Hello, Summer

Set in a small town, I was expecting a very light Romance read, but quickly learned that Hello, Summer is a murder mystery that will also satisfy the small-town gossiper that dwells within me. 

Acclaimed big-city reporter Conley Hawkins has recently lost her job and is back in her small hometown to help her family's ailing newspaper. When she stumbles upon the suspicious murder of a Congressman, she is eager to solve the crime so she can focus on getting out of town and into another big city investigative reporting job.

The cover art for this book is quite deceiving. Beach waves and flip flops do not normally a murder mystery make, so if you're expecting a summer romance (like I did), then you may be disappointed. The mystery itself was good with a few red herrings, but it felt much longer than it had to be, and the inclusion of newspaper articles didn't work well in audiobook format. 

Hello, Summer is a predictable but entertaining Hallmark-esque small-town read with a decent mystery, an obvious ending and bit of romance. I borrowed this audiobook from my public library and enjoyed that the story was easy to follow when I listened to it as I cycled my local bike trails. 

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery

Type and Source: eAudiobook from public library

Narrator: Kathleen McInerney

Run Time: 16 hours, 15 min

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

First Published in print: May 5, 2020

Book Description from GoodReads: 

It’s a new season...

Conley Hawkins left her family’s small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter for a big-city paper, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, D.C. Or so she thinks.

For small town scandals...

When the new job goes up in smoke, Conley finds herself right back where she started, working for her sister, who is trying to keep The Silver Bay Beacon afloat—and she doesn’t exactly have warm feelings for Conley. Soon she is given the unenviable task of overseeing the local gossip column, “Hello, Summer.”

And big-time secrets.

Then Conley witnesses an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman—a beloved war hero with a shady past. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it gets. As an old heartbreaker causes trouble and a new flame ignites, it soon looks like their sleepy beach town is the most scandalous hotspot of the summer.