Mary Kay Andrews builds fun read in ‘Homewreckers’

What could be a better setting for romance than a house renovation?

Ah, I hear the bitter laughter of all of you who’ve been through a reno with a significant other (or exsignificant other).

But in Mary Kay Andrews’ new beach book, ”The Homewreckers,” rehabber Hattie Kavanaugh’s affection for reviving crumbling houses leads not just to love but to a starring role on a TV show — not to mention clues about a 17-year-old mystery.

Mary Kay Andrews writes what she calls beach books, which feature engaging characters, breezy humor and a mix of mystery and romance — often literally set at the beach. This one is set in Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia.

Savannah, with its wealth of handsome older homes, is a perfect workplace for Hattie, who loves renovating them. As the book begins, she’s flat on her back in the crawl space under a ”157-year-old magnificent wreck” that she’s sunk way too much money into.

Her inspection of the corroding cast-iron pipes is interrupted when a man falls through the rotten kitchen floor and lands on her.

The man is Mo Lopez, who produces a reality TV series for Home Place Television Network. He’s in Savannah hunting for a new series idea. When he sees a three-story Queen Anne Victorian surrounded by scaffolding, he walks through an open door for a closer look — and crashes through the floor.

Mo immediately proposes a show idea, starring her: ”Saving Savannah,” a reality series in which she rehabs old houses for the camera.

Hattie finds that a neglected beach house on Tybee Island’s desirable Back River is being sold for unpaid taxes. She scrapes up enough to buy it — money from the network won’t arrive until later — and gets to work.

The once-beautiful house had been handed down through generations of the Creedmores, an old Savannah family, but family feuds led to it being sold. Holland Creedmore Jr., known as Little Holl, whom Hattie knew back in high school, is furious and doesn’t hesitate to threaten her when she refuses to sell it to him.

Demolition work in a bathroom reveals something that had been shoved down through the old-fashioned razor blade slot into the wall: a wallet.

Hattie and her best friend and assistant, Cass Pelletier, recognize the ID in the wallet right away. It belongs to Lanier Ragan, who was their favorite teacher at St. Mary’s High School, the cool young teacher all the girls felt they could talk to.

While they were her students, Lanier Ragan disappeared from her family’s home one night, leaving her husband and 4-yearold daughter sleeping. She’s been missing without a trace since 2005.

Will the wallet solve the mystery of Lanier’s disappearance? Will Hattie figure out who seems to be sabotaging the renovation?

No spoilers, but I can say that you’ll have fun finding out.