Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Put Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews on your reading list even though the summer is coming to an end.  It isn’t about lounging around on the sand and it’s not a romance on the beach. It is about a young woman, Drue, moving past tough experiences in life to create new possibilities while helping others and finding justice. 

After Drue’s mother dies, she finds herself in a tough spot in life. She decides to move back to her hometown and take a job at her father’s  law firm even though he hasn’t been a part of her life since she was 15. Drue learns that she inherited her grandparents beach house, but it’s in rough shape.

While fixing the place up, Drue finds newspaper clippings and a police file from the ’70’s on a missing person case that was never solved. Her curiosity is piqued about both the missing woman and her family’s connection to it. Meanwhile, a disgruntled woman visits the law office wanting to see Drue’s father. The woman’s daughter was killed while housekeeping at an area hotel. Although Drue’s father won the case, he wasn’t able to get much money. The hotel claimed the daughter was killed while working which made it a workman’s comp case with a cap of $150,000 for a settlement. The woman is struggling financially to raise her granddaughter and can’t get to the money until the child turns 18. Drue feels the settlement is ridiculously low and wonders what can be done to help the woman and her granddaughter. Without her father’s knowledge, she begins to investigate both situations.

After reading so many beach romances, I found this book refreshing. Even with the murder mystery, it is still a light read, not the kind of story that keeps you awake a night. The characters and plot kept me engaged.  I enjoyed a strong female character who took chances while investigating. Sometimes her curiosity put her in danger, but her motive was always to help someone.  I enjoyed it enough that I will definitely read more books by Mary Kay Andrews.