I love Mary Kay Andrews, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book. Sure enough, within the first couple of pages, I breathed a sigh of relief. Instantly engaging, Andrews once again proved that her books are like sitting down with an old friend who's about to tell you a fascinating story. This book has it all. An overarching mystery, characters who you fall in love with, and a quirky beach community. I loved ever last word. Thank you, Mary Kay Andrews, for continuing to share your talents!

Mary Kay Andrews has out done herself this time!  This is a beach read with a thrilling twist.  This book is like enjoying the beach BUT watching out for the sharks in the ocean at the same time.

In this book, Letty quickly fleas New York with her niece, Maya.  Letty doesn't really know where she is going but she is taking the hint from her deceased sister as to where they may be safe.  Letty and Maya find themselves in a roadside ocean front motel in Florida.  Letty quickly becomes friends with the motel owner and finds a small room to live in while they are trying to start their new lives.  Letty tries to keep to herself because she doesn't want the summer motel residents to know what they are really running from in New York.  The longer they stay at the motel, The Murmuring Surf, they more Maya and Letty become comfortable.  Everything breaks loose when the people they are running from find them in Florida.  Ava and Joe, the motel managers, find out who Letty really is and why she is running.  

This beach read has everthing and more!  I highly recommend The Newcomer!  (I will have to say this is one of my favorites by Andrews.)

Mary Kay Andrews’s ‘The Newcomer’ is a book that’ll make you wish you were sitting on a beautiful Floridian beach. Its strengths lie with its mystery/suspense elements, which take the foreground in this particular narrative. The romantic elements, on the other hand, feel kind of forced. 

Letty is on the run. After her sister, Tanya, is killed, Letty knows she has to save her niece, Maya, from her father, who Letty is convinced killed her sister. Enter the The Murmuring Surf Motel and its compassionate owner, who allows Letty to stay if she cleans up the extra motel unit they were using as storage. As Letty and Maya begin to establish a new normal, she still finds herself sleeping with one eye open. It doesn’t help that the motel owner’s son happens to be a cop. 

This is my first time reading an Andrews novel, and I have to say that I found the story to be fairly predictable. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but it just fell a little flat for me. I connected more with the peripheral characters in the novel than with Letty herself. And the sudden romantic connection between Letty and Joe just seemed to come out of nowhere and didn’t have enough depth to warrant its inclusion. I think this may have worked better as novel if the ideas where honed and the word count tightened. 

That being said, it’s a nice little escape read with just enough suspense to keep things interesting. I imagine that if you’re already an Andrews fan, you’d heartily enjoy this novel.


An ARC was generously provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review.

Great book!  As always Mary Kay Andrews delivers a great story.   Although the story line is very predictable and you know what the outcome is going to be it's still an enjoyable read.  The characters are well developed and the book is easy to read and follow.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of  The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews to read fo an honest review.   I always look forward to books  by this author  because they are fun and entertaining. In The Newcomer, Letty is told by her sister Tanya that if anything happens to her, Letty is to take Tanya’s 4 year old daughter Maya and disappear. So wen Letty finds Tanya dead in her upscale New York condo, she grabs a go bag Tanya has hidden, and her niece and they head to Florida. They end up in a small motel that her sister had circled on a page in an old Southern Living magazine.  It is The Murmuring Surf, an old mom and pop place in Treasure Island on the Gulf Coast. The owner of the motel, a single mom with a teenage daughter and grown son who is a local policeman, takes the two fugitives under her wing. The retiree snowbirds who live in the motel in the Winter also become close to the pair. Not only do we get to experience coastal life in Florida, there is also a romance that develops. Plus there is suspense galore because the nefarious boyfriend of Tanya  (and father of Maya)  reports Letty for kidnapping and murder. The FBI gets involved looking for her. Also Letty learns things about her sister’s past that are surprising and disturbing. Andrews keeps the plot rolling with surprises and unexpected plot twists   throughout. I completely loved the book.

This was my first Mary Kay book and I loved it.
Such a good beach read - such vivid pictures in my mind.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
I love beach reads and will add her books to all my TBR lists!

I enjoy Mary Kay's books.
This is enjoyment in a book form!
Escape to the beach, escape in a book.  Everything disappeared as I read this book!

I’ve been reading MK since she was Kathy, writing a different genre, over 25 years ago. Used to eagerly anticipate every new book, went to a meet & greet when she was near my home. I’ve aged over that time, as has the author. We’re not in our early 30’s anymore & I'm personally glad of that. So why can’t MK’s story leads age as well? 
Not only do I not buy into the attempted age angle that her latest books have been written from, the oooomph has disappeared from them! In this book, for example, the older hotel owner & its vacationers were much more intriguing characters than Letty, the lead. The book (& several before) isn’t BAD, it’s just not the quality previously expected & anticipated. 
I hope MK goes back to the well & next time writes characters skewed better towards her comfort zone. This was the first time I’ve ever given her below 4 stars & I did NOT like doing it.

5 huge stars!!!  Mary Kay Andrews has once again given us a fantastic novel that should be at the top of everyones 2021 summer reading list!!!  The Newcomer is instantly addictive and will have you staying up way past your bedtime because you can’t find a good spot to pause for the night lol!  The cast of characters are so darn endearing and oddly relatable—is it weird I want to take my next vacation to Florida and stay at The Murmuring Surf!?!?  I always love Mary Kay Andrews’ writing style and how she combines the romance and the mystery/suspense genres together seamlessly!  The Newcomer is a 5 star read that I can’t recommend enough!

Mary Kay Andrews is the ultimate summer romance writer, and The Newcomer is no exception to her already amazing repertoire.  While I did find this book to deal with a bit more serious topics than her other novels (trigger warning:  child witnessing domestic violence), the overall feel of the book is very low-key with both a romance and a mystery that are predictable, yet delightful, to read about.  This book is sure to make all the must-read lists of Summer 2021!

I forgot how much I enjoyed Mary Kay Andrews' writing. This galley for her upcoming novel was so much fun to read. Her characters were likeable and the plots were realistic and suspenseful. I'll be buying this book for the library. I highly recommend it. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Sadly, this book didn't meet this mark for me. I think MKA books are just not for me. They are usually too long and I just don't find myself connecting to the characters. 
There were no twists or surprises and the plot felt dull. 
I think others will enjoy this book but it just isn't for me

The Newcomer is another fine Mary Kay Andrews novel, but this one did fall a little short for me.  Just a little too pat, maybe?  It's a good story, a good beach read, just not quite as engrossing or engaging as I'd like.  There are some great side characters in this one - it would definitely make a cute movie.  It's just not my favorite by this author.   Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the e -arc.  Solid 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints.   What a great book.   The characters were well developed and the story moved along at a good pace to keep me interested throughout the whole book.  Letty certainly had her obstacles to get around but she was doing it to protect her niece at all cost.  The book was enjoyable and I would recommend it to a friend.  I was disappointed that there were so many spelling and grammatical errors in the book.  It didn't take away from the book but did make it a little more difficult to read.

Mysteries and who done it are wrapped together in this engaging novel. A young woman and her niece find friends and support in a small Florida island motel as scarce information about the death of her sister unfold and love finds a way into her guarded heart.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"The Newcomer" by Mary Kay Andrews was an easy, enjoyable read.  The main character, Letty, is on the run with her 4 year old niece after finding her sister dead.  She ends up at a motel in Florida, where she ends up trying to figure out how to prove who killed her sister.  This book has it all...suspense, mystery, love.  I would definitely recommend this one to friends!

Mary Kay Andrews is a favorite beach author and she's done it again in this story about a young girl, Lettie, who finds her sister murdered in her swanky New York Apartment. While Lettie suspects her sister's boyfriend of the crime, she finds she is the primary suspect. In keeping her promise to her sister, she takes her young niece and runs away from New York, seeking refuge in a downtrodden motel. Trying to be inconspicuous doesn't work as Lettie becomes friends with the hotel's owner and takes a position as her front desk manager.
Intrigue builds as Tanya's boyfriend, Evan Winfield, searches for Lettie so he can claim his daughter and pin the murder on Lettie.
This is a great summer beach read. The characters are likable; the plot has just the right amount of intrigue; and, of course there is the touch of humor that Mary Kay Andrews injects into all her stories.
Would highly recommend for all readers of adventure, beach reads with strong female characters.

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.” So Letty grabs her sister’s Mercedes and hits the road . . .

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 n 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.

Mary Kay Andrews has fashioned a mystery that will keep readers engaged to the very end.  Letty's efforts 
to keep her niece safe from her father, and find a way to build a new life for the two of them, will charm 
readers, even as they fall in love with the snowbirds that slowly welcome this newcomer.  Highly recommended.

I am already predicting this book to be the #1 beach read of 2021! Mary Kay Andrews totally knocks it out of the ballpark with this story. I loved it and read it in 1 day.
The story is set in the present, but goes back to the past when it reflects on the events that support the story being told. The main character, Letty, is living in New York City working as a waitress while waiting to become a famous actress when she finds herself without a place to stay after  her roommate wants her boyfriend to move in. A regular customer to the diner, Evan, overhears her dilemma and offers a solution. Letty eventually becomes an employee to Evan, and they begin a relationship. When Letty allows her easily manipulated sister to come stay with her, the part love story and part murder mystery story really begins.
The author tells a beautiful story (if you put the murder to the side) about women helping women, unconventional family dynamics and a cranky love interest, Joe, who I totally would date.
The anticipation of a happy ending gives you an escape from this crazy time the Country is going through.
 I highly recommend this book to every reader

The Newcomer is a good beach read. It started off a bit disjointed/slow (as in, I was thinking "how far fetched can this get?). Girl arrives at a motel, with a child that is not hers, running away. & is taken in, given a place to stay & a job? Half way through, plot twist & the book became a "can NOT put this down" book. So as to not give away any of the story (the description given is good enough!), thanks to NetGalley & St Martin's Publishing for the pre-read in exchange for an honest review.