Sunset Beach: A Novel

by Mary Kay Andrews

Drue Campbell's life and career have recently been derailed. The only thing she has left is the house her mother left her: a ramshackle beach bungalow with a missing roof in the once-sleepy town of Sunset Beach, which is rapidly becoming a hot spot for the rich and well-heeled, who are none too pleased about the shabby eyesore in their perfect neighborhood.

When Drue's larger-than-life father unexpectedly turns up at her mother's funeral and offers her a job at his law firm, Drue doesn't know whether to be grateful or resentful that he has suddenly reappeared. She grudgingly accepts the job sifting through cold callers and shysters looking to get rich quick. But when her attention is caught by a suspicious murder case, Drue finds herself entangled in a decades-old mystery - one that may have dire consequences for Drue and the people she loves.

• ISBN10: 1250126118
• ISBN13: 9781250126115
• Publish Date: 28 April 2020 (first published 7 May 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

Drue Campbell has no clue what she is going to do with her life. She had lost her mother to a battle with cancer. She was injured in a kiteboarding accident that ended her career in that sport. On top of that, Drue was fired from her waitressing job after refusing to serve an underage patron. Then she reconnects with her father with who she barely has had any contact with since she was fifteen. Her father offers Drue a job at his law firm. He also gives her the keys to her grandparents’ house, a beachfront bungalow. A home that has significant damage done to it from the last hurricane.

Drue finds that working for her father not what she thinks it would be. Her father married her middle school frenemy. That frenemy is now the office manager, and she seems to have it out for Drue. Then a case rolls across Drue’s desk. A case that piques Drue’s interest. An unsolved murder. At the same time, Drue finds the case file for a woman who has been missing for over 40 years in the attic of her house. Drue is determined to solve both cases. Will she be able to solve them? Will her relationship with her father and her frenemy change?

There were three main plotlines in Sunset Beach. All three were well written. I enjoyed that I could go from plotline to plotline without any confusion. The author also did a great job of pointing out when the story went into the past. Those chapters were marked. I liked that I didn’t have to guess when they went into the past.

I liked all the storylines. I did find the storyline about Drue and her relationship with Wendy and Brice a little much. Drue pushed back on everything that Brice and Wendy did. While I understood, there was a point where I got sick of it.

I thought the storylines about the murder at the hotel and the cold case was interesting. The author did a great job of explaining what went into investigating both cases.

There was a huge plot twist in the cold case storyline. I was not expecting it. I also didn’t expect who was involved. I was shocked. The twist with the murder case didn’t surprise me.

I wasn’t a fan of Drue when she was introduced. She has so much resentment built up against her father. There was a point where I started rolling my eyes when she began “acting out.“ It made her look like a child. It also made me think less of her as a character. I did like that she was tenacious when it came to the murder case. She saw things that the police didn’t.

The secondary characters were terrific. They added the extra depth that the book needed.

I liked how the author didn’t have the bad guys didn’t do anything. Well, other than what happened to Drue. She chose to show the investigation against them. She decided to build the case up against them. It worked for me. There is a time for bad guys being all in your face and a time for them to be in the background. This was the time for them to be in the background.

Sunset Beach fit right in with the mystery genre. The author did a great job at keeping both mysteries, well, a mystery until the end of the book.

There was romance in Sunset Beach. It wasn’t hyped on, and the sex scene wasn’t graphic. I wasn’t a fan of it, though. I thought that the book could have done without it.

I enjoyed reading Sunset Beach. The plotlines were fast-moving and engaging. The characters were 3d, and I liked them. Well, for the most part, liked them. There were parts of the book that took me by surprise.

The end of Sunset Beach was interesting. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I liked it.

I would give Sunset Beach an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic). There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Sunset Beach. I would recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Sunset Beach.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[pagesbycyndy]

My Review Of

Sunset Beach

This book had every and I mean every element that I love in a book. Drue a snarky female lead, Brice , her absentee father who I could not help but love with his big personality and boyish charm and Wendy the ex-best friend turned wicked stepmother. Did I mention a mystery? Make that two mysteries, one decades old and the other two years old.
Drue is down on her luck, a knee injury, no job and no place to live when she reluctantly accepts a job with her fathers ambulance chasing law firm. The only silver lining for Drue is that she has inherited her grandparents cottage right on Sunset Beach and that is the only good thing about the ramshackle cottage, it's location.
While working for her step-monster/boss Wendy Drue has to rely on her snark, sense of humor and strength because Wendy is out to make her life a misery.
Drue investigates the murders and starts to suspect her father of a cover up and did his old friend, ex cop, now the firms investigator have anything to do with it all? The story line goes back and forth between past and present. We get a glimpse of Drue's now deceased mom Sherry , Brice and Jimmy Zee. Drue follows lead after lead and along the way makes a few friends.
I absolutely loved this story-line, the characters and how Drue forges ahead through all of her difficulties and tries to help a young child find out who murdered her mother, while trying to solve the 40 year old murder, not get fired and fix up her cottage.

This book is going on my list of favorite books of 2019!
This review was originally posted on Fictional Reviewer