Iβve had tremendous fun reading this journalistic fiction set in backwater Florida. HELLO, SUMMER is the headline on the social diary and gossip column in the local newspaper. Conley HawkinsΒ cut her cub reporterβs teeth in her family paper but moved on to the big, exciting world of city media. When a planned job falls through some years later, she returns to her hometown, Silver Bay.
Helping her sister Grayson produce the sleepy Silver Bay Beacon isnβt Conleyβs idea of career prospects, but sheβs pleased to spend time with family again, especially Grandma Lorraine. With luck, sheβll just be here for summer and another opening will arrive. Might as well enjoy the beach house. Then local congressman Symmes Robinette crashes his car and Conley comes on the scene. The death of the representative opens a familyβs can of worms, and in a sly move, the old-fashioned gossip columnist gets herself invited to all the formal occasions around town, insisting on sharing by-lines on the front page with Conleyβs crack reporting.
Characterisation is all in this deftly observed account. Winnie, the housekeeper, is an excellent foil for those with wealth and influence. Rowena Meigs, the grand dame (in her own eyes but nobody elseβs) of society comment, is a complete contrast to investigative, scandal-chasing Conley, but sheβs an old-time institution. Grayson has too few staff and too many personal issues to have time to put the paper on a web footing, but whiz-kid Michael in the office has just been awaiting permission, with his journo college knowhow. Actually, it is hard to imagine a smartphone-using paper that isnβt online, even to tweet their headlines ahead of the weekly edition.
Digging up financial and family issues that some would rather stay buried, makes Conley unpopular. But by golly, does it sell papers. The resulting frantic pace creates its own issues, and Conley barely has time to date the local pharmacist she went to school with, let alone get over her antagonism to her sister. Family is well and truly a feature in HELLO, SUMMER. I respect the way that senior peopleβs issues are dealt with squarely; whether they need a carer, whether they have health problems or have to adapt their lifestyle. Mary Kay Andrews is clearly an author to watch, and with a few dozen books under her belt already, I have a lot of catch-up reading to look forward to in the near future.
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.”
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.
No excerpt available.
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