The Newcomer

The Newcomer is the next summertime page-turner from New York Times bestselling novelist and Queen of the Beach Reads Mary Kay Andrews.

Troubled and fleeing...

When Letty Carnahan finds her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her opulent New York City townhouse, she is positive that she knows who killed Tanya's former boyfriend, shady real estate mogul Evan Wingfield. Letty remembers her late sister's advice to "Call Evan if anything bad happens to me," even in the midst of her grief and terror. Assure me that you will get Maya and flee. Make a vow to me.

Carrying a large amount of emotional baggage...

Thus, Letty takes her four-year-old niece Maya and gets into her sister's Mercedes before heading out. Letty is on a mission to elude Evan and the law, but where will she run? Tanya, a mysterious woman whose background remains unknown, left behind a large, loud diamond ring and a "go-bag" of cash, but only one item: a faded magazine article about a quaint mom-and-pop resort in a little Florida beach town that goes by the unlikely name of Treasure Island. She checks at The Murmuring Surf Motel, shedding her old life and facing an unknown future.

The sharks are circling and the No Vacancy sign is blinking...

And that's the positive update. Because The Surf, as the locals call it, is home to a tight-knit group of snowbirds and retirees who view this strange newcomer with distrust and even outright animosity during the winter. While avoiding the attention of the motel's dangerously handsome son Joe, who also happens to be a local police investigator, Letty attempts to heal Maya's pain and piece together the mystery surrounding her sister's dubious past as she takes up residence in the former storage room. Will Joe reveal Letty's secrets and throw her in jail, or will she be able to find romance in addition to a room at the inn? It's a race against time to uncover the truth and make up for past wrongs as danger approaches.