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‘The Newcomer’ was a page turner but had a few problems




“The Newcomer” by Mary Kay AndrewsEmily West / Main Street Nashville

“The Newcomer” by Mary Kay AndrewsEmily West / Main Street Nashville

Walking into Landmark Booksellers, I knew I wanted a book with a light feel but that could captivate me.

I perused the back shelf of new releases and stumbled upon Mary Kay Andrews’ book “The Newcomer.” It was one of those reads that kept me engaged but didn’t make me think incredibly hard the way some nonfiction does.

But that’s the beauty of reading — it can transport you to places and stories.

This particular tale takes place in Florida and New York City, switching between the two throughout the book.

Our main characters are Letty and Maya, an aunt and niece combo running from the city after Maya’s mother was murdered. Her aunt, Letty, is the key suspect. Her father, Evan, has hired someone to look for the duo, who ran away to the Murmuring Surf, a little motel on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico.

Letty is jarred after finding her sister dead and bleeding on the floor of her town house in New York. But her sister forewarned her: If anything happens, take the “go bag” in the closet and run. An ad from Southern Living tucked away with the motel circled directed Letty where to go, but Letty was unaware of any significance the motel held for her dead sister.

 

 

The story then connects with two other characters: Ava and Joe, the family who owns the Murmuring Surf. Ava is the matriarch in this tale, while her son Joe, a police officer for the small Florida town, has suspect feelings toward Letty starting day one.

Mostly, the story kept me turning page after page. On a flight to New York City, I sat with the book in my seat and stayed attuned for the two-hour flight, nearly unable to put it down when I landed. But this book has a couple of quirks that irked me.

I understand that Andrews likes to input a bit of romance into her stories, but this one didn’t quite work for me. It felt too predictable and later forced. I think the story could have done without it, but it does make for a nice ending of the book.

Readers also have to have suspension of disbelief, which I typically give fiction authors a long leash for that element. But this one felt a little elaborate in that Letty and Maya were able to survive so long on a bag of cash that held thousands of dollars of her sister’s money. This also plays into the ending of the book, which does twist to make the ending satisfying, but I struggled with whether that would happen in reality.

This is my second Andrews book. I started reading her stories last summer during the pandemic. I am beginning to like this author and her flair, even if it means giving her a longer leash for her flashy takes at realistic fiction.

Emily West is a former newspaper journalist who lives in Franklin.

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