The St. Cecelia, is a well-known coastal resort in Georgia where wealthy guests flock to each summer. Traci inherited her late husband’s share of the business that she now runs with her brother-in-law, Rick, but they each have different visions how the resort should be run. Once known for its premium service, the “Saint” doesn’t hold the same prestige as it used to. Traci hopes to bring it back to its once high standards but Rick is more concerned with the bottom line. When tragedy strikes the family, secrets emerge suggesting that something sinister had been occurring at the Saint for decades.

The storyline was captivating and the characters were believable. I really enjoyed Traci’s determination to make The Saint a better place and loved the twist behind the underlying mystery. This book packed a big punch from a family drama, to a buried secrets, a murder mystery and second chance romance!

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy of this book. This book was cute and captivating and had my attention from start to finish. I enjoyed the characters and loved that there were multiple storylines which consisted of a murder mystery, lots of family drama and a little bit of romance. I liked the narrator's voice, but could not get past all of the unnecessary pauses throughout the entire book.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for giving me the opportunity to listen to Summers at the Saint. I always enjoy Mary Kay Andrews’ storytelling and the creativity she packs into each book. I loved the plot of this story, remembering my own family’s summer trips each year. The mysteries that get revealed and solved in this book are quite numerous and the involvement of the characters in each of them is well thought out. I enjoyed the characters as well. Lots of quirky, funny, serious, searching people that make a great cast. The book hooked me from the beginning, the pacing was good and the narrator great!

Whoa, I was impressed with all the twists and turns Mary Kay Andrews takes us on in Summers at the Saint.

Andrews paints a vivid picture of life a "The Saint". Filled with colorful characters, old timey charm, and tons of dirty laundry.

This was admittedly my first MKA book, and while I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, it definitely did not involve two murders at a luxury summer resort in Georgia!

I was taken aback but it did not at all deter me in continuing this book - heck, I hope the rest of MKA's books are similar! We start at St. Cecelia Hotel, otherwise known as the "Saint." If you can afford to summer there, you're known as a "Saint" and if you cannot, you're known as the "Ain't." Ran by a recently widowed Traci Eddings, things have been off at the hotel. Guest complaints are rising, and quality is going downhill - is the management to blame? Or is something nefarious underfoot?

Take this mystery and weave it together with a tragic death in the past, plus an employee's death in the present, and you have one big, entertaining summer mystery! I thoroughly enjoyed my first MKA book, and I look forward to reading many more!

A thoroughly enjoyable audiobook, filled with an entire cast of characters and a summer mystery that will keep you hooked until the end! An excellent listen for fans of Elin Hildebrand and the perfect summer beach read.

this was a good, sweet, emotional, lovely story. I had a hard time following all the different points of view, though I loved being able to be in the head of so many different characters. I felt like the different points of view really helped round out the story, to understand why everyone was doing all they were doing. I really felt for everyone as they navigate years long trauma, fear, and shame, while also dealing with the hear-and-now struggles for all at the Saint. there was a lot of love and heartbreak, humor and tenderness in this story. I think this book would read better to me in physcial form rather than audio since it was hard to follow all different pov's with the same narrator. thank you for the alc :)

This was such a great blend of women's fiction, mystery and romantic suspense, that I listened to the book in one day. Traci Eddings married into the Eddings family who own the posh St. Cecelia resort. She is now widowed and owns the resort, and is trying to recover from the pandemic downturn. She knows her evil brother in-law is scheming, and she has to fill many positions for the summer rush.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the advanced listener copy. Narrator Kathleen McInerney was wonderful. This book is filled with family drama, murder mystery and a dash of romance thrown in. It's very enjoyable and makes a great beach read.

**This is a review of the audiobook narrated by Kathleen McInerney

I have read a handful of Ms. Andrews books but this is by far my favorite!! This one had a lot more going on, several great twists and more than one mystery to solve.

It touched on some tough topics such as alcoholism, drug use, child abuse and death. I thought that made this a more interesting read. It is much more than a cozy mystery because of the topics. I love this author’s manner of describing human nature in depth, the good and the bad.

There are several great unexpected side plots and they were nicely spread throughout the novel to keep the reader’s interest.

The atmosphere was amazing, who wouldn’t want to stay at “The Saint” !! It looks like a fairy castle and is set on an island off the coast of Georgia. The coastline is beautiful with sandy beaches, a pool and a new chef in its restaurant which add up to a 5* hotel.

Traci Eddings was never a part of the entitled and wealthy group who visited the resort but she did work as a lifeguard there in her teens. Much more about this throughout the plot!

Traci is now the owner of the hotel as it was left to her in her late husband’s will. The rest of the Eddings family has been trying to wrestle it away from her for the past years.

This fateful summer is her last chance to turn the hotel around as it has been losing money for the past years. She finds a way to hire a wonderful staff by offering onsite housing in a new group of small apartments.

The story is told is Ms. Andrew’s wonderful, flowing writing with humor and warmth. The characters are well described and quite the interesting bunch!

I can highly recommend this novel to everyone.

I received the audiobook from the publisher and MacMillan audio through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to listen to and review this title.

Summers At The Saint is a wonderful, drama filled, mystery. The novel revolves around the historic St Cecelia hotel and the family that has owned and operated the destination for decades. Those who vacation here are Saints, everyone else is an Ain’t. When the hotel falls into disrepair, a former Ain’t is tasked with the responsibility to bring the St Cecelia back to her former glory.

This book has it all - a love story, corruption, a murder investigation (or 2), and family drama. It is filled with wonderfully quirky characters and juicy drama. I loved it! This is a perfect summer read and I’ll be recommending it to library patrons and friends alike!

📖: Summer At The Saint
✍️: Mary Kay Andrews
🎙: Kathleen McInerney
⭐️: 4 of 5
🎧: 5 of 5


Tropes & Themes:
- Multiple POVs

Trigger/Content Warnings:
- Language
- Mention of drug use
- Sexual assault

My Thoughts:
Another great cozy mystery, perfect for summer beach reading! Like every other novel by the great Mary Kay Andrews, this was such a fun time. I loved everything about this resort and getting to know all the "aints" that made their way to making it home for the summer. There were a few unexpected twists that made this an exciting and page turning read. The narration was also great and made for a fun listening experience. I am always looking for the next great read from MKA, and this one did not disappoint.
Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to read, listen, and review this advanced copy.

I love the paths this book took. It delighted me by going in directions I didn’t expect. A fun summer listen. Great narrator that captivate my attention.

My first book by this author. It was a fun read with multiple characters. How it all linked together was interesting and kept me on my toes.

This book is a great beach read with soap opera-like drama, a murder mystery and some laughs along the way. The author does an excellent job of developing each of the characters. Some you will love, and some you will despise!
The setting was at a fancy 5 star resort owned by a very wealthy influential family.
I found it very entertaining and it had a great ending!

The St. Cecelia resort on an island off the coast of Georgia is a destination for the rich. Called the Saint for short, the giant pink resort has been around for decades. When a few long time employees leave to work at a new resort up the coast, CEO Traci Eddings decides that providing free onsite housing could help recruitment. But when one of the residents staying in the new dorm ends up murdered, her roommates try to find the killer.

I had a hunch right off the bat that I would not LOVE this. The story is told by nearly a dozen point of views. I was leery- especially since I was listening to the audiobook. It ended up not being that hard to keep track of who's POV it was, so at least listening to the audiobook didn't make that worse. However, I feel when you have so many POVs, it kind of waters down the book. You don't get to know the characters as deeply. Does that make sense?

Other than the POVs, I found the story pretty predictable. It is an enjoyable beach read, but if you are wanting a real mystery or a romance, there isn't a whole lot of either in this book.

All of my ramblings do not mean that I did not enjoy this- I did. I just wasn't obsessed.

Kathleen McInerney narrates the audiobook and does a great job, as always.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I might be a little biased because I just love Mary Kay Andrews. I’ve never read a book that I haven’t loved by her.
Summers at the Saint was wonderful. I loved all the different society backgrounds coming together in love and friendship.
This book had it all
Mystery✔️
Love✔️
Heartache✔️
Murder✔️
Friendship✔️

Plus it had Kathleen McInerney as the narrator, which is in my top 5 favorite narrators!

I just love a great beachy mystery and Mary Kay always delivers a great story. Summers at the Saint might be my new favorite.

Four stars

Traci's journey is one of resilience and determination as she navigates the complexities of running the hotel while confronting personal and professional obstacles.
Summers at the Saint is a captivating tale of love, loss, and redemption that will leave readers eagerly turning the pages until the end. Andrews masterfully blends elements of mystery, romance, and drama.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for the ARC copy.

2.5 rounded up. This felt to me like a knockoff Elin Hilderbrand. The premise and the setting are both intriguing, but ultimately there is too much going on and it feels a bit confused. I'm not sure the stakes of a murder mystery totally work within the context - it felt so bizarre for Tracy to be going undercover to test the quality of the grouper fingers moments after her niece was killed. I also felt like the villain was way too cartoonish and that took away some of the satisfaction from what is actually a pretty good reveal. I still had a nice time listening to this, it's very fast-paced and I found some of the relationships really sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

2.75 ⭐️ rounded up

I’ll start by saying that I have never read Mary Kay Andrews before which I’m thankful as I can be assured that my opinions are not affected by past works as I understand that this book is a bit different from her others. I was seriously considering DNFing this book at 70% finished and went to the reviews to help propel me to finish it.
I’m glad I did as while this book is way too long for how it had been marketed as a beach read (it’s not at all), the last third was the most enjoyable part.

For the audio narration of it, I did not enjoy it at all. It did get better or maybe I just got used to it but the beginning with the overly juvenile voice effect used was awful. It took me out of the book as was grating. The book has so many characters to keep track of that the poor narration made that even harder so I frequently got disconnected hence having such a hard time with it.

Looking past that (and getting used to it) the over arching feeling I had consuming this title was that it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Now I knew it was going to be a mystery since it literally has “murder” in the description so I wasn’t taken by surprise like some other reviewers but it is coded as Women’s Fiction and Romance which is why I think so many are perplexed especially with the cover art giving the impression of a light hearted beach read.
While it is a murder mystery for sure, it is still really fluffy and not very deep. It’s almost comical at times but I expect that’s the narrators impact. So I guess “a summer escape” still fits but it’s definitely a niche within that as many that seek out beach reads, aren’t expecting what this book is. Then throw in the drug use and of course the ever popular current story line of placing fentanyl into everything and you have a book that people aren’t expecting.

On top of the marketing issues, the book gets more convoluted than it needs to be. The direction of the book seems rudderless at times. Also the romance just falls flat. I definitely would not put this in the romance genre category which the book is placed. Ok I’ll stop as I can’t say much more without spoilers.


For the good… if you’re a fan of the authors other works but looking for something with a bit more grit, this may be the perfect book for you. It definitely is full of common tropes so I’m sure it’ll be a great match for someone!!

But read the book yourself and skip the audio book if you have the choice.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read againr

While I thought this would be a beach read, it turned out to be a murder mystery. While the summary mentions two deaths, this book was not marketed as such. But at the same time, this book was so much more than a murder mystery. Throw in family drama, trauma, and a bit of romance and you have Summers at the Saint. Unlike your typical murder mystery, this book takes place at a luxury resort with tons of characters involved. I didn't find myself solely focused on trying to figure out the murderer but got interested in the character development and their individual lives as well.