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The High Tide Club

Review

The High Tide Club

Josephine Bettendorf Warrick knows that the days left in her life are few. For one thing, she's 99 years old. For another, she's terminally ill. Before she can peacefully meet her maker, however, there are a few remaining details to which she must attend. But in order to do that, she's going to need some help. Enter unsuspecting attorney Brooke Trappnell.

With a struggling solo-practice law firm to grow and an active three-year-old son to support, Brooke knows one thing --- she needs cash and needs it now. That's why when the notorious Josephine Warrick calls in need of legal expertise, Brooke agrees to meet her at her home, Shellhaven, on the coastal Georgia island of Talisa. Never mind that the journey requires a trip across the water in a rattletrap boat and a drive up to the house in a vehicle that's older than Brooke is. She's eager to meet Josephine and hear what she has to say.

"No matter how good you are at guessing what's coming next, this book will surely hold shocking surprises and unexpected smiles throughout."

When Brooke finally sits down with Josephine, she learns that her potential client has two goals: she wants to keep the state of Georgia from condemning her home and taking her land, and she would like to get in touch with old friends from long ago. Unfortunately, in spite of the offer of a more-than-generous retainer, Brooke doesn't feel that she's the gal for the job. After all, Josephine has access to the top lawyers from Atlanta for her legal battle and probably needs a private investigator instead of a lawyer to track down her pals from days gone by. In spite of herself, Brooke allows the compelling Josephine to persuade her to do her best to make a dying lady's last wishes come true.

The women Josephine would like to contact are friends from her younger days, the other members of The High Tide Club, a group of four girls (including Josephine) who swam nude together as often as possible in the high tide that occurred during the full moon. Keepers of one another's secrets, the members of the club became estranged over the years. When Josephine finds that only one member aside from herself is living, she decides to contact the descendants of the dead women in their place.

As the cast of characters gathers on Talisa, it becomes apparent that the secrets from decades ago still play an integral part in the lives of the High Tide girls and their offspring. An illegitimate baby, an unsolved murder, and a myriad of old hurts and wounds propel Josephine to make amends as best she can. Unfortunately, before all can be completed, she runs out of time and many questions remain once she's gone.

In addition to dealing with the mess Josephine left behind, Brooke is acting as role model and mentor to a quirky high school senior who has future plans for law school, reconnecting with the father of her son, and deciding whether or not to date a much older, but quite rich and sexy, attorney from the old firm where she used to practice. Saying she has her hands full is an understatement.

THE HIGH TIDE CLUB is a remarkable novel in which Mary Kay Andrews cleverly intertwines vignettes from the past with a modern-day narrative to give us a cohesive story that compels us to turn the pages to solve one mystery after another. No matter how good you are at guessing what's coming next, this book will surely hold shocking surprises and unexpected smiles throughout.

Reviewed by Amie Taylor on May 11, 2018

The High Tide Club
by Mary Kay Andrews

  • Publication Date: May 8, 2018
  • Genres: Fiction, Women's Fiction
  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press
  • ISBN-10: 1250126061
  • ISBN-13: 9781250126061