BOOK REVIEW: A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh @berkleypub #bookreview #amadnessofsunshine

A widow returns home, a woman goes missing, and secrets from the past won’t stay buried for long… In this tensely-plotted, taut thriller, Nalini Singh crafts a breathtaking mystery set in the wild thicket of a small coastal New Zealand community that hooked me from page one!

About the Book

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

Reflection

The tension that Singh has built in the community of this book is pulled so taut it feels it could snap. The mystery is so well-plotted that it is almost breath taking. The anger and turmoil boiling below the surface is mirrored by the jagged cliffs, thrashing waves, and thick forest of the New Zealand coast. I’d venture to call this a gothic mystery because the setting is so powerful, almost a character itself.

Anahera grew up in Golden Cove, but she left it behind and moved to find a new life in London. Following the death of her cheating husband and the confrontation with his pregnant mistress, Anahera returns reluctantly to Golden Cove. She has few happy memories there. An abusive father, the memory of her mother’s untimely death, and the shock of her husband’s affair and death is too much.

I loved how unpredictable the nature of New Zealand was. The rocks of the cliff feel jagged and menacing. Storms roll in from the ocean with alarming force. And something is brewing under the seemingly safe community of Golden Cove… A woman disappears while out jogging. Could it have been an accident? Perhaps she got lost in the thick forest. Anahera already fears the worst. It reminds her of the three women who went missing in Golden Cove many years before, when she was a teenager.

Detective Will Gallagher also suspects a connection between the three cold cases and the recent disappearance. As an outsider, Will sees the residents of Golden Cove with an objectivity that Anahera cannot. But Anahera also knows the secrets of Golden Cove. In a community this small, there are only so many dark corners to hide in.

A fantastic mystery with a setting that is truly exceptional—this is a great escape read that you won’t be able to put down!

Thank you to Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There’s no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.

I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).

So far, I’ve worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer’s mill.