Readers Guide for Sunburned

My Readers Guide for Sunburned discusses how this book was much different than I expected. I thought I’d get a sinister White Lotus inspired story but got something quite different. This guide will include a character list AND spoilers, so we can discuss the book if you’ve read it.

The cover of Sunburned, which shows a graphic of a ocean scene in bright neon colors

Readers Guide for Sunburned by Katherine Wood

Sunburned: Jen’s Quick Take

Original photo of Sunburned by Katherine Wood on a blue shelf next to other bright colored books

I enjoyed Wood’s last book, which was a slow burn Talented Mr. Ripley kind of story
So I thought this would be the same: a vacation suspense story set in St. Barts (St Barth for my British readers)
But NO, Sunburned was more Agatha Christie inspired. It’s a closed circle mystery with a past-present narrative about a trio keeping a dark secret.
When one of them is convinced he’s in danger, he invites the other two to his St Barts mansion to hang with some of their significant others and get to the bottom of it
But there’s a killer among the group…

There are some spoilers in here, so I will put the rest under spoiler protection. But please scroll down and leave any questions or comments you have. Spoiler are fine!

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Character List for Sunburned by Katherine Wood

Characters in the past

Audrey Collet: works as a legal investigator
Tyson Dale: CEO of De-Sal, a desalination company
Ian Kelley: A friend of Tyson’s who is helping him with a hydroponic weed growing system. (He’s dead in the present0.
Andie: Ian’s girlfriend
Rosa: Audrey’s best friend and in the present, her business partner

Characters in the present:

Allison Zhu: former Olympic swimmer and Tyson’s business partner in his patented desalination technology.
Samira: Tyson’s wife
Laurent: Tyson’s executive assistant
Gisèle: Samira’s friend (and lover)
Cody: Tyson’s brother
Jennifer: Cody’s girlfriend
Rémy: the dive instructor
Rick Halpern: a potential investor in Allison and Tyson’s company
Benjamin and Alexander Collet: Audrey’s twin sons

Sunburned by Katherine Wood: Brief Plot Summary and Ending Explained

Sunburned has a past/present narrative, which is one of the worst kinds of books to recap.

I decided to try splitting the summary into the past and then the present. If you’re reading or listening and confused, you may need to jump back and forth, but it also makes it easier to understand what happened when it’s not chopped up.

Backstory /Past Narrative for Sunburned:

Tyson and Audrey were high school friends in Florida, and romantically involved.
Eleven years ago, when Audrey was in her early twenties, her mother needed a medical treatment that she couldn’t afford.
Andrey was a hacker and she, Tyson, and Tyson’s brother Cody devised a plan to skim small amounts of money from the proceeds owed to vendors of a major drugstore (which was where Cody worked).
The three of them agree to split the money.
Ian, a friend of Tyson’s discovers their money skimming scam and demands a cut.
Audrey learns that Tyson is cheating on her and they break up.
Cody is arrested for the money skimming and Tyson is convinced that Ian ratted him out.
Cody was released on bail and Audrey goes to see him and Tyson. But she finds Ian dead in an alleged fall.
The three of them decide to hide Ian’s body, but Audrey has to help Tyson do it as Cody is wearing an ankle monitor.
Ian’s girlfriend Andie confronts Audrey, claiming that Tyson killed Ian.

Present Narrative: Sunburned by Katherine Wood

In the present:

Ian’s foot washes up on shore. Audrey learns there was a safe deposit box key in his shoe.
Tyson summons Audrey to his house in St. Barts because someone is blackmailing him and he thinks it could be her.
Audrey denies it. Tyson threatens to expose Audrey unless she finds the blackmailer.

In a subplot, some land developers are trying to tank Tyson’s company’s desalination project because they are worried that the center will ruin their view. There’s an upcoming city council meeting about this.
Allison wants to bring on an investor, Rick Halpern. Audrey follows her to see if she’s up to something. What Audrey learns: Samira’s first husband died mysteriously. When the city council meeting to approve the desalination project goes sideways, Audrey is convinced that the company was sabotaged by Allison.

An overhead shot of a white sand tropical beach

Audrey asks Tyson what happened to Andie, and he says she’s dead.
Rosa, Audrey’s business partner, texts her saying that the police are investigating Ian’s death.
Tyson tells Audrey that he just got a blackmail request for 500,000 euros. Audrey confides this to Cody.
Rosa gets Cody’s arrest report and Audrey is convinced that Tyson, not Ian, turned him in. She puts the arrest report on Tyson’s pillow.
Tyson invites all the group (Audrey, Laurent, Jennifer, Cody, Allison, Samira, Gisèle, plus diving instructor Rémy) on a dive trip. He also wants Audrey to help him drop off the blackmail money after the dive.
Tyson disappears on the dive and is later found dead

Cody asks to speak to Audrey privately. She tells him Tyson was ready to pay off the blackmailer, and that Ian had incriminating stuff in a safe deposit box.
Audrey is questioned by the police but gives as little information as possible.
Laurent tells her that Tyson was murdered, his oxygen tank turned off. And that everyone on the dive trip is a suspect.
Audrey begins to wonder about Rémy, the dive instructor. Laurent helps her hack into the yacht’s camera feed.
After that, Audrey searches everyone’s room at dinner. She finds the blackmail money in Gisèle’s suitcase. She also sees Allison remove an envelope from under Samira and Tyson’s mattress and hide it on the main deck.
Someone then hits Audrey over the head and throws her overboard, but Cody jumped in after her.

Hand with long pink fingernails holding a brown book that says "The Law."

Cody announces the contents of Tyson’s will. The estate is split between Samira, and his five children, which include Benjamin and Alexander Collet, Audrey’s twin sons.
On the camera feed, Audrey sees Jennifer go into Audrey’s room. She remembers to go back and get the envelope that Allison left and it’s a blood test that belongs to Allison.
The police want to question everyone. Audrey asks Allison about the blood test and she says that she was doping, which ended her swimming career.
Audrey realizes that “Jennifer” is actually Andie, Ian’s ex girlfriend. And the son she mentioned must be Ian’s son.
Jennifer comes after Audrey with a gun. Each of them thinks the other killed Tyson.
Jennifer was blackmailing Tyson because he stole the desalination tech from Ian, who had the proof in his safety deposit box. But Jennifer/Andie insists she didn’t kill Tyson.

Cody shows up with a gun. He’s upset that Jennifer was playing him all along. He thought Ian turned him in, but he found out (from the arrest report that Audrey found and that Samira gave to him after she found it in their room) that Tyson was the one who got Cody arrested.

Sunburned: The Ending Explained

Black and white photo of people sitting in church pews during a funeral service.

Cody confesses to being the one who killed Tyson.
Laurent tackles Cody from behind, but Cody gets the gun back and is poised to shoot himself.
Audrey gets Andie/Jennifer’s gun and shoots Cody in the arm.
Cody admits to pushing Audrey off the boat.
Six months later, they hold a memorial service for Tyson. Allison arranges for Ian and Jennifer’s son to get share of the company and a licensing fee for Ian’s tech.