It was a little slow getting started but was worth it in the end. I'm guessing it needed to set up a lot of back story in order to make everything come together. I can see a potential mystery series in the future with Drue as an investigator.

I was particularly happy to watch Drue come out of her darkest moments and really growing up at the end.

All the characters were well thought out and, in the end, turned out to be a close-knit family.

This book was gifted to me by the publisher in return for an honest review. I look forward to Ms. Andrews next submission.

Book Description
Pull up a lounge chair and have a cocktail at Sunset Beach – it comes with a twist.
Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth-grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.
It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.
With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing person case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.
My Thoughts
This is the first book that I've read by Mary Kay Andrews and as I never know how I'm going to feel about a new( to me, she has written other books) author, I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy this read. I'm a huge fan of mysteries but don't read much romance, so I didn't know if the mix would work for me. The main character Drue was delightfully written. Someone who has had more than her fair share of ‘downs’ in her life, but manages to find her happy place in a cottage she inherits. I would consider this a cozy mystery as Drue becomes immersed in a long-unsolved cold case as well as a more recent murder. She carries quite a lot of baggage and I was rooting for her to get a happy ending. No spoilers, but this was an engaging read and I'd love to spend some time with her again(maybe a series.)Sunset Beach will be published in May, just in time for enjoyable outside reading!
A little background on the author from GoodReads: Mary Kay Andrews is the pen name of American writer Kathy Hogan Trocheck, based in Atlanta, who has authored a number of best-selling books under the Andrews pen name since 2002.
Trochek graduated from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree in 1976. She worked as a reporter at a number of papers and spent 11 years as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before leaving to write fiction full-time in 1991. She published ten mystery novels under her own name between 1992 and 2000 and switched to the Andrews pen name in 2002 to author Savannah Blues, which marked a change in her style to more Southern-flavored themes.
I received a DRC from St. Martin’s Press(thanks Beatrice) through NetGalley.

Mary Kay Andrews does it again! As a long time fan of this author, her new book, Sunset Beach, did not disappoint! I look forward to her new book release every year. I feel that these characters down in coastal Florida are filled with lots of depth, while navigating the ups and downs of life. The story line and flashbacks from the past kept me engrossed and wanting more throughout the entire book. This story is more mysterious than others that Mary Kay Andrews has written and I love it! Sunset Beach comes with a twist that you won't see coming and is so much more than your predictable beach read. Such an enjoyable and heartfelt story that I cannot recommend enough!

I Loved this book!! This book had me at the edge of my seat! I loved all the twist and turns, I did not see coming!

Love her books, and this one is just as wonderful as the previous ones. This compelling, suspenseful book will keep you wanting more with the turn of each page. If you've never read her books, you must read this. You will not be disappointed.

I am a huge MKA fan and was so excited to begin reading Sunset Beach!

Was I in for a surprise! This is a departure for MKA, in my opinion, in that this book contains a well thought out whodunit. I have long loved MKA's beach reads and thought this was another easy, breezy, settle in with a margarita book. No way! This book kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out who the bad guy was.

If you are used to the usual MKA, get ready for something new, fun and very interesting. That is NOT to say her other books weren't fun and new or interesting because they were. This is just a whole different side to MKA that I didn't know existed.

Do yourself a favor and grab this book. You will love it and probably tell everyone about it, as I have done. The story flows well, the characters are interesting and easy to like (or dislike as the case may be) and I kept reading faster and faster.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. All thoughts are my own and freely given.

Love Mary Kay Andrews so I was excited for this one! Protagonist Dru has suffered a debilitating knee injury and just lost her mother when she returns to work for her estranged father and her new stepmother (who was her best friend in high school). As she begins looking into a case that had already been settled by the firm, her life becomes increasing complicated as she doesn't know who to trust and where to turn for help. Dru is vulnerable even though she projects a tough exterior, and her escapades are humorous yet poignant. Lots of surprises and satisfying conclusions reached. This would be a great beach read...or a rainy day read...oh heck, an anytime read!

Drue is rudderless. She's lost her mother and her job as well as her ability to kite board. Her estranged father informs her that she has inherited her grandparents ramshackle beach house. He also offers her a job at his law firm. She reluctantly takes him up on his offer and soon finds herself investigating an old missing person case as well as a 2 yr old local murder.
Mary Kay Andrews is an author who writes characters who live on in your mind long after you finish reading. Sunset Beach should definitely be on your summer reading list!

Drue Campbell has never had a good relationship with her father, a colorful lawyer specializing in personal injury cases. After her parents divorced when she was young, Drue saw her father on and off over the years, until things between them soured (due, in a large part, to her father’s then, new wife, who never clicked with Drue). Now, without a job and with her life adrift, Drue moves back to Sunset Beach and agrees to work for her father. What she does not know when she agrees to work for him, is that her father is now married to Drue’s grade school frenemy, Wendy, who is her father’s law firm’s office manager and who will create a life of hell in the office for Drue. One further reason, and a much-needed bright spot for Drue, is the fact that Drue has moved back to stay in her grandparents’ beach front bungalow, which she has inherited. When she arrives, however, Drue finds she must totally clean up and refurbish the bungalow because the last tenant left it in a real mess. Drue finally settles into a life she hopes will be better than the one she left, working on the bungalow and screening calls from grifters who hope her father will win settlements with lots of cash for them. The job soon becomes boring—until a client comes in about a case where a young woman was found murdered in a beach front hotel in Sunset Beach. Though cautioned to leave things alone and not get involved, Drue jumps right into the case because she senses things are not really as they seem. In between fixing up her home and working for her father, Drue delves right into this mystery, filtering through clue after clue, red herring after red herring, searching for the truth. Throughout it all, she learns a lot about her life, her father and Wendy, and about the other staff members in the law firm.

This is a pretty good book. I am not sure, but I hope it is the start of a new series, because I thoroughly enjoyed watching Drue settle into her role as daughter, step-daughter, member of the firm, novice investigator, and resident of Sunset Beach. The characters are colorful and well-done. The town comes across as a regular beach town, with all the pluses and minuses normally associated with these towns. The mystery is intriguing and, though not terribly complex, still provided me a great deal of enjoyment. I enjoyed seeing a strong woman, and Drue certainly was one. Her co-workers were also interesting, fascinating and well-done. I have read other of the author’s book and enjoyed them all. This one ranks right up there with t hem. If you enjoy a good read, with a bit mystery and a coming-of-age plot, you will enjoy this one. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

St Martin’s Press
Fiction
May 7, 2019
Rating: 4/5

I received a digital ARC copy of this book from St Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am pleasantly surprised with my experience reading this book. This is my first book by this author even though I’ve several of her books on my TBR list. It is the perfect balance of drama, mystery and romance. I found the authors notes at the conclusion of the novel an added bonus. She provides insight into her sources for inspiration and even a recipe!

The story is told through alternating chapters of present and past. It had been 20 years since her parents divorced and she and her mother, Sherri, went to live in Fort Lauderdale. Brice Campbell, her father, continued to live in St Petersburg after remarrying. It’s only after the recent death of her mother and a career ending knee injury that she reunited with her estranged father.

She learns that she has inherited her maternal grandparents cottage in Sunset Beach which is in desperate need of repair. With no reason to stay in Ft Lauderdale, Drue accepts a job at her father’s law firm since is no longer able of kiteboarding. Moving back to St Pete’s proved to be more challenging than she anticipated.

Drue soon discovers that her father has remarried, Wendy, her best friend from her school days. On top of having lack of reliable transportation, she constantly arrives late for work to find “See me” notes on her computer. As Drue begins to renovate the old cottage and acclimate to her new job environment, she becomes invested in a few unresolved stories. One is a mystery surrounding the death of a young hotel worker and the other an unsolved cold case she uncovers in the attic.

“But when her attention is caught by a suspicious murder case, Drue finds herself entangled in a decades-old mystery - one that may have dire consequences for Drue and the people she loves.“

This story captivated me on a variety of levels and maintained my interest without an obvious predictable plot.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2727528639

https://www.bookbub.com/books/sunset-beach-by-mary-kay-andrews

https://bookwormreviewblog.blogspot.com/2019/04/sunset-beach-by-mary-kay-andrews.html?m=1

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sunset Beach had me guessing to the end how the story would wrap up. Mary Kay Andrews weaves two mysteries together in the seemingly quaint beach town were Drue Campbell returns after a kite-boarding accident. Down on her luck, she returns to the cottage her grandparents once owned and gets a job with her father's law firm. There were parts of the story that didn't seem relevant....but it all came together at the end!

I received this book from netgalley for an honest review: Sunset Beach was an enjoyable read. It combined the genres of mystery, romance, family drama in an engaging, pleasant book. My standards for popular fiction are good story line, some character depth and overall--holds my interest--and this book did all three. There was some drama, tension and character building and it was fun to read.

Don't pack your vacation bags without adding Mary Kay Andrews latest novel Sunset Beach!

Drue Campbell is desperate to start over. She has just buried her mom, lost her kiteboarding career due to a devastating knee injury, was fired from her waitress job and ended a bad relationship which also left her without a home. Whew!

When her long estranged father shows up at her mother's funeral offering a job and the keys to her grandparents beach cottage, she reluctantly accepts.

Rehabbing Coquina Cottage brings back lovely memories of summer visits with her Nonni and Papi. She also unearths attic finds that spark curiosity in a 40 year old unsolved missing person case.

Drue struggles to build some sort of relationship with her father as his new bride makes Drue's new job unbearable. In her attempts to re-investigate a case for her father's successful slip and fall law clinic Drue;s persistence takes her closer to the truth...and danger

I never want to miss a book by this author. This book and High Tide Club have veered in a direction I'm truly enjoying. The past/present storylines and mystery make them perfect beach reads. Or on the plane to vacation reads, or lawn chair in your yard reads, or cozy chair in the A/C reads....you see what I'm saying.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sunset Beach was a great read that I could not put down. Drue returns to her grandparents cottage after her mothers death nursing a knee injury. Her past has taught Drue to trust no one, not her father who she has been estranged from since a teenager, not her new boss, or even her co-workers. So when not one, but two mysteries surface Drue starts investigating solo. Through the twists and turns of these mysteries, Drue learns about her parents, herself and finds out who is really in her corner.

I am quickly becoming a Mary Kay Andrews fan. This is my second read of hers. I definitely plan to be reading more in the future.

This author is one of those authors that I didn't expect to thoroughly enjoy. Her covers scream light and fluffy romance, which is not my thing. It's definitely not something I prefer to read regularly. However, her covers are very deceiving. Her books might be a bit lighter, but they are not a straight romance.

This book is the perfect mix of intrigue, mystery, a little suspense, and a little romance. There was enough in this book to keep me turning the pages... wondering whodunit. Who was in on it? Who will Drue end up with? Just who is the good guy? Who is the bad guy? Will I get an HEA with this book?

Needless to say, I am more than glad I decided to pick up this book. It was definitely what I needed to read.

This was my first book by Mary Kay Andrews and won't be my last! I really enjoyed it. It would be great as a beach read or to bring on vacation.

I liked the premise and the characters. It had a great flow and was a very easy read.

Can't wait to read more by this author.

Holy terrible, batman. I could have used waaaay less job-related angst, at least one fewer mystery, less death and murder, and waaaaay more home renovation stuff and relationship stuff.

Honestly, the characters in this are all very shallow and completely one-dimensional, and the plot is so overstuffed that it stops making sense at some point and you just want to beg for mercy for it to be over.

I've liked MK Andrews in the past, but I'd say avoid this one like the plague.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

At first I was worried that this would be a typical read, but it surprised me with some interesting twists.

I absolutely LOVE MKA and all her books!

SUNSET BEACH is a perfect beach read, mixed with thrilling suspense, humor, chick-lit, and a multi-generational mystery. (always love parent's dark secrets). Do we ever really know our parents?

Drue Campbell is down on her luck. (you are going to love her). Her mom died. She is suffering from a knee injury from kiteboarding and just lost her waitressing job in Ft. Lauderdale. Her estranged father Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney (St. Petersburg, FL), shows up at the funeral and lets her know she has inherited her grandparent's cottage on Sunset Beach in Treasure Island, Florida's gulf coast.

She loved this cottage and it holds special memories for her. It is in shambles, the roof leaks and it is not liveable. However, her dad offers her a job at his law firm as a cube rate (answering phones). The last place she wants to work. But she swallows her pride and accepts in order to have the money to fix up her cottage. After all it is waterfront and a prime piece of real estate. However, little does she know her frenemy from middle school is now married to her dad and makes her life miserable at work.

Soon she discovers a case from a poor African American grandmother who lost her daughter when she was murdered at a nearby hotel resort and is raising her granddaughter. The law firm did not do the case justice and left the woman hanging. Drue has made it her mission to seek justice for this woman and granddaughter. (loved this relationship).

Drue is better at sleuthing with some mad detective skills, versus manning the phone. However, something is fishy and she is determined to get to the bottom of this (in secret). With a little help of the detective and some of her friends, she begins to unravel the coverup. In addition, she also uncovers another murder mystery and cold case in her mom's things stored in the cottage attic.

She doesn't know who she can trust. Even members of her own family and her co-workers. Things heat up in a race against time as she goes undercover to bring the truth to the surface.

WOW! what a great book. If you love historic beach cottages and much as I do and renovations (reno)— get in the spirit. A historic cottage handed down from generations past. Both damaged and shabby. A lifetime of childhood memories and unforgettable summers at a grandparent's cottage.

A worn-down woman from life's blows and plenty of bad luck. Metaphors for life. Lots of treasures and surprises await (personally and professionally) from the past within this old cottage. A strong empowered young woman starting over, as she breathes new life into the walls of this much-loved cottage as well as into her own life and future.

From mystery, intrigue, romance, suspense, humor, relatable characters, a strong love of family, nostalgia, heart, and plenty of home-reno! Second Chances. An avid fan of the author's Callahan Garrity Mysteries as well as her Southern contemporary beach fiction. The best of both worlds. Plus I love her kick-ass female characters.

This book resonates with me as a Floridian, and a lover of Indian Rock Beach (Colonial Court Inn), the entire Treasure Island, and Gulf Blvd on the Gulf Coast. SUNSET BEACH makes you want to revisit all the many places. I spent many weekends riding bikes there, from Clearwater to St. Pete, St. Johns Pass - and have stayed at many of the colorful beach cottages on the beautiful Gulf Coast with its white beaches. I will have to say the Gulf coast has more charming cottages. (love Siesta Key as well).

Also as an added bonus, Mary Kay shares her secrets and love of vacation rentals, renovations, cottage buying and decorating tips. . . as well as some great recipes! I am always hungry when reading her books.

My recommendation would be to rent a quaint beach cottage and grab a copy of SUNSET BEACH. I suggest a hammock (there is one as well as Adirondack chairs at Colonial Court) or Morada Bay, Islamorada - and a cocktail on a summer breezy day or evening. It is heaven! I am going to buy a copy for my favorite B&B WPB vacation rental to add to their library.

I highly recommend all Mary Kay Andrews books (My #1 Southern Author) In addition to Sunset Beach, The High Tide Club, Top Books of 2018 as well as MKA's cookbook The Beach House Cookbook. I have the hardcover cookbook and have given it as gifts and everyone loves it - they still email me about recipes they have tried.

Fans of Wendy Wax's Ten Beach Road (another favorite) will enjoy as well as Viola Shipman's The Summer Cottage! I urge you to pre-order this top beach read. It is on my Top Books of 2019!

I was immersed from page one to the end, reading it in one weekend- finding it difficult to put down. Dying to see how it would turn out. Mary Kay is a wonderful Southern storyteller and her love and passion of the beach, renovations, cooking, and historic cottages are reflected and mixed with her great wit.

An ideal beach read and book club pick. Also, the cover is DAZZLING! No one can spin a story like MKA!

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press for a print copy and NetGalley for a digital early reading copy.

I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book took me by surprise in a GOOD way! I was expecting a light romantic mystery that was a good summer read. But, it was more than that. It was a romantic mystery that was well-written with an interesting plotline that is a PERFECT summer read!! I had never read anything by this author, but I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read and kept me wanting to read more!

Definite recommend!!