambling around trying to demand land/money from a woman that any barely seemed to care died. And then we have reveal after reveal hitting you over the head with Josephine looking the worst out of all of the characters with some of the others coming in a close second.

Brooke is an idiot and I was so done with her whole so-called plot. I hate secret children in romance novels. It is not believable at all and just once I would love it if the dude in question called the woman out and said no, I don't want to be with someone that would lie and hide the fact that they had my child for so-called BS reasons.



The other characters were secondary and I didn't care for them much either. Varina's granddaughter or grandniece was shown to be grasping and greedy. Varina herself was portrayed as naive. I hated the fact that the book shows the other so-called members of the club treating her like a doll they could dress up and give expensive things to. But she's African American and could not really be a part of their world at all. In fact most of the African Americans in this book don't look that great at all in the end.


The writing was rough in a lot of places. As I said above, maybe cutting out all of the extra characters and the jumping back and forth in the story would have helped. It was hard to keep things straight. When Josephine dies (not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis) the story loses it's forward momentum.



The setting of the island doesn't feel real at all. I think maybe just telling the story from past to present would have helped it to feel more centered in the book. Instead I didn't get why anyone was killing themselves trying to save the place.



The ending was supposed to be moving and uplifting, I just was glad to be done.

Wow what a read. I really enjoyed this book! It had so much that I didn't want it to stop. I want to know more about the new High Tide Club and where their stories take them. It has everything mystery, romance, finding out about your family and friends and finding new friends. It is definitely a must read for this summer.

I'm always excited when I see a new book by Mary Kay Andrews, and The High Tide Club did not disappoint. Filled with mystery, secrets, romance and, as always, MKA's cast of delightful characters, this book kept me intrigued and entertained. Even at a length of just under 500 pages, I still wanted more – that's how good this book is! It's not your typical Mary Kay Andrews' novel, but it is definitely a winner!

‘The High Tide Club’ by Mary Kay Andrews was a delightful book. This is my first Mary Kay Andrews book and I loved it. The plot was full of twists and turns. The characters were colorful and identifiable. At certain points in the book you find yourself cheering for the main characters. Also just when you think you figured out where the story was going the author surprises you. You want to keep reading to find our what happens next.

This novel had everything you need for a wonderful read: mystery, romance, humor, friendship, a beautiful setting and so much more. The setting is on a fictional island off the coast of Georgia. Mary Kay Andrews descriptions had you smelling the ocean and feeling the heat. Ms. Andrews includes some interesting southern traditions and beliefs that I was not aware of. I love southern fiction and this one doesn’t disappoint. The book moved quickly and found it hard to put down. I would finish a chapter and find myself saying ‘one more chapter’. Ms. Andrews is a wonderful storyteller. While this book was 480 pages, it flew by. You will absolutely be addicted to this story and have no idea how long the story actually is. I will definitely be looking for more of her books.

I would like to thank Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh. My. LANTA - I’m such a happy camper right now! Sad because I just finished this book, but happy that I was given the opportunity to read this advance copy (thanks, Netgalley & St Martin’s press!) and most importantly, that one of my all-time favorite authors was ON FIRE with this one!!
I’ve never really cared to provide a summary in the reviews that I write; I figure you can read that anytime, between Goodreads, Amazon, etc. but I will say that this story goes deeper and is more entertaining than the little blurb you might catch somewhere. Being a true blue, Southern Belle, I have always enjoyed stories that take place here, which this author provides frequently in her books, in a glowing & loving manner. The descriptions of the Georgia coast, Savannah and all points between are apt and bequiling..... The narratives regarding race, social hierarchy, multi-generational secrets and alarming discoveries in our “that’s not nice to talk about” South? Simply enthralling and splendidly skillful.
No, this is no “War & Peace”.... yes, it’s considered “women’s fiction” (& isn’t that just a grown-up version of our “chick lit” from a couple of decades ago 🙄😏), more of a light read, but it IS a great read! This author has provided a bit of mystery, humor, intrigue, romance, all-things-Southern… You can’t ask for much more than that when you are just wanting a dadgum captivatingly charmful read and not looking to read a dictionary!
I have been a fan of Mary Kay Andrews a.k.a. Kathy Trochek, since first discovering her cozy mysteries. I even had the wonderful pleasure of going to one of her book readings/signings when living near Atlanta briefly - she was just as gracious and delightful as her stories led me to believe she would be and I have followed her closely ever since - & thank Heavens for Facebook, blogs, email, etc! While some of her stories I have possibly liked more than others over the years, this one is her best, I believe. Take a minute, sit on the front porch with your glass of sweet tea (or margarita or coffee or wine ..... just something yummy 😁) and open your mind and heart… Give it a read, y’all. You’ll thank me for it later!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and did not want to put it down. I thought I had the first of the plot all figured out, but then it continued to twist and turn and add intrigue. I really enjoyed the multiple plot lines.

This book explores the friendship of four women over the years. The loyalties, trustworthiness, and forgiveness of this friendship is all explored.