Another great book by Mary Kay Andrews! The characters were believable. The story made me want to keep reading, and I stayed up way too late finishing it! Just the perfect amount of suspense combined with a sweet love story.

A great cozy mystery perfect for the beach- since it is all about a Florida beach community. The characters are real and very likable. The story has a lot of twists and turns with an assortment of shady characters, Hard to put down.

This was a nice enough story, but I have to agree with another reviewer that about 100 page of this could have been cut and I hope it goes through some additional editing before the final publication. The storyline was as I expected it to be. I didn't really feel any chemistry between Letty and Joe but their characters also felt pretty one-dimensional.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So good! Typical Mary Kay Andrews which I absolutely love. What’s so great about her books is that while they are usually one of the seasons best beach reads containing the usual romance and wonderful, well developed characters. But the story always has what I call “meat.” They aren’t fluff stories, they have suspense and mystery thrown in which keeps you turning the pages as quickly as you can. I highly recommend The Newcomer and feel confident in saying it will be another No. 1 summer hit. Thank you Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy,

This is the first novel by Mary Kay Andrews that I read.
Letty has taken Maya her niece and is now on the run after finding her sister dead.
" If anything bad happens to me.....it's Evan. Promise me you'll take Maya and run."
Letty ends up in the parking lot of the Murmuring Surf hotel in Florida.
Suspense and mystery that definitely kept me turning the pages as I could picture the beach on Fresh Island as have many memories from there.
Story about family.... those that are made and that you are born into.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

This was my first Mary Kay Andrews book and it will not be my last. What an absolute delight! Enjoyable writing and tender character development, I easily sank into the storyline of Letty and Maya as they were on the run and attempting to build a new life. Heartwarming yet suspenseful. The perfect beach read.

This book epitomizes that kindness prevails and how important family is. Letty was there for Maya and knew she needed to move on and open her heart to Joe. The hotel.symbolized so much more and actually became a character in this book. Truly heartwarming and at times, very suspenseful. I was so happy that there was justice for Tanya.

I have read many Mary Kay Andrews books and this is my least favorite. It's good but it just doesn't compare to some of her other books,
Letty's sister is murdered and when Letty finds her she does what her sister Tanya always told her to do if there was trouble. Take her child and run. Letty and four year old Maya end up at a family owned motel in Florida called the Murmuring Surf. I loved the atmosphere of the retro motel and the family feeling there.
Letty makes friends and takes a job at the motel. She also sparks a bit of a romance with the owners son.
The story unfolds as Letty tries to figure out who killed her sister and now who might want her dead as well.

I am a big fan of MKA's books, while the last couple haven't been up to par in my thoughts, this one is right back on it! I really enjoyed reading this one. Set in gulfside FL near St. Petersburg, you can feel the ocean breezes and picture the roadside motels of this area as you're reading. After finding her sister murdered, Letty is on the run from NYC with her 4 year old niece in tow. She finds an article in her sister's "go bag" that leads her to the Murmuring Surf motel, where she finds a host of quirky characters. And the motel owner's son, a cop, who helps her in solving the murder mystery. A little predictable, but the writing had me laughing out loud at times.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for my review. My opinions are my own**

I really had high hopes for this book since her previous books have been excellent, however this was blah..... Not good not bad but I'll still be reading her new releases.

I was so caught up in this story. The characters were well defined. I could picture all of them so well. Murmuring Surf was a real place to me. Letty on the run from her sisters killed with her niece Maya had me up late.! Her sister, Tanya, was a interesting character even in death. It was a perfect HEA. I would love more of Vicki Hill. She needs a book.
Thank you, Netgalley.

The Newcomer is a great book to help you escape whatever situation that you're in! Mary Kay Andrews included mystery, romance, and family in book that is hard to put down.

Mary Kay Andrews has a real gift for creating interesting characters and locations. You just want to immerse yourself completely in the communities she creates.

Sadly, interesting characters and a fun and quirky location are just about all The Newcomer has going for it. This is my least-favorite of Andrews's books because the plot just wasn't there. The book glossed over the things that were important to the "mystery" and then plodded through all the less-important stuff. I usually breeze through an MKA book in a day or two, but this one took me close to 3 weeks.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Hopefully the fact that I wasn't a fan of this one won't mean I can't get my hands on a copy of Andrews's next book. Despite this lesser entry into her overall catalog of work, she remains one of my favorite authors.

I've never read this author before but was thoroughly impressed with the story. It's a real page turner with lots of twists. The supporting characters are a hoot.

This book really has it all! Intrigue, murder, romance, and the beach! Mary Kay Andrews has long been one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. She has a way of writing characters and locations that just make you feel like you are there. Can’t wait to gift this one to my friends!

I never miss a book by Mary Kay Andrews and so happily jumped into The Newcomer as soon as I could.

I feel like Ms Andrews is a long way from Weezy and Bebe in The Newcomer, but she still is at the top of my list for escapist, engaging fiction.

When Letty finds her sister, the flighty Tanya, murdered on the floor of her plush townhouse, Letty follows Tanya's instructions to take her child, Maya, and run far away from NYC and the child's abusive, criminal father. Letty and Maya take up residence at the Murmuring Surf hotel on a Florida beach and try to begin a new life, in hiding.

While Andrews pulls us in to a clever mystery, we also enjoy her trademark quirky characters: this time a cast of octagenarian hotel residents, a charismatic cop, some nasty bad guys, and an adorable four-year-old kid. Mary Kay Andrews fans will revel in her sassy dialogue and her spunky heroine. And who couldn't love a motel with pastel cabins and a sugary white beach?

Loved this fun read and highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is a fun, yet somewhat predictable read - the story of Lettie, her niece, Maya, and their adventures in solving the murder of Lettie's sister, Tanya. I enjoyed the Florida beach setting, and the light romance that is woven throughout the tale. This story is well written, but should probably been edited down by about 25%. I found myself skimming here and there without missing any of the important details.

I recommend The Newcomer to women, and especially those on a vacation. The chapters are short and manageable, and there is a limited number of characters, so one can pick up the book and put it down without having to reread at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Newcomer.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC of The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews. The Newcomer begins with Letty on the run with her four year old niece, Maya, who may or may not have seen her mom murdered. Letty's sister, Tanya, left her a clue that Letty is to take Maya to a small hotel in Florida. Letty and Maya arrive at the hotel after driving from Manhattan, but have no idea why Tanya would direct them there. The Murmuring Surf was probably a popular hotel back in the 1950s, but today it looks a little lost amongst all the newer hotels and condos. With little money and trying to go into hiding until she can figure out what to do, Letty manages to allow the manager/owner of The Murmuring Surf to allow her to clean out the small efficiency unit at the hotel in exchange for staying at the hotel and helping the manager out. The winter season regulars at the hotel, none of them under the age of 70, do not take to Letty and Maya staying at the hotel. The hotel owner's son is a policeman so Letty tries to steer clear of him and his many questions. Mary Kay Andrews has set another fabulous book at the beach but with a refreshing twist. The Newcomer will draw you in with Letty's story with its many twists and turns, until the end, when you finally learn the whole story. I thoroughly enjoyed The Newcomer which is part mystery and part romance and I liked that the setting was the kind of hotel that are slowly being taken over by chain motels and beach side condos.

Murder mystery? love story? This is a little bit of both. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what what happen. This is going to be a highly anticipated read for any fan of the mystery genre.

The Newcomer has it all - memorable characters, an interesting plot, and evil bad guys. I got really involved in the book, staying up all night to read. By the end I felt like Letty, Joe, Maya, Ava, and Isabelle were friends, and I want to know what happens next in their lives. I think this would make a great movie!