Chamblee54

The Weekenders turned up at the Chamblee library. A fresh book by Mary Kay Andrews is always cause for celebration. This one has a twist. In addition to the star crossed lovers, there is a murder. Miss Andrews used to write detective stories. An old talent came to visit.
The story hums along for a couple of hundred pages. Riley Griggs goes to her island house. On the ferry, she runs into a hated former boyfriend. Readers instinctively know that he is going to hook up with with our heroine.
When Riley arrives on the island, she finds a foreclosure notice on the house. The next day, Riley’s about-to-be-divorced husband’s is found face down in the water. His financial shenanigans soon become apparent. The cast of characters springs into action.
The plot gets a little fishy after a while. Riley has a gay brother, Billy. In the first part of the book he is drinking, along with everyone else. Foreclosure, and murder, have that effect on people. We eventually learn, with no advance warning, that Billy is a serious drunk. This leads to a couple of contrived plot twists. While the story is still fun to read, it gets less believable as we move along.
At one point, the old boyfriend, Nate, breaks into an old house on the island. Nate is a dot com millionaire, and wants to buy the house. He is surprised to find Riley in the house. Riley finally admits that Nate isn’t so bad after all. The two have a reunion kiss. They are on, and off, again for the rest of the book. One split up is the result of a diabetic suicide attempt by Riley’s daughter, Maggy.
Towards the end of the story, MKA drops all attempts at reality. All sorts of plot issues come together on the island, and are met by a hurricane. Since chamblee54 avoids spoilers, you will have to find out for yourself whodunit, and whodunwho.
If you don’t think too much, The Weekenders is a fun way to spend 451 pages. This connection to the sci-fi book is a coincidence. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.