From the publisher:
Book your summer escape with a “mesmerizing mix of mystery and romance” (Publishers Weekly, starred) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Homewreckers and The Newcomer.
Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .
Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help―including the daughter of her estranged best friend―Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.
Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.
“Andrews perfectly balances the second chance-romance with the twisty mystery against a beachy backdrop that will please any armchair traveler.” —Publishers Weekly
https://amzn.to/3QxLAHI
“A fun, heart-warming, and intriguing summer read. For readers who’d enjoy a blend of friendships (old and new), budding romance, and secrets held within the walls of a hotel that needs rescuing, as in Elin Hilderbrand’s The Hotel Nantucket.” –Library Journal
I have been starting my beach reading with Mary Kay Andrews for more years than I care to think about, and I must admit I was surprised by this book – I think it may be her best yet. And that is really saying something!
The Saint is a luxury resort with some full time members who live in beautiful homes on the grounds, other members who live nearby but have full use of the facilities, and the guests, visitors who come for a week or two or the summer. This is a family run business, with Traci running the hotel and resort, and her brother-in-law running the real estate side of things. Her sister-in-law is the design specialist, in charge of redecorating as needed, the floral arrangements throughout the resort, and so forth. Traci’s husband, Hoke, has passed away a few years before the book begins, and she misses him. The people who live over the causeway, many of whom work at the Saint, are called the “aint’s,” as in not rich enough to be Saints.
Things haven’t been going all that well at the Saint. It’s difficult to find help because they can’t afford to live in the community, and her chef and guest relations manager, a married couple, are lured away by another resort with “stupid money” and Traci can’t compete with that. In desperation, she turns an old, falling-apart building into a dorm for a handful of staff. She talks her niece, Parrish, into taking the guest relations job, and hires a new waitress, Olivia, away from a neighboring resort. Livvy, as she prefers to be called, is actually the daughter of Traci’s best friend, Shannon, but they’ve been estranged Livvy’s whole life.
Traci and Shannon were definitely “ain’t” and worked as lifeguards at the pool. One summer when they were about 16 years old, a young boy, Hudson, drowned in the pool. Shannon and Traci did everything they could, but Shannon was blamed and fired. There wasn’t much of an investigation as the owners of the property wanted it kept quiet.
Everything is coming together for a successful summer season at the Saint. There are a lot of characters here, but they are well developed, even the secondary characters. I thought the mystery here was going to be an investigation of Hudson’s drowning. His much older half brother has blown into town, gotten a job on the gardening staff, and is asking a lot of questions. But then Parrish is found dead in the party area of the property that the staff has been using since Traci was a teen. The suspense really gets upped after Parrish’s death, and all sorts of people are coming under suspicion.
There is also a romance brewing here that comes to fruition eventually, but it’s the people at the Saint that make this book so compelling. I was so caught up in their lives that I really hated to turn the last page. There are some unexpected twists, lots of red herrings, and Kathy Trochek’s mystery roots* are on full display here. This was a weekend read for me, fast-paced and totally irresistible. I loved it!
*Mary Kay Andrews is actually a pseudonym for Kathy Hogan Trochek. In the 1990s, Trochek wrote a terrific cozy mystery series featuring Callahan Garrity, a cleaning business owner, set in Atlanta, before she morphed into a chick lit, romance, romantic suspense author as MKA. I highly recommend all of her books!
5/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews. St. Martin’s Press (May 7, 2024). ISBN: 978-1250278388. 448p.
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