This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this new MKA book!! This one is slightly different than her usual beach read/chick lit but in the best way possible! I LOVED the characters and didn’t want the book to end. I cheered for our main girl all the way through to the end of the book!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Letty, a struggling NYC actress, finds her sister dead. Quickly, she grabs the “go bag” and her niece Maya and is on the run. Tanya always told Letty that if anything happened to her, Evan did it. The two drive all night until they find the Murmuring Surf Motel by way of an old magazine clipping of Tanya’s. With no vacancies, Letty strikes a deal with the motel’s owner, Ava, to work in exchange for a place to stay. This decision doesn’t please Ava’s son Joe, who serves as the town’s police. He’s suspicious of Letty, all while she’s trying to hide.

This was my first Mary Kay Andrews book. I liked the beginning, because you really get drawn into the mystery - who killed Tanya? What does Tanya have to hide? What is her connection to the motel? However, as the book progresses, the jumps back and forth between past and present, plus the jumps between many POV’s, the book is too segmented for me, missing a natural flow. Characters keep getting brought into the mix and at times, it felt too much to keep track of. I also felt like the relationship between Letty and Joe felt forced and out of nowhere. Finally, the book was just a tad too long and drawn out for my taste.

Well, MKA has worked her magic yet again. THE NEWCOMER is the PERFECT mix of suspense, romance, and fun! Letty arrives at the quaint motel in Treasure Island, FL to escape the painful events and accusations she endured in NY. With her 4 year old niece in tow, Letty attracts the attention a local police officer who also happens to be the motel owner's son. As with all of MKA's books, she expertly navigates the waters of fun-and-easy beach read, while also weaving in some more serious topics, such as domestic abuse and child custody. You'll appreciate the variety of characters, especially the wide array of hotel guests, who end up feeling like family. Great book from a great author!

Mary Kay Andrews has always been one of my favorites!!! This book is no exception. Letty is such a relatable character. Her relationship with Joe as well as Maya is so memorable. I would recommend this book to anyone!

Great book to read in the winter. Love her books. Can’t go wrong with her books. One of her best in my opinion.

This was a fun read about family relationships, some mystery and Mary Kay Andrew’s signature humor. I found myself routing for Letty and Maya while also curious about what happened in the past and what their future held. After her sister is murdered, Letty finds herself on the run with her young niece Maya due to a promise she made to her sister to ensure Maya didn’t end up with her father Evan. Letty and Maya land in a seaside hotel in Florida where they build a new life.

This is my first book by this author and I loved it. I will definitely be on the lookout for more. It was full of mystery and thrills and romance.

I thought this was a pretty good read that was easy to curl up with. The story was predictable, but had a great ending. I enjoyed the mystery and romance.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book.

Another great book from Mary Kay Andrews! This one sucked me in from the start - the descriptions were so vivid, I could see the little motel and the interesting cast of characters who call it "home". Full of interesting characters and strong women, this book was a refreshing bit of summer in dreary January.

My very first Mary Kay Andrews book. I must say I will definitely be reading more of her books. I had a hard time putting it down and found myself staying up very late to read. I fell in love with the characters. I “felt” the description of the settings. I could see the motel perfectly with her description. I could hear the ocean waves. I could imagine all of the regulars and their personalities.

Letty is on the run with her 4 year old niece, Maya. Running from her sisters very rich ex and Maya’s father, Evan. She goes to a place in Florida called Murmuring Surf, after finding the name of the hotel circled on a brochure in Tanya’s belongings. It’s exactly where she belongs.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to know what the further hold for all of the characters. I will recommend this book to friends. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

While I felt that MKA did a wonderful job describing the town/beachside motel community, the book overall had a thin plot that could have benefitted from much stronger character development.. As with some of her other books, this one felt too long and I was ready for it to end about halfway through.

A life in peril. A disaster in the making. A con artist able to manipulate, gaslight, and terrorize an entire family.
Nobody knew the real Evan. However, he's had a history of abuse. A man that would do anything to save face, to receive a source of supply, to replenish his benefits for himself. A selfish man devoid of empathy. A man that literally sold out his own for the sake of himself.
A family should be primary concern above all else. It should by your top priority.
In this case 'tax dodger' was a more fitting terminology for this madman who destroyed the very thing he claimed to love with no remorse.
When Tanya was murdered it was their only daughter who was left to deal with the disturbing trauma. A trauma so devastating that it caused Letty to take Maya and flee for their lives.
This story is the remarkable journey on the run, hiding in hotels, seeking justice for Tanya and Maya.
The money trail was vast but the murder trail was anything but easily enforced. After all, for abuse victims we have to wait till we are harmed before sadly anything can be done. Threats are not necessarily against the law. It's the action to carry them out that violated any rules.
This hit home deeply because I lived a similar lifestyle while fighting for custody and child support. Prior to those filings being brought to court I spent many nights out at local hotels to protect us all and would call them 'mini vacations' for our kids safety.
I'll never forget the calls upon him uncovering the truth that I not only filed for support but also for protection from abuse.
In my case my abuser violated both with warrants and his arrest imminent but not till 15k arrears accrued.
Trust me it was a nightmare but one that those who survived malignant narcissism no all too well.
The fact that wills were discussed, marital assets, transfer of titles/property deeds, hiding of bank accounts into offshore funds was something many of us know all too well.
You have to protect yourself from these toxic individuals as they don't stop until you're destroyed!
Hiring someone to do one's dirty deeds was never a concern in my case but in this one it was central and pivotal to this masterful plot.
As a longtime fan of Mary Kay Andrews she simply gets better with each novel. She's like a glass of fine wine. Aging gracefully and beautifully.
There's nothing I didn't love in this book. It flowed incredibly well. It was a super mystery from the start. It felt like you were literally on a Bonny and Clyde scenario watching over your shoulder at all times.
An incredible and exhilarating new work that I highly recommend.
I'm thrilled that the ending worked out the way it did into the epilogue.

I loved this murder-mystery romance novel. It felt like a perfect read for this COVID lockdown, especially since we’re unable to travel to Florida for our annual trip. The description and little details of the life of snowbirds were great - those coming from the north year after year, with their bickering, companionship & competitiveness at bingo nights, for example.

While the twists and turns were somewhat predictable, this is exactly what I want when reading a novel like this - the feeling of success in putting pieces together and not needing to keep notes to keep overly-complicated plot-lines straight. The themes of experiencing ups and downs between sisters but knowing that siblings will do anything and everything to protect nieces & nephews; interactions with strangers who eventually become like family; strong female characters like Ava, Letty and Trudi who will not allow themselves to depend on a man to save them, ain’t with a man eventually realizing that he’s the one needing rescuing not the typical damsel in distress themes often seen in this genre really has me loving this novel!

Reading this novel - thanks to NetGalley - has also spurred me on to place holds for previous Mary Kay Andrew’s books at my local library. I’m very excited to have discovered a new-to-me author! :)

The Newcomer is a fantastic read! A fugitive’s journey for survival, escaping the city for the beach, is what the heroine has to do—with a four-year-old niece in tow. The plot unfolds as the heroine unravels the clues left by her murdered sister and lands in the middle of a five year old unsolved scam in an old-fashioned beach motel filled with eccentric geriatrics. Resourceful, resolved to keep her niece safe, and undaunted by the fear of the long-reaching tentacles of the real killer, as the newcomer, she settles in, finds work and acceptance in the strange community of old-timers. Better yet, prodded by the local cop and the FBI, she portrays her own demise, and in the dangerous adventures of trapping the criminals responsible for her sister’s death, the heroine finds love and a safe haven, complete with “family” and her forever home.

This book was great! I loved the romance story, tied into the crime aspect. I loved Joe! He was a character who I thought would drive me nuts at first, but quickly learned to love him!

This was a mix of unique characters , mystery, suspense, and romance with a little humor thrown in. It was a great beach read and kept me entertained until the last page. I look forward to MKA’s new book each year, and she did not disappoint with this one. I liked that plot and the atmospheric setting of Treasure Island. I live is a small beach town and MKA’s rich descriptions were right on.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Newcomer will be a hit for the summer beach read season. It includes murder, fugitives, romance, interesting and fun characters, and the real hook, a precocious four year old girl. We meet Letty as she is on the run with her niece, afraid she will be accused of her sister’s murder. She ends up at a beach front motel in Florida full of interesting and entertaining characters. There is enough suspense, humor, and plot twists to keep most every reader intrigued and and rushing to the end — but hating to let go of these characters so soon. I enjoy all Mary Kay Andrews books and this is a great one

This is going to be the beach read of the summer!! I literally could not put this book down and finished it in two days. You'll fall in love with little Maya and her Aunt Letty. All of the characters in this book are totally lovable and you'll just want to know what happens next.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advance copy of The Newcomer. I always enjoy a Mary Kay Andrews novel.
When the story opens, the heroine, Letty Carnahan, is on the run. Her sister, Tonya, has been murdered in her plush New York City apartment, with her four-year-old daughter, Maya, looking on. Tonya left instructions that, if anything happened to her, Letty should take Maya and a go-bag of cash and hightail it out of town. Letty is a suspect in her sister's murder, but she believes the killer is Evan Wingfield, a crooked real-estate tycoon with whom Tonya was in a heated custody battle over Maya.
Letty ends up at the Murmuring Surf Motel in a Florida gulf coast beach town, drawn there by a hint that it's connected to her sister's sordid past. She endears herself to Ava, the owner, who immediately falls in love with Maya. Ava's son Joe, a local cop, although suspicious of Letty at first, becomes a love interest.
I had to suspend disbelief at times; there were a few too many coincidences and perfect alignment of the stars. But the heroine was likable and it was a fun read; I kept turning the pages.