A Madness of Sunshine

After the death of her husband and a decade abroad, Anahera returns to Golden Cove, a small town on the west coast of New Zealand. Not much has changed there and vivid memories return to the young woman who was eager to escape the poor and violent home she grew up in. It is only days she is there when the beaming young Miriama does not return from running. The whole town is on their feet to search for the girl with the promising future that everybody loves. Police detective Will, an outsider to the Maori community, coordinates the search and quickly develops the greatest fears. In a town where domestic violence is a normal part of everyday life and where common secrets tend to be buried deep, it is not easy to investigate. When the show more inhabitants recollect a series of hikers missing over only a couple of weeks, they start to fear that a serial killer might be among them who now has started to go for women again.

Nalini Sing’s mystery thriller is a suspenseful story which lives from the atmosphere the author brilliantly creates. You arrive together with Anahera in the small town and feel like an outsider; she had been gone for so long that she is not a part of their life anymore, but the longer you stay there, the more you dive into the culture and get a feeling of the dynamics that drive a close community which is not very welcoming to people not belonging to them. Apart from the plot around the missing women, I found the description of nature, its forces and the old culture which lives in harmony with it the most interesting.

Anahera and Will first seem to be two opposing poles in the story, on the one hand, the woman who is a natural part of Golden Cove and who shares memories with everybody and knows to read and respect the nature she lives in. On the other hand, the police detective who is a double outsider due to his job people are highly suspicious of and since he is not of Maori descent. What they share are secrets they try to hide from the community and which quickly make them bond.

The case of Miriama starts with big questions marks, Nalini Sing has well dosed the information you get about the girls, but soon you see the discrepancy between the first picture of the girl and her other side which obviously was well-hidden. The more secrets are revealed the more suspense rises captivating the reader. “A Madness of Sunshine” is a slow burn that does not only rely on the mystery part but also offers a lot in psychological respects with interesting characters in a fascinating setting. show less

Best known for her popular paranormal romance series, Guild Hunters (of which I’ve read a few), A Madness of Sunshine is Nalini Singh’s first published foray into the genre of contemporary thriller/suspense.

In need of familiarity after heartbreaking loss, Anahera Rawiri returns from London to Golden Cove, the close-knit community on New Zealand’s West coast where she grew up. It seems to have changed little during her near decade long absence, but the town’s equilibrium is shattered when a beloved young local woman disappears while out jogging.
Will Gallagher, the sole police officer stationed in Golden Cove, is quick to launch a search for the missing teen, and when it proves fruitless, must consider that a local is responsible show more for Miriama’s disappearance. As an outsider, Will finds himself relying on Anahera to help unearth the secrets that may reveal a killer hiding in their midst.

A Madness of Sunshine offers more than one intriguing mystery, Miriama is not the first young woman to vanish in Golden Cove, around fifteen years previously three female hikers also disappeared, their bodies never found. Will is compelled to explore the possibility of a link, though Singh provides several red herrings to distract the reader as Will investigates, shedding light on the darkness of the past, and the present.

Anahera and Will are both complex, well developed characters, with interesting backgrounds. They share scars from life changing trauma, and have an attraction that is almost instinctual. I liked the relationship that developed between them, though it has only a minor role in the story.

The residents of Golden Cove are representative of a small town, with long-standing, often complicated, relationships. The author deftly includes elements of Maori culture within the story, communicating a sense of place without any awkwardness. Singh’s description of the isolated town and its wild environs are also wonderfully evocative, underscoring the vaguely disquieting atmosphere that intensifies as the plot unfolds.

A well crafted novel offering a compelling mystery and engaging characters, I really enjoyed A Madness of Sunshine. show less

4.7 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Anahera is going back to her hometown, a place that she never wanted to return to but somehow finds she needs the comfort of. While there, Miriama, a young beautiful girl disappears while out jogging and Anahera finds herself helping the new town cop, Will, uncover the secrets of Golden Cove and it's residents.

She returned home two hundred and seventeen days after burying her husband while his pregnant mistress sobbed so hard that she made herself sick.

In this standalone, Singh has written an intoxicating mystery suspense. The writing was smooth in a way that sucked me in and wouldn't let me show more go; I was lost in the beautifully dark atmosphere. Readers are pulled in with the character of Anahera, a woman who grew-up in Golden Cove. Her father was an abusive alcoholic who her mother didn't kick out until he began to turn his abuse on Anahera. While she still has friends that live in Golden Cove, it's not a place of happy memories for her. The background Singh creates for Anahera, abusive father, widowhood that surprises her with a husband who cheated on her, and a miscarriage, all perfectly shapes the character we see on the pages, steely contained, strong, and heartfelt willing.

“Everyone has secrets,” he repeated after completing the maneuver. “It's often the people who look like they have no secrets at all who turn out to have the biggest ones.”

While we're led into the story by Anahera, she gives us the lay of the land and townspeople, the emotional aspect, the new town cop Will leads the technical, murder mystery part that takes over the middle of the story. As a reader, I was emotionally locked in the story because of how Singh quickly and thoroughly created a web spun with the townspeople from Anahera's experiences and feelings about them. This made me eager to follow along with Will as he gathered evidence and tries to piece together the how and why about Miriama's disappearance. While I didn't connect as much with Will, he had his own layered backstory of how he ended up in Golden Cove and gave credence to his feelings and actions. The focus of the story is the mystery of Miriama's disappearance but for those looking for it, the bonding relationship that develops between Anahera and Will, infuses the story with a slow burn romance.

That was the thing with this town---the way the gossip flowed, you'd think you knew everything. But there were secrets here, a thick tide of lava beneath the surface.

Along with the atmosphere and emotions evoked, the details that Singh includes made this story a cut above for me. How Will goes about the investigation and the facts and alluding he finds or is told along the way kept my eyes on everyone. When Will finds out that three woman hikers disappeared from the Golden Cove area fourteen years ago too, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. If you weren't feeling the atmosphere as much as I, I could see how the middle could drag a touch, as there might be considered one too many red-herring dancing to and away reasons given out. I also thought the villain(s) reveal started to creep into info dump reveal as it went on a beat too long. The ending also felt abrupt but it could be me just not wanting to say goodbye to these characters. A Madness of Sunshine was a small town mystery suspense that showcased the good, bad, and ugly of a small New Zealand town while chilling me to the soul at times and at others, having me smile through the tears. show less

It's always interesting when an author best known for non crime fiction works steps into the genre. The author of A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE is better known for her paranormal romance works, of which there are around thirty New York Times bestsellers.

Fans of crime fiction specifically will probably not notice this background at all, as this novel is told in pure crime fiction style, with a touch of romance and absolutely no paranormal elements in view. Instead the sub-story is that of Anaherea, world famous concert pianist, and new cop in town, Will. Anahera is returning to her childhood home town on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, after many years living in London, the sudden death of her husband, and the news of his show more betrayal. She's returning to live in her mother's old cabin near the sea, a non existent relationship with her father, and some memories that she needs to process. Will, meanwhile has been exiled to the small town after a big case gone bad in the city. These two find themselves increasingly drawn together when a young woman with seemingly everything to live for, goes for a jog one day and vanishes.

There's a strong sense of place and atmosphere in this novel, and it sits within the small town environment particularly well, revealing the complicated relationships, friendships and falling outs that occur in those places; combined with a good cultural perspective that's well nuanced. There's romance and a bit of "will they / won't they" tension for those that like that aspect, and it's well plotted with plenty of layers to the story of the missing young woman. There's also the idea that the missing woman is beautiful, and that's commented on a lot, and the reactions / behaviour and portrayal of some of the local men that sometimes wavered between illuminating and titillating.

Having said that, for this reader, this was a page turner of a novel, well written, nicely balanced between crime investigation and the personal, with a standout sense of place and culture. Very readable, very engaging and you can see the potential this has for an ongoing series.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/madness-sunshine-nalini-singh show less

This is a very well-paced mystery set on the West Coast of New Zealand, in a small Maori town. All the elements of a good thriller are here: a widow returning to her childhood home after the betrayal and death of her husband, an exiled police officer, and several missing female hikers, all of a common body type and looks. Singh does an excellent job at character development and vividly describes the wild landscape of rough woods and violent seas. She makes each man in town menacing, and does a good job at hiding the guilty criminal amid the red herrings, as each has a disturbing and violent back story. The only slight weakness is a few awkward sex scenes, but the atmospheric contrast of landscape and confinement make this a compelling show more and fast read. show less

I love a book that immerses you so deeply in the setting it’s like taking a mini vacation to a place you’ve never been. In “A Madness of Sunshine” Nalini Singh transports the reader to the rural coasts of New Zealand, where you must be careful not to wander off the trails, and the stark, harsh beauty of the landscape comes off the page with her exquisite writing. A girl has gone missing while running. In such a small community, everyone turns out to search.

I quite enjoyed the two main characters, as this was a slow building sort of mystery/thriller a touch of romance that took the time to immerse us in background as we slowly unraveled clues. A true character driven piece, I found myself absorbed from beginning to end, and show more while some of the outcomes I saw coming for a while, a few also caught me by surprise. I’ve read Nalini Singh’s paranormal romance and romances and enjoyed them immensely, and this was a delight as well.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

I'm in an obvious minority here, as I didn't like this book at all. The story failed to keep my attention, I kept putting the book down because I didn't care about the characters or action (thankfully, there was always something to watch on Disney+). I also found the plot to be overly predictable (I accurately guessed the killer and other info before I was a third of the way into the book). I enjoy reading romantic-suspense but I expect the suspense to keep me on my toes and guessing at least until the end and this simply fell short. For this reader, this book was way too predictable, overly contrived, and lacking in suspense.