The Book:
Sunburned by Katherine Wood
Published July 1, 2025 by Bantam
Date read: July 26, 2025
Find more July 2025 releases here.
Sunburned spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review.
The Characters:
Audrey and Tyson
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
St. Barth’s has a murder rate of zero. But that’s about to change.
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 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.
Sunburned Spoilers
The Reveal:
Ten years ago when Audrey and Tyson were dating, Audrey wrote some sort of bot that would deflate the sales of Cole’s company and funnel the unknown profits into a Swiss bank account created by Audrey’s father. She needed the funds to pay for her mother’s cancer treatment. At first they weren’t keeping any money for themselves, but then the neighbor, Ian Kelly, found out what they were doing and began blackmailing them. Once he did, Tyson began skimming as well.
Then Audrey found out that Tyson was cheating on her. She ended things, but a few days later he called her saying that Cole had been arrested for her bot. Shortly after that, Audrey went over to their house and found them cleaning up Ian’s body. The men told her that there had been a fight and Ian fell, and convinced her to help hide the body in the Everglades–if there was an investigation, the police would find the evidence Ian had against Audrey and Tyson and they would go to jail along with Cole. Cole took the fall for the bot without turning in Audrey and Tyson.
Present-day, Tyson was convinced that someone was blackmailing him. Ian’s foot had just washed up in the Everglades, and someone knew the truth and was leaving him newspaper clippings and demanding money. He thought it might be Audrey, but once Audrey proved it wasn’t her Tyson hired her to figure out who.
Then Tyson died while on a diving expedition.
The Ending:
Eventually, Audrey discovered that Jennifer was Ian’s former girlfriend Andie, who had been dating him around the time that Ian died. (I knew that someone present-day had to be Andie, but I wasn’t sure if it was Jennifer or the other swimmer woman. Another obvious-to-me reveal was that Tyson had stolen the DeSal technology from Ian. Also that Audrey’s twins were Tyson’s kids.) She got Jennifer to confess to the blackmail, but Jennifer insisted she wasn’t the murderer.
As Audrey and Jennifer were discussing this, Cole snuck up on them with a gun. He had murdered Tyson: Audrey inadvertantly led him to the realization that Tyson had been the one to turn him in ten years ago, not Ian. Luckily, Audrey had Laurant outside watching them on the security cameras and ready to call the police. Cole tried to shoot himself but Audrey shot him in the arm to stop him.
Audrey and Laurant stayed together long-distance.
I hope these Sunburned spoilers were helpful.
The Review:
Thank you to @prhaudio for this gifted ALC!
Katherine Wood writes the best summer thrillers. I’ve been a fan for ages, and own all her books under both names! SUNBURNED was no exception. I was hooked from the start and couldn’t wait to learn more about Audrey’s backstory and what it had to do with present-day events. While one connection was obvious, other parts kept me guessing right until the end. Katherine’s settings are always perfect, and I love reading about rich people behaving badly.
The story switches back and forth between the present-day scenes on St. Barth’s and scenes from Audrey’s past when she was dating Tyson. These switches were done seamlessly, and I loved how the story built from both ends. This is the perfect poolside summer binge!
I listened to most of this book while paddling around my pool, and could almost feel like I was on St. Barth’s with Audrey and the rest of the characters. Stephanie Németh-Parker is a fantastic narrator and is quickly becoming a favorite. I loved her performance of CODE WORD ROMANCE and was very excited to see her name pop up again. She made it easy to tell these characters apart (there were many!) as well as distinguishing the time jumps without seeing the words. I really love her voice, and hope she keeps narrating books I enjoy!
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