Dear Great Book Guru, Sea Cliff Beach goes into its full seven day schedule this weekend and I am thrilled. There is no more beautiful place with its blue umbrellas, new pavilion, and sparkling sands-and I plan on spending many a day there reading and enjoying the sights. Do you have an exciting book to get me started?     #1 Fan of Sea Cliff Beach

Dear #1 Fan, I agree- Sea Cliff Beach has never looked better- thanks in no small part to Ann Koppel- Beach Manager Extraordinaire and Mayor Bruce Kennedy with his enthusiastic support of all things Beach!  And, yes, I do have a suggestion for your first beach read of the season: THE EXPATS by Chris Pavone. When Kate Moore and her husband Dexter decide to change the direction of their lives, they choose Luxembourg as their new home. Kate and Dexter both have been living lives of quiet duplicity and desperation. Unbeknownst to her husband and children, Kate has been a CIA operative for the last fifteen years, and Dexter's life too is steeped in mystery.   When the  Moores become part of a community of expats, all their secrets come back to haunt them especially when they are befriended by a rather imposing couple from the States who seem to have secrets of their own and a great deal of interest in  Kate and Dexter.  The book takes us for quick, scenic forays to Paris, the Swiss Alps, Austria, London, and Amsterdam with colorful details of shops, restaurants, and delicious meals abounding. While certainly a spy novel, EXPATS with its many plot twists, clever character development, and insights into the life of Americans abroad, is so much more.