Another wonderful page turner by Mary Kay Andrews.Perfect beach read combination of mystery and romance.I really enjoyed Letty and Maya and was sorry to finish the book.#neetgalley#st.martinspress

Thanks to the St. Martins and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest review. I would give this 3.5-4 stars.

First, I will outright admit that I am a Mary Kay Andrews fan from way back. I have read nearly all of her books. She has always been a go-to for a good read, and The Newcomer fits the bill as a fast-paced thriller/romance.

Letty and her niece Maya are on the run from Evan Wingfield, Maya’s father and the man suspected of killing Maya’s mom, Tanya. Letty promised her sister Tanya she’d take Maya and run if anything ever happened to her, and that’s exactly what Letty did. After her sister’s murder and following a clue she had left behind, Letty ends up in Florida at the Murmuring Surf, a quaint little hotel. There she meets the owner Ava, her daughter Isabelle and son/cop Joe along with the other visitors at the hotel. Everyone soon falls in love with Letty and Maya, which all plays into the tangled story that unfolds.

MKA is always good at building stories that are page-turning and full of twists. As she writes more books, though, she keeps moving further away from the Southern charm that oozed in her original books. She used to spend more time building quirky, lovable characters, but now, it feels like the mystery, suspense and twists are more important. I miss the Southern flair that made her books special and not just a mystery. I really miss the MKA books steeped in the South.

I still enjoyed reading The Newcomer and would recommend reading it if you want a quick read. Mary Kay Andrews remains a go-to author for good reads!

Letty is on the run with her niece Maya after finding her sister murdered. She heads to the Murmuring Surf motel where she and Maya are embraced by the owner and her family.

Unfortunately, the crimes committed in Mew York have made headlines and Petty is considered a subject in the murder.

Lots of mystery and suspense in this story!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

The premise of the story is that Letty finds her sister dead and takes to heart her warning: that if anything happens to her, its her ex's doing and please take her 4 year old daughter and run. So that is what Letty does. I've read some of this author's books before and enjoyed them. While i don't this this is a 4-5 star read, it keeps you entertained. Its a bit predictable, but an entertaining beach read. It grabs you in the first chapter and even though you can guess a lot of what happens, it makes you want to keep reading. Recommend it and than you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy to review!

This book has an interesting premise and blurb, and those are what drew me to it. It is categorized as a suspense, mystery, and romance, and the beginning definitely has the flavor of a mystery and suspense.

But as I read on, the story seemed to drag in many places, which diluted the suspense aspect, and there really wasn’t a mystery for me to ponder and try to solve since the identity of the murderer was pretty much presumed and established from the start.

Overall the story was fairly good—I liked the author’s writing style and enjoyed certain characters. The beach vibe was also nice. However, the execution of the storyline was okay. The pacing felt off. I wished for a better romance. And the mystery and suspense elements were rather disappointing.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an opportunity to read this story.

Really big fam of Mary Kay Andrews going back to her Savannah stories with the character Weezie. So I was really looking forward to her new novel. A young woman escapes to Florida with her niece to protect her from her from her mother's killer. In a old fashioned motel, she meets a list of characters who involve her in their lives. I find the story dragging in spots, I was anxious to get to the end to see how all these characters fared. And of course, who the murderer was. I will recommend this to my friends .

Letty Carnahan and her sister Tanya have had a troubled and emotional past. When Letty fears for her life and her daughter Maya, she makes Letty promise to take care of Maya. When Letty finds Tanya murdered she flees with the only clue she has: an advertisement for the Murmuring Surf Motel in Florida. So the story begins and you are charmed by little Maya. Letty finds work at the motel as she tried to help Maya heal and discover her sister’s past and murdered. Not to be left out is romance! The motel owner’s son is a cop. With twists and turns and heart warming scenes this book delivers suspense, love and much more.

Personally, I'm a big Mary Kay Andrews fan, and love recommending her books. The Newcomer is one of my favorites. It is more like her earlier books, with better attention to plot and character. She's back in the "old school" Florida setting, which is very appealing. The Newcomer is a page-turner, with a couple of different mystery strands, which makes it hard to put down. Loved it!

Mary Kay Andrews does it again! What appears to be a light read by the cover, is actually a story that has a lot of depth and emotion. I loved the cast of characters that Letty and Maya meet in Florida. A really good read that leaves you wanting to check into the Murmuring Surf.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review.

I really, really wanted to like this book but at the end of the book I was disappointed. Let's start with the title. It just does not seem to go with storyline of the book. Maybe at the beginning but as the book chugs along, it just does not seem to fit. I think she could have done something more creative with Murmuring Surf (motel name). Moving on to Vikki and Joe: I find that her descriptions of a FBI agent and police officer who appear to ignore basic law enforcement procedures appalling because she thinks it tells a better story. Why wouldn't Vikki be in more contact with her FBI team in regards to Evan? Why wasn't Joe ever seen discussing the situation with his commander at Treasure Island Police Department? Why did it seem he could leave his shift at any time Ava or Letty called him? I desperately want to discuss Tanya, Maya, Evan and Rooney but it would give away too many spoilers. After reflecting on the book for the past 24 hours, I have come to the conclusion that this is a glorified cozy mystery and not the chic lit storylines that I love from MKA. I feel like if she had a better editor or an editor who would stand up to her, they could help her fill out her 2D characters (Rooney, Zoey, Tanya, Sammi, Juju being just some examples) and plot line holes (Tanya and Letty's mother and grandmother/childhood). As a person who has a family winter house near the St Pete's area, I do enjoy her attention to detail to the area. She is a talented writer and the book is almost there but relies on too many coincidences (much like a cozy mystery).

#TheNewcomer #NetGalley

Special thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin's press for providing me with ARC.

This is the first novel to me by Mary Andrews but i loved it.

I won this novel in NetGalley Giveaway and not regret it because it's a fun reading and i loved the relationship between Letty and her niece.

I was a newcomer to Mary Kay Andrews with The Newcomer, but nothing about the book makes me want to stick around, or read any of her earlier books. This whole story was a hot mess, from a cliche storyline made even more cliche and cheesy by how it played out, to the multiple points of view at different time period - including briefly a cat, and the random interactions of the characters. Letty takes her niece Maya and flees New York to Florida after her sister Tanya is murdered. The suspect in question is of course her slimy ex. Then there's cranky cop Joe who's convinced Letty's up to no good but quickly falls in love with her. His mother Ava is the hotel owner who takes Letty in with open arms, aided by her daughter and her daughter's tech genius friend. And then because it's Florida in winter there's lots and lots of cranky old people bickering with each other. The story feels like it's about two hundred pages long as Evan the ex puts out a hit on Letty through (not surprisingly) an undercover FBI agent and everyone dithers over where and when they're going to trick Evan into something that can get him arrested and leave Letty and Maya living happily ever after. This was long, silly, boring and doesn't leave me inclined to read anything by Andrews again anytime soon.

Another great book by MKA!!!

Letty is on the run from NY with her 4 year old niece. Her sister has been killed and she needs to hide until it all can be figured out. Her sister was involved with some pretty shady characters.

Letty ends up at a motel and is given shelter and a job by Ava. Ava’s son Joe is a cop and finds out that she is wanted for murdrer. Hey realized that Letty is not capable of that and works with her to figure it all out.

After some scary situations, Letty and Joe are married and Letty buys the motel from Ava.

I found the pacing of this book to be very good. Very vivid descriptions of the scenery . My one complaint would be of the portrayal of WV as I am from there.

*ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Part chick-lit and part mystery this is the perfect book to toss in your beach bag next summer.
The characters are all really interesting and most are very engaging.
Overall entertaining novel.

The Newcomer By: Mary Kay Andrews is a wonderful story! Letty and her niece, Maya are on the run and find themselves in a small town in Florida. They soon find themselves living with the "snowbirds" at a quaint motel. Letty has accepted the job of assistant manager from Ava the owner, but Joe the owners son does not trust her. Joe is a detective in the small coastal town and does not trust easily. As Letty gets to know everyone and begins to create a safe place for Maya will she let her guard down enough to learn to trust Joe. Will the danger from New york follow Maya and Letty to Florida? Read The Newcomer and find out for yourself!
A great read with likeable characters!

Letty Carnahan is on the run. She finds her sister Tanya dead in her apartment, and per Tanya's instructions, she grabs Tanya's daughter Maya and gets out of dodge. Soon, she finds herself the newcomer at a small Florida beach hotel, trying to put together the pieces of what happened and above all, keep Maya safe. As the days go by, she realizes that The Murmuring Surf hotel has plenty of its own secrets...

I love a good beach read, and I grew up in FL, so this was a really fun read for me. I liked the dynamic between Maya and Letty - Maya was adorably precocious and funny. The hotel characters were entertaining and a good complement to Letty - Ava, Isabelle, and Joe all had their own quirks and fit well in the story. My main complaint with this novel is its length - there was a lot of time spent on a complex operation to catch Tanya's killer, and this part of the novel dragged on too long. As a result, the epilogue wrapping everything up was very short, so the pacing felt off. But I would still enjoy a book like this at the beach - it's a nice, breezy read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mary Kay Andrews delivers again! This book is fun, page turnery, and a perfect beach read. I was guessing the whole time and surprised by the outcome. I definitely recommend picking this up for your next beach vaca!

After seeing Mary Kay Andrews leave a bullying comment on an fellow bookstagramer’s honest review about a book by another author, I cannot condone her behavior and read this book. It also makes me feel like I have to love her books or face the wrath of being bullied by her. I understand the amount of work that authors put into their books, but as consumers, we are all entitled to share our honest opinions and sometimes you just don’t always click with a book. To attack a reviewer, who did not tag the author in the post, is not something I expect to see a respected author do.

Quick paced easy read, “The Newcomer” is great for a lazy weekend. I was drawn in to the stories of Letty, who was forced to become an instant mom when her sister died, and Maya, the adorable 4 year old, who is left without. Mom.

You can’t go wrong reading this author. It is always a fun read and this book did not disappoint. I loved the story and the characters. It was just fun to read! I highly recommend this book.