Road Trip: A Novel

New from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint and Hello, Summer!

Pack your bags for a summer journey shaped by family secrets, long-buried history, and charming men with Irish accents.

Maeve and Therese Dunigan haven’t spoken in years. Raised under the same roof in Savannah, the two sisters could not be more opposite―Maeve the rule follower, Therese the unapologetic rebel. But when their mother’s death pulls them back together, they inherit more than just grief: a mysterious painting that may be worth millions…if it’s real.

Determined to uncover the truth―and desperately in need of the money―the sisters set out on a journey to Ireland, tracing their family’s roots and the origins of the portrait. What begins as a search for answers soon becomes something deeper―a reckoning with the past, as they uncover secrets that span generations and reshape everything they thought they knew about their family.

With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm.

Can Maeve and Therese actually survive the journey without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles.

MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 novels (including Bright Lights, Big Christmas; The Homewreckers; The Santa Suit; The Newcomer; Hello, Summer; Sunset Beach; The High Tide Club; The Weekenders; Beach Town; Save the Date; Christmas Bliss; Ladies' Night; Spring Fever; and Summer Rental, all from St. Martin's Press, as well as The Fixer Upper; Deep Dish; Savannah Breeze; Blue Christmas; Hissy Fit; Little Bitty Lies; and Savannah Blues, all Harper Collins), and one cookbook, The Beach House Cookbook.

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she earned a B.A. in journalism from The University of Georgia (go Dawgs!). After a 14-year career working as a reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991 to write fiction.

Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 by HarperCollins. She went on to write ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. In 2002, she assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller, followed by dozens more New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers. To date, her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese.

She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in their restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide—both named after fictional places in Mary Kay’s novels, and both available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses.

Mary Kay Andrews’s 2026 novel, "Road Trip," is a captivating blend of family drama, mystery, and romance that takes readers on a sweeping journey from the sultry streets of Savannah, Georgia, to the lush, twisty lanes of rural Ireland. At the center of the story are Maeve and Therese Dunigan, two sisters who are as fundamentally different as night and day and who have been estranged for years. Maeve is a strict rule-follower and a creative writing college professor who recently lost her job. She has spent the last four months exhaustingly serving as the sole caretaker for their mother, Mary Helen, while she was in hospice. On the other end of the spectrum is Therese, an unapologetic rebel and struggling actress whose career never quite took off. Therese did not even show up to help with their mother’s care and arrived late to the funeral. The icy tension between the responsible martyr and the flighty rebel creates a deeply fractured dynamic, setting the stage for a forced reunion that neither woman wants but both desperately need.

The sisters’ uneasy truce is immediately tested during the reading of their mother’s will. Both women are facing severe financial ruin and are secretly banking on the sale of Mary Helen’s fully paid-off house to save them from their respective wolves at the door. Instead, their Uncle Keith drops a bombshell: Mary Helen fell victim to a scamming televangelist, mortgaging her home and draining her retirement accounts in exchange for boxes of cheap ceramic praying hands. The only things she left her daughters are a coffee can stuffed with small bills saved for a heritage trip to Ireland, and a dusty portrait of an ancestor, Lady Geraldine Rossington, which Mary Helen always claimed was incredibly valuable. Given their mother’s penchant for spinning tall tales, the sisters are highly skeptical. However, when Therese stumbles upon a news article detailing the recent multi-million-dollar auction of an identical portrait, the painting suddenly becomes their only hope for financial salvation. To authenticate the portrait and solve the mystery of its origins, the feuding sisters have no choice but to pack their bags and head to the Emerald Isle.

Once in Ireland, the novel expands into a richly textured mystery that toggles between the present-day road trip and the historical timeline of their ancestors. In the picturesque town of Tarrymore, Maeve and Therese begin untangling a complicated web of long-buried family secrets. They encounter Esme Rossington, a cynical, chain-smoking woman living in the disheveled gardener’s cottage on what used to be the grand Rossington estate. Esme holds vital clues regarding a 1970s IRA art heist in which the original Lady Geraldine portrait was stolen and never recovered, leaving the sisters to wonder if the painting they possess is the stolen masterpiece or a brilliant forgery. Interwoven with their modern-day sleuthing are glimpses into the past, specifically the 1926 story of their great-grandmother Kathleen, an Irish orphan who navigated perilous family politics before immigrating to America. These historical interludes, revealed through old correspondence, provide a profound context for the sisters, helping them understand the resilience and sacrifices of the women who came before them.

As the miles roll by, the enchanting Irish setting—complete with cozy local pubs, majestic historic estates, frolicking lambs, and charming locals—works its magic on the sisters. Andrews seamlessly weaves romantic subplots into the narrative, giving both women a chance at unexpected love. Maeve experiences an immediate, electrifying connection with Liam, a handsome man who works at the Tarrymore distillery, forcing her to confront her fear of taking risks as she wonders how a relationship can survive when she is only in the country for a week. Meanwhile, the close quarters of the road trip act as a pressure cooker for the sisters' relationship. Removed from their comfort zones, they are forced to peel back the layers of their mutual resentment. Maeve begins to let go of her rigid judgments and control issues, while Therese steps up, shedding her selfish exterior to reveal a surprising depth of character and loyalty.

Ultimately, "Road Trip" is a heartwarming and poignant exploration of reinvention and forgiveness. While the high-stakes art heist and the quest for a multi-million-dollar payout propel the plot forward, the true heart of the novel lies in the evolution of Maeve and Therese’s relationship. They realize that they cannot move forward with their lives until they confront their shared past and learn to appreciate each other’s differences. Andrews delivers a story that balances lighthearted humor with genuine emotional weight, exploring themes of elder financial abuse, the immigrant experience, and the enduring power of family ties. It is a story about women discovering who they are, giving themselves permission to change, and realizing that the greatest treasure they can uncover is the unbreakable bond of sisterhood.