Letty and her niece Maya are on the run from NY to Florida and end up at a seaside motel. Letty had found her sister Tanya dead, and taken Maya to escape Tanya's boyfriend Evan, who she suspects has killed Letty because Tanya had told her so. Tanya said that if anything happened to her, it was Evan and Letty promised to protect Maya. Can she?

“Nobody could be trusted. Not after everything that had happened. The less Zoey knew, the better off they’d all be”.

I’ll be honest, this took me forever to get through. It’s slower than a slow burn, and it’s very hefty in pages.

I find it fun that MKA had a mystery suspense, when that usually goes to Kathy Hogan Trocheck. It was nice to see that side of MKA again. However, this was definitely an Andrews novel through and through with just a sprinkle of the Trocheck mystery we used to get.

I liked Letty to a fault, but I just felt like we could chop about 100-150 of these pages to really get to the story and still really enjoy the character. I found myself skimming through a lot of the unnecessary details that just seemed filled.

Overall, it was okay. It was really long, but still had a nice plot. Thank you St Martin’s for the gifted copy. The Newcomer is out May 4th.

Letty grabs her niece and runs as per her dead sister's instructions. Because her niece has quite a substantial inheritance due to her mother's death, someone wants to pass her off as his daughter and Letty is doing everything in her power to prevent that. She ends up at a motel where not only does she get a room, but she gets a temporary job until the mystery can be solved . A satisfyingly read, at times a real heart-stoppe,r always a page-turner.

Letty Carnahan is on the run after finding her sister Tanya dead in her New York City apartment.. Her sister's traumatized four year old daughter Maya was alone with her mother when the crime occurred. Lettys ex-boyfriend, also Maya's father, is her prime suspect. After finding the name of a beachfront Florida motel called The Murmuring Surf on a matchbook in Tanya's possessions, Letty takes off with Maya in tow, headed toward the popular-among-senior-snowbirds destination.

When she arrives, the motel's no vacancy sign has Letty nonplussed as she strikes a deal with the motel owner, Ava, a nurturing woman in her fifties who has owned the motel for several decades. Ava's son Joe works for the local police force and is less than amused at Letty's staying at his mother's place. He is naturally suspicious of Letty's motives and seeks to uncover why she is there.

Letty works to understand her sister's connection with the motel and clear her own name in Tanya's death all while caring for Maya. With her own life in danger and knowing she can't run forever, Letty has to learn to trust those around her.

Plenty of sand and surf and a mystery to be solved make this another entertaining read from Andrews.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC. While generally predictable and a little overlong IMHO, this was a nice light read to take my mind off the heavier books I've been reading of late. It's the perfect beach read or distraction for those looking for happy endings in these uncertain times. Letty and Maya were delightful characters, and one could not help pulling for them.

The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews

Letty is on the run with her young niece in tow and hopes to lie low until she figures out what to do next. She lands at the pastel motel, Murmuring Surf. Cautious at first, the cast of characters at the Murmuring Surf come to embrace the newcomer as she peels away the mysterious layers relating to her sister’s demise.

Fans of MKA won’t be disappointed in this summer’s easy beach read! I enjoyed turning the pages and was entertained along the way.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I liked this book! I liked the premise, and I really just enjoyed the story. I think that there were some frustrating decisions made, but I also felt like that was who the character was, and how she would have handled things. I loved the people that we meet throughout the story, and I loved how it wrapped up. Overall, this is one I would recommend to readers!!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. i am leaving my review voluntarily.

Mary Kay Andrews is the queen of the beach read and this doesn't disappoint!

Small coastal town - Check
Adorable little hotel - Check
A mystery that needs solved - Check
A love match - Check

This has all the elements of a great summer read and kept my interest the entire time. I loved all the characters and rooted for them so hard. I would love to be a guest at this motel and meet these long time renters. This book keeps you entertained the whole way through!

A new book by Mary Kay Andrews must mean summer is around the corner. This is the perfect summer beach read. She creates characters that are so real you will feel like they are your friends and neighbors by the time you finish the book. You will also want the story to continue because you don't want it to end you need to find out what happens to your friends next.
In this story we are introduced to Letty Carnahan and her four year old "daughter" when they show up at the Murmuring Surf Motel in Florida. Mystery surrounds her and Evan the owners son is very curious where this person came from. Ava, Joe's mother, though sees a young woman that needs some help. She gives her a job and a place to stay and everyone falls in love with Maya the four year old. But will Letty's past catch up with her and put her and Maya's life in danger and maybe everyone else that Letty has started caring for?
This is a page turner and you won't be able to put it down.

***DNF***

I wanted to like this book, hoping it was going to be a great spring/summer read but unfortunately I was not able to get into it.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mary Kay Andrews is known as the Queen of the Summer Beach Read. (If that's not an official title, it really should be.) She reliably gives us one of the first "books of summer" every year. We all look forward to this start of this summer tradition. Once again, she does not disappoint. Out on May 4th, 2021, this newest novel holds all the ingredients for a great Summer read; a little suspense, a little mystery, several offbeat characters, then throw in some romance and a whole heap of human nature. Mary Kay, also a decorator enthusiast, puts her personal love into the book with descriptions of room remodels and furniture refreshes. So while reading about Letty, Joe and Maya, you can also learn how to make your own chalk paint! Winner!

This was a great read, with enough tense moments to keep you reading well past bedtime. This book has also made me decide to sell the house in Atlanta and move to a motel unit on the beach somewhere in Florida. It sounds perfect to me!

#marykayandrews #stmartinspress #summerreading #beachread #thenewcomer #netgalley

In trouble and on the run...

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.”

With a trunkful of emotional baggage...

So Letty grabs her sister’s Mercedes and hits the road with her wailing four-year-old niece Maya. 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 in 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.

The No Vacancy sign is flashing & the sharks are circling...

And that’s the good news. Because The Surf, as the regulars call it, is the winter home of a close-knit flock of retirees and snowbirds who regard this odd-duck newcomer with suspicion and down-right hostility. As Letty settles into the motel’s former storage room, she tries to heal Maya’s heartache and unravel the key to her sister’s shady past, all while dodging the attention of the owner’s dangerously attractive son Joe, who just happens to be a local police detective. Can Letty find romance as well as a room at the inn—or will Joe betray her secrets and put her behind bars? With danger closing in, it’s a race to find the truth and right the wrongs of the past.

I absolutely LOVED this book! Mary Kay Andrews has done it again and swept me off my feet with the mystery beach read.

Letty is on the run with her niece Maya. Her sister Tanya has been murdered, she's got the "go bag" and she's off to Florida for a fresh start. Arriving at the Murmuring Surf hotel, Letty is given a place to stay and a job, more than she ever bargained for. As she becomes accustomed to the people and the drama surrounding the hotel, Letty finally feels safe.

Everything changes when her past starts to catch up with the present, and you can only hope she and Maya will make it out alive.

The characters came alive in MKA vivid writing style and colorful descriptions. Don't sleep on this one- it's a winner!

She asked her sister just before she was murdered , " If anything happens to me, take my daughter and RUN AND HIDE.
So when her sister found her dead she did just that.

I couldn't connect with this book, I found myself getting bored and couldn't finish.
This is my first time reading this author so I don't know how to compare it to her other books.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book took my by surprise. I liked it, but for the first half of the book, I was looking over my shoulder expecting Letty to get in a sticky situation. The characters are colorful and quirky. This book is a bit romance, women's fiction, and a little mystery all rolled into one. Letty's sister is dead and Letty has taken off with her niece. They land in a small community called Treasure Island in Florida. She takes time to catch her breath and while she does so, she meets people that soon become her family.

This book made me antsy, laugh, and sigh with satisfaction.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.
Letty has never been able to say no to her sister Tanya and as it turns out this time is no different.
Tanya once told Letty that if anything ever happened to her she should grab Tanya’s “go bag” and Tanya’s daughter, Maya and run away fast. When Letty finds her sister dead that’s exactly what she does believing that Tanya’s ex killed her sister.
A good story that leads Letty and Maya on a trip of danger, lies, friendship with some colorful characters and eventually the hope of a real home.

The Newcomer is the latest book by author Mary Kay Andrews. I enjoy Ms Andrews writing style and in The Newcomer she gives the reader likable main characters that often bring a smile to your face. The story was very predictable but still held my interest as Ms Andrews makes the characters feel like friends. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

I requested this book because I joined the Friends and Fiction Facebook group, and I have never read anything by this particular author, who is one of the founding members of the group. I really enjoy the authors of the group, and I felt it was high time I read something from each of them.
This book follows a woman, Letty, who has run away with her 4 year old niece, Maya, after finding Maya's mother, Tanya, dead in her townhouse. Letty has run all the way from New York to Florida, with her niece in tow, to a motel whose information she found in her dead sister's things.
Tanya packed a bag full of money and showed Letty not long before she was killed, and told her that if anything happened to her to take Maya and the cash and run. Tanya and Maya's father, Evan, were involved in a bitter custody battle, and Evan didn't loose. Anything! As soon as Letty found her sister dead she knew she had to leave with Maya, and it just so happened that this hotel's advertisement was with Tanya's bag. But why? The more that Letty finds out about the motel's history involving Tanya, the more she realizes that she never knew Tanya like she thought she did.
This is definitely an easy read that flowed well. I would definitely recommend it!

The Newcomer – Mary Kay Andrews

Letty Carnahan is on the run with nothing more than the clothes on her back after finding her sister Tanya dead and her young niece, Maya, alone in her sister’s townhouse, with Tanya’s warning burning in her mind. “If anything bad happens to me—it’s Evan. Promise me you’ll take Maya and run. Promise me.” Fleeing with nothing but the clothes on her back and some money in a jump bag that Tanya had stashed away, Letty heads south with her niece, leaving New York and her sister’s murderer behind. With no real plan as to where she’ll go, Letty opts on a small hotel that Tanya had circled in a magazine tucked in with the cash – a small motel on the coast of Florida.

Arriving at the Murmuring Surf motel, Letty learns there’s no vacancy at the moment. With all of the long termers down for the winter, there’ll be nothing available anytime in the hear future either. But the motel owner Ava DeCurtis, sensing Letty’s distress, offers her a small efficiency, primarily used as a storeroom, if she’s willing to clean it out. But Ava’s son is not so sure. A member of the local police force, Joe is a bit suspicious of Letty and her seeming arrival from nowhere.

As Letty & Maya settle in, they start to meet some of the motel’s long term winter tenants, who are none-too-happy to have a small child wandering in their midst. Miss Ruth & Miss Billie are quick to let her know that that they’ve been hotel visitors for years and expect things a certain way, Mr. Jensen who likes to sneak his smokes right outside of Letty’s door, and a comical cast of other octogenarians who make Letty’s life interesting. Meanwhile, Joe is increasingly attracted to Letty, who remains fearful of being discovered.

Back in New York, Evan’s investigator is getting ever closer to finding Letty & Maya. Can Letty count on Joe and his family to keep her safe?

This was a sweet, nostalgic story, and most definitely a sit-by-the-pool, or day-at-the-beach kind of read! It also brought back many fond memories of a time long ago when my grandparents would bring me to The Florida Gulf Coast for the winter and we’d stay in a place much like the motel depicted here. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I know you will too!!

I had a hard time getting into this one and that feeling stayed the whole book... when reaching the last chapters, i even found myself skipping a few pages and did not care for them. I dont know why... sometimes its just the pace of the story.. it could be a personnal thing, but even if i wanted to get to the end and see how the story would unfold... i still did not fall completly for it...

4.0 stars

I received a copy of The Newcomer from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Mary Kay Andrews for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the first book that I have read by Mary Kay Andrews and it was so fun! It was a great read with a bit of dramatic mystery thrown in. I was hooked from the first chapter and read it VERY quickly - to be honest, I inhaled it!! I started it a day and a half ago and am up at 1:08 PST reviewing this book!

The characters were fun, the location was great (it is SO beautiful in that area of Florida), and the plot had plenty of plot twists and dimensions to make it one of THE "beach/pool reads" for 2021 (only with COVID vaccination(s), please)!!!

This will not be the last book that I read by this author!! So much fun. DEFINITE recommend!!