Drue Campbell starts out the book on a bit of a downturn in her life. Her mom has passed away, she is recovering from a knee injury that ended her amateur kiteboarding career and she has to take a job working at her estranged father’s law firm. The only bright spot is inheriting a dilapidated beach cottage that belonged to her grandparents. As the story unfolds, Drue tries to get her life and home together while trying to unsolved several mysteries. The first is what really happened to a woman who was murdered in a beach hotel. The second is what happened to a woman named Connie who Drue found a box of police files and newspaper clippings on her disappearance 40 years earlier. While Drue is not a lawyer or police officer, her curiosity leads her to solve both mysteries and leads to a promotion at the law firm to an investigator. The book ends with her life on track, a budding romance and a relationship with her father and her new step brother.

As with all of MKA’s books, these are easy reads and you are transported to the beach. Sitting in Chicago in February, I can appreciate thinking summer.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. I am a huge fan of Mary Kay Andrews book and her latest novel, Sunset Beach, does not disappoint. I wasn't expecting a bit of mystery in this one, and was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. Her work is fast paced and engaging from beginning to end.

Title : Sunset Beach

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Genre: romance, cozy mystery

Pages: 432

St.Martin's Press

May 7 , 2019

author's websit: https://marykayandrews.com/

twitter:

mkayandrews
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 persons 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
Rating: 5
Would I recommend this book? A Big Yes ( in fact as soon as I saw Netgalley had it to request I went and told a friend she had to request it)
Will I read any more by her? a big yes
When it comes to Mary Kay Andrews's books there always warm , fuzzy and fun to read , no mater what the season is or what your day is like, their easy reads that you can pick up and just set back and enjoy with a touch of romance and mystery that will make you smile and laugh out loud, their the perfect beach reads or if you just when you want something to brightening your day or night , because she has a way with her characters that will make you just set there and shake your head at the shenanigans they get in to. AS with this book Sunset Beach , before you know it your felling in love with the characters , and wanting to visit the places that are mentioned in it. So if you haven't picked up her books you need to do so . With that said I want to thank Beatrice at St.Martins as well as Netgalley for letting read and review Sunset Beach exchange for my honest opinion , and I can't wait to read more by her books.

Wonderful read the beach ,family a little mystery a book I was drawn right into.California which is usually warm & sunny has been cold and rainy reading Sunset Beach had me back in the warm weather a summer vacation .toes in the sand. #netgalley #st.martinbooks

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is another great read.  Since my first MKA book,  Savannah Blues, I have thoroughly enjoyed finding and reading all her books.  I liked all the characters in Sunset Beach and believe that most of them could fill another book.  I am sure Corey has alot more to say as well as Rae and Drue.  I enjoyed the St. Pete setting, the fixer upper cottage, the beach and birds descriptions.    Always sorry for the end of a book, but look forward to the next.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

4.5 stars

This book was just a lot of fun for me to read. The story included a couple of good mysterious happenings, and a beautiful beach setting for Drue who is finding a new path in life and getting reacquainted with her father and his new wife. I enjoyed Drue's character, her drive and her spunk. The mysterious story lines sucked me in right away and I really enjoyed learning how the story ended up.

I actually finished Sunset Beach several days ago. I couldn’t post a review because I was in mourning. I did not want this book to end! The characters are real, the plot is believable and the twists in the story make it a hard to put down book. After the loss of her mother and a career ending injury, Drue accepts the offer to start a fresh life from her dad. New job, new stepmom and new location. What could be bad? Well hang on! In true Mary Kay Andrews fashion the conflicts surrounding Drue are what keep the reader turning pages. Her stepmom was her best friend growing up, her new job gets her involved in a murder and her new home has it’s own hidden secrets. And, of course, Drue meets a guy that rubs her the wrong way and the right way if you get my meaning! Do yourself a favor and grab Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews as soon as it hits the shelf.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

It must be almost summer. Mary Kay Andrews has a new release coming and it is wonderful. Mystery, romance and zaniness galore...love this author and her books. Great beach read

Sunset Beach is another great novel by Mary Kay Andrews. The setting of coastal Florida is beautiful and serene. I enjoyed every aspect of the story with it's charm, intrigue, entertainment factor dynamic characters. It's a well written thoughtful story that I definitely recommend. Thank you for the advanced copy!

I started this book thinking I had just discovered another author like Dorothea Benton Frank and I was really frustrated when I realized I was reading a mystery, a genre that I really don’t enjoy - wish I did. I was happy to discover that there were interesting characters and thoughtful moments on top of plenty of twists and turns with just a little bit of romance.

Drucilla is at a dead end. Her mother has passed away and the passion of Drue’s life, kiteboarding, is also at a dead end after a debilitating accident. She turns out to be resourceful and intelligent as she struggles through her conflicts with her estranged-and-now-reunited father and all that comes with his world. This requires her to move from the east to the west coast of Florida, back to St Petersburg where she grew up.

One of my favorite parts is when she watches the gorgeous sunset and a new reality kicks in for the maturing Drue, “...the funny thing is? When I was kiteboarding I never really paid attention to it. I loved being on the water, and I really, really loved doing tricks and flying, but the water and the wind? They were just there...being grounded with this stinking knee injury has made me really stop and appreciate all of this.” I can relate to this stop-and-smell-the-roses moment.

As I read the afterward from the author about her love of Florida and all the beach houses she has called home, a steady snow has been falling outside of mine, and its also something that I love about the environment I live in. This book was everything a beach read needs, minus the beach - very fun.

4.5 stars
The beach, family drama, a little romance, and a mystery to solve- what's not to like? This is a perfect beach read. Definitely recommend.

I know and love the gorgeous beach area where the story takes place. The main character, Drue, has just moved from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to the west coast of Florida, into the rundown beach house that she inherited from her mother and her grandparents. She gets a desk job at her father’s law firm. The story revolves around her new life and the people in her new life, and on two cold cases that she discovers and investigates along the way. I have read a couple of books by Ms. Andrews and she always has relatable, likable characters. Although some of the situations in which Drue found herself were a bit far fetched, the book was well written and held my interest.

This title will be available on May 7, 2019

This is the perfect book to take on vacation. It's long enough that you probably won't finish it in one sitting, it has an engaging storyline with light mystery that doesn't take too much thought to follow. You can pick it up and put it down and then resume without having to backtrack. It's the kind of book you take to a pool or a beach to escape with and probably would go down even better with a cocktail in your hand. This is my first Mary Kay Andrews novel - and it was pretty much everything I expected it to be; light, beachy fun entertainment.

That said, if I don't take too much time dissecting this novel, it's perfectly fine. I know what type of book this is and the type of readers it will appeal to. But if I look at it a little further, there were some definite problem areas. Some of the dialogue feels unnatural as do the descriptions of people. It's kind of like that awkward moment when your parent is trying to impress your friends with how "current" they are but instead utterly shows their age. That is how parts of this book felt to me. I'm sure that there are going to be readers who don't think this at all, which leads me to believe that this book is intended for an older audience than myself. The protagonist is 36 years old, but felt like she should have been 26 instead and for those who devour the mystery/thriller genre I feel like the two murder mystery storylines will be obvious. I guess to me this book felt a little dated and hokey at times but I also think that this would be better suited to a different type of reader.

There are going to be a ton of people who love this book because they're fans of Mary Kay Andrews. She's a household name for a reason and I've seen a lot of positive reviews of her other books. I haven't read any of them, but I am definitely interested in reading some of her past work to compare to this one. Sunset Beach is not by any means a "bad book" - and for readers looking for something light and escapist it's a great choice. I would definitely recommend it to bring on your spring or summer vacation.

Thank you St Martin's Press & Netgalley for the advanced digital copy for review!

Drue Campbell's life is falling apart and she has no other choice but to take her estranged father up on his offer of a job. The ocean front house she has inherited from her mother means she has somewhere to live. But the house is definitely a fixer upper and the job holds surprises in the form of her dad's new wife. As Drue tries to adjust she discovers 2 mysteries that she can't leave alone. Will she be able to find a way to connect with her father or will the mysteries tear them further apart?

OK, I’ve struggled over this review because for some this book will probably be great. I’ve read one other MKA book and have decided maybe she’s just not a favorite for me.

I found the main characters in both books to be immature for their ages and not really all that likable...actually I didn’t get any warm feelies for any of the characters. There are two mysteries here, one fairly predictable but the other with a twist that did not reflect how I had come to see this character...and to be honest that ended up really putting me off.

If you like MKA, you’ll probably like this. Her writing is perfectly fine...I think it’s just not my cup of tea.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.

Two late-nights later, I can say this is one of the better books I've read lately...and I read a lot. Mary Kay Andrews has matured quite a bit from her Savannah Breeze days, yet still manages to keep that light-hearted wit that attracted me to her in the first place. This book has several mysteries to solve tucked here and there throughout the story. Just when you think you've got one of them them figured out, a monkey wrench is thrown into the works. It's enough to keep you guessing all the way through. Though some of the characters seem shallow at first, they quickly develop into complicated creatures that you'll root for to the very end!

Instantly jumped to the top of my own personal rankings of Mary Kay Andrews books. Lately I've been having a hard time finding one of those books that I get completely lost in and don't want to do anything but find out what happens. If this happens to you pick up this book today. This story has multiple mysteries that kept me guessing, a likable protagonist and a great setting. Not to mention several twists and turns I didn't see coming. I would love to see this turn into a series.

I enjoyed this book - if you overlook the fact that someone who has no legal experience and no investigative experience, who is told several times to 'leave it alone' can solve a 2-year old murder that the police haven't been able to solve. It was interesting enough to keep me reading, and if you can dispel your disbelief and just enjoy it, it's quite entertaining.

I won't lie, its been a little while since I read a Mary Kay Andrews book. Reading Sunset Beach was much like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while and finding out that the friendship is exactly the same. Sunset Beach reads as great amateur detective mystery. Drue Campbell's father reenters the picture just as she loses all the staples in her life- her mother, her sports career, her job, and her boyfriend. Deciding she has nothing to lose, Drue moves back to Sunset Beach to start over and her long absentee father gives her a job and a chance to build a relationship with him. Drue's bitterness leads to little bit of a rocky start. But when her job introduces her to a lady who lost her daughter and is now raising her granddaughter, Drue finds her dogged determination with solving a murder uncovers a great detective. When her attic reveals an old mystery, Drue begins to pursue both cases while fielding the minefield of her wicked stepmother, a job she hates, making new friends, and not knowing who to trust. Danger idles closer than even she knows as Drue finally uncovers the truth of both mysteries with a shocking twist. I hope this book is just the start of a series because I thoroughly enjoyed the character growth that Drue experienced and would love to read more of her adventures- 4 1/2 stars rounded up.! My voluntary unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

Wow! What a great book! It grabbed me from the first page and kept my attention to the very end! Lots of twists and turns, kept me guessing! Loved it and sure all her fans will too!