A Madness of Sunshine

"Everyone has hidden corners of their life, even the people we think we know inside out."FINAL DECISION: A thriller/suspense story about the secrets that rest in small towns where everyone thinks they know everyone but where there are dangerous secrets. I found this book compelling and it kept me turning page after page wanting to see the secrets being revealed.THE STORY: Anahera Rawiri returns to her hometown in New Zealand. A hometown that she is reluctant to return to and yet is drawn back. There are dark secrets in this town and even more secrets among the people who live there. Will Gallagher is the new cop in town who was sent there after an incident in Christchurch. It was a way of putting him on ice. The town of Golden Cove seemingly is a dead end job without any need for Will's detective skills until a young woman disappears. Then the dark secrets of the town begin to be revealed.OPINION: Nicely centered in the community relationships and characters (which is an area that Singh excels in her romances), the story kept me guessing throughout. As varying stories are slowly revealed, there is no doubt that everyone is deeper than what is known at the outset. Nicely, that is also true of the two main characters in the story. As readers, we know some of the pasts of these characters, but their story is slowly unwound even as the mystery unfolds as well.Although not overly creepy, there is something unsettling about the town and its surroundings. The overwhelming feeling that everyone has secrets and some of those secrets are dangerous makes this book compelling.I liked both Anahera and Will. Both out of sync with the town...Will an outsider and Anahera a local who has spent a decade away and thus straddles the line between being a part of the town and being a stranger. This gives them a nice connection as they are the "outsiders" doing the investigation while both have one foot in the town.I enjoyed this story because I kept changing my mind about what was going on and how it was connected with the past. I kept reading page after page because I wanted to know more about Will and Anahera -- not just the mystery. That nice balance made this a really good read.WORTH MENTIONING: This is not a romance. Please don't read it looking for a Singh romance and then complain that it isn't a romance. It is also not a paranormal, fantasy or sci-fi book. The book does have romantic elements, but romance is definitely not the focus here. There is sex but it is pretty much all off screen.CONNECTED BOOKS: A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE is a standalone.STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

The book was suspenseful and a fast read. The story moved at a fast pace and kept my attention. The changes Anahera encounters in her home town and the things that stayed the same made me think of the changes in my hometown, but thankfully without any killers.

Anahera returns to her home town of Golden Cove after the death of her husband. She comes back full of rage and bitterness but hides it well. When Miriama, a local girl, goes missing the town looks for her. Anahera becomes close to the cop in the town, Will. The two are attracted to each other but because of their pasts they try to deny the attraction. Both are broken but with Miriama missing other pasts come up in the town including the town's past. Anahera gives information to Will and together they try to piece the town's pasts, residents' pasts, and current events to find Miriama.I enjoyed this story. There is a lot of pain in the town as well as both Will and Anahera's life. I was glad that Anahera was able to fit back into Golden Cove although she knew she could not stay. I liked that she was able to befriend Jemima, the wife of a childhood friend. The friendship caused both to be able to say things that others would not have understood since they had not gone through them. Both needed a friend.I appreciated that Will was flawed. He had his own baggage and was able to handle Anahera's anger and rage and understand it. Golden Cove had its secrets but also gave up the secrets.I have to admit I did not anticipate the ending, was actually surprised by part of it. A good story that kept me interested and not wanting to put it down.

I don't often read thrillers, but I love Nalini Singh so much that I preordered this one - and it turned out to be dark and powerful and utterly compelling. The setting - a tiny, isolated town in New Zealand - is gorgeously vivid and evocative, and the characters feel very real. I loved the two PoV characters, their strength and their twin commitments to justice for others even through their own pain.There IS a lot of pain in this book - the heroine and hero both have painful pasts, and various types of child and domestic abuse are issues for characters throughout the book. The central murder is a hard and sad one - and in the past, I've actually sworn off all books about hot young women getting killed because they're so overdone and can feel so sleazy/vicarious in their descriptions (especially in those thrillers that include tons of passages from the killer giving gory details with a sick thrill). However, this book worked really well for me because there is no such treatment of the victim here - only a very powerful rage at the way some powerful/angry men treat women, again and again over time, and that rage is echoed through multiple storylines. The victim's death is treated as the tragedy it is - and as a microcosm of those big structural social inequities that have caused so much pain for so many of the families in this book (and the world at large). It's not done simplistically, either - again and again, different women struggle (or are shown) with complicity at various levels. There are a lot of very real shades of grey, which makes it all even more compelling.However, what really made me love this book was the way various women are able to fight for empowerment and strength by the end - and I cheered for the angry, complicated central heroine all the way, as well as for the very good (and also complicated, with big mistakes as well as traumas in his past) cop who becomes her love interest. Their romance isn't the biggest plotline, but it's a very satisfying one.

I love this book, though sad that Miriama had to die a such horrific death in an unsuspected source.I will surely recommend this book also just like I did guild hunters series to my family and friends. Welcome again Nalini.

Wow!! A phenomenal story, complex with cultural details and Maori language, murders, missing women. Women finding strength out of painful relationships, into hope and love after all. The ending surprised me, but it made excellent sense. I loved the characters, Will & Anahara, and their careful intense relationship. What a marvellous writer - I could see and smell the little town by the sea, the pub, restaurant, Ana's mother's cabin, all of it. Highly recommended!!

The suspens kept me out of breath until the final page, I liked the well constructed characters and the way they interact between each other. I wasn't sure of the culprit until the revelation and the last chapter really was a surprise. I am so happy I bought this book even though I don't usually like thrillers.

Just finished reading "A madness of sunshine" by Nalini Singh, and I loved it!That wasn't to be expected - because even if she's my all time favorite author, this time she went to explore another genre and wrote a thriller situated in a small town at the New Zealand westcoast. So no paranormal romance with tons of sex, but rather a rural crime scene.Usually I am not into thriller, and even though I adore her books and have read and loved each and every one of them, I was skeptical!But, alas, I should have trusted her!The atmosphere of the book had me hooked on the story in no time. I started Thursday with a chapter, cursed that I had to go to bed and picked it up this morning again - to read through it straight away!It was exciting (I *have* to admit I peeked at the Epilogue at one point, cause I just couldn't stand the tension! Stopped as soon as I read the two names I wanted to read :D ), it was touching, it was interesting. It took me straight into a country I very much want to visit.Having grown up in a very (very!) small village myself (31 inhabitants, no shop, lots of cows! :P ), I could relate to much of what was going on in the community.I have no idea how you she does it, but she gets me each and every time. She could likely write the commercial on a toothpaste box and I'd still be thrilled! :)That was an amazing read!

I love Nalini Singh books and this did not disappoint….. a really good read!