Mary Kay Andrews' SUNSET BEACH Review

 

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.

Sunset Beach is a compelling ride, full of Mary Kay Andrews' signature wit, heart, and charm. (synopsis from Amazon)

My thoughts.....4 stars

For me, Mary Kay Andrews has become synonymous with a great beach read. Even when not at the beach.

After the death of her mother, and an accident that prevents her from participating in the sport she loves, Drue Campbell moves back to the east side of the state when her long absent dad, lawyer Brice Campbell, offers her a job. The one  positive to Drue's situation is her inheritance of the beach cottage her grandfather, Papi, built.  The cottage is a bit worse for wear & storms, but that can be remedied. The memories and love make it home; something Drue hasn't had in a long time.

While searching out a leak in the attic Drue finds a forty year old police file about a missing woman. This seriously piques her interest, honestly, who wouldn't be intrigued with this find? Combine that with the case of a murdered housekeeper at the exclusive resort up the beach from her cottage and Drue has plenty to keep life interesting while paying the bills with her justice call line cubey job from hell.

With Drue's history she could've easily been the type of "heroine" that sets my teeth on edge. Fortunately, she didn't go the annoyingly whiney route.

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Drue's unconventional investigations and trips down memory lane (where she did some growing up) quickly sucked me into SUNSET BEACH. It was fun trying to figure out the mysteries and discovering who Drue was growing up to be.

Mary Kay Andrews never fails to entertain and inspire the faith that things can and will get better. Just hang in there.

I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All views expressed are my own.