



Sunburned
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jul 1, 2025
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
St. Barth’s has a murder rate of zero. But that’s about to change.
“Utterly delectable and addicting . . . Sunburned is what happens when Agatha Christie meets a thoroughly modern, sexy sensibility.”—Ashley Winstead, USA Today bestselling author of Midnight Is the Darkest Hour
When Audrey Collet’s ex Tyson calls, threatening to expose the skeletons in her closet unless she helps him figure out who is blackmailing him, she wants nothing more than to refuse. Though their relationship ended over a decade ago, the scars are deep. And since his tech company made him a billionaire, he’s become more than a little eccentric . . . and paranoid.
But a foot has washed ashore in the Everglades—that’s right, an actual human foot, encased in an Air Jordan—and Tyson is quick to remind Audrey that it’s one whose long-dead owner they both have a connection to. A connection that could prove problematic, if it got out.
Audrey reluctantly agrees to meet Tyson at his home on the swanky Caribbean island of St. Barth’s to help him figure out who in his entourage is extorting him and what they know about the secrets he and Audrey share. Once there, she realizes that each person staying at Tyson’s lavish estate has a reason to wish him harm. Could the culprit be the gorgeous Belgian wife whose wings he’s clipped? The celebrity business partner he’s essentially holding hostage? The older brother who’s always been in his shadow? Or the sexy French butler he seems to trust more than he should?
Audrey has only just scratched the surface of what’s going on behind closed doors when Tyson’s birthday dive turns deadly, and she realizes that one of the seven people trapped on his yacht with her is not just a blackmailer but a murderer. If Audrey can’t catch the killer in time, she might become the next victim.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A woman heads to the Caribbean to protect herself and her ex from cryptic threats in this mixed-bag thriller by Wood (Ladykiller). Audrey Collet, a founding partner at a Miami corporate intelligence firm, has built a comfortable life for herself and her 10-year-old twins. But when a human foot is found on the banks of a canal in the Everglades, she fears that a dark episode from her past has caught up with her. Soon after that discovery, Audrey receives a request from her high school boyfriend, Tyson Dale—now a billionaire tech CEO—to come to St. Barth's and find out who's been threatening him. Each of the guests at Tyson's estate has a grudge against him, though some hide their dislike better than others. In between trips to the disco, deep sea diving excursions, and flirtations with Tyson's handsome butler, Audrey launches an investigation to keep her slimy ex safe—to the tune of $100,000. Wood richly evokes St. Barth's atmosphere and generates solid tension by toggling between Audrey's present investigation and the details of her past, but seasoned thriller fans will see the ending coming from a mile away. This is serviceable enough for a trip to the beach, but nothing to write home about.