Review: A Madness of Sunshine

If you've been kicking around this blog for a while you'll have noticed I read next to zero paranormal anything. Nothing against it, it's just really, really not my jam. All this to say that A Madness of Sunshine is the first book I've ever read by Nalini Singh.  Probably terribly shocking to some of you, but it's my way of saying that I walked into this book with no preconceived notions or set of expectations whatsoever. And honestly, I think that was a good thing. I had quibbles, but truly this was an engrossing read and I loved every moment of it.

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

Growing up in tiny, claustrophobic Golden Cove, New Zealand Anahera's sole dream was getting the hell out of town - which she did. A celebrated pianist, she fell in love with Edward, a celebrated playwright, and settled in London living a glamorous, cosmopolitan lifestyle with an equally glamorous and cosmopolitan social circle.  Until a tragedy strained their marriage and eventually Edward died unexpectedly bringing a pregnant mistress to Ana's front door.  Finding refuge in her music? Not happening. Staying in London? Really not an option. All she can think of is escape and what better place than to go home, living in her mother's isolated, abandoned cabin.  Even if there are nothing but ghosts there.

She's in town for a hot second when she meets the lone cop on the beat, Will.  Famous in his own right, having solved some very difficult cases, Will is basically banished to Golden Cove after a domestic violence case goes horribly wrong.  Golden Cove is his penance. A quiet job in the middle of nowhere.  He rubs Ana the wrong way, mostly because she's on guard and prickly - but they soon find themselves drawn together when pretty, vivacious, 19-year-old Miriama goes missing. Without a trace.  And everybody in town is apparently hiding secrets.

This is basically a domestic thriller that uses an entire small town as a backdrop.  Golden Cove is a tourist destination (mostly hikers and outdoorsy types) but it is largely a backwater burg with clear class and ethnic lines (White and Maori). The disappearance of Miriama rocks the small town - namely because she was a smart, bright girl who respected the rugged landscape (Getting swept out to sea or lost in the bush is unthinkable for someone like her) but she was breathtakingly gorgeous. She's dating the town doctor but seriously every dude in this town is a lecher hot for Miriama, even before she was legal.  Will's been in town for a while, but he's still a newcomer and there are things the locals are not going to tell him. But they will tell Anahera, one of their own even if she did run off to London.  Miriama's disappearance also stirs up memories from years before.  When Anahera was a girl, three young, beautiful backpackers disappeared in the bush, never to be seen again. 

I ended up listening to this on audio and I'm glad I did - this is a slow burn thriller. There's zero fast-paced thrills and chills as it quietly unfolds and Singh peels back the layers of this isolated town and it's secretive residents.  There are a lot of secondary characters and the search for Miriama takes up a good chunk of the story - with most of the intensity coming into play in the final third of the book. 

To be honest, I'm not sure I would have liked this one quite as much as I did had I read it. Singh spends a lot of time setting up her town, introducing her secondary character, and laying the groundwork on Anahera's and Will's emotionally messy baggage.  Also, fair warning that this one has all the trigger warnings for domestic violence. Nothing on page, but a good chunk of Ana's past was shaped by her abusive alcoholic father and her mother's accidental death some years after she left him.

This wasn't an "OMG I cannot put this down!" sort of read but it was hypnotically engrossing, with deeply drawn characters and a really well put together romantic storyline between Anahera and Will.  I've been reading suspense for a long time, and while I've read darker, this one is still pretty dark - with haunted characters, plenty of secrets, and a creepy methodical Big Bad.  Will I ever read Singh's paranormal romances? Probably not. But I immediately downloaded her second thriller after finishing this one.

Final Grade = B+