Review: A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley
Date of publication: December 2019

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.

A Madness of Sunshine was a random pick from my library.  I really didn't know much about the book going into it.  I wish I could say that I loved the mystery, but it ended up just being an OK read for me. I'll admit to being a bit bored at times while listening to the audiobook.  I almost DNF'd the book about halfway. But it did pick up a bit and I was intrigued enough to see the solution.

For me the biggest weakness of the story was the amount of characters.  I had a hard time keep everyone straight as well as how they all related to each other.  That is also why I wasn't able to figure out the solution.  There were too many people with a motive.  That resulted in a few red herrings   The story mainly follows two main characters, Anahera  and Will.  Anahera has moved back to her childhood home at the time a young woman goes missing.  Will is the police detective in charge of the case.  There is a little romance between the two, but I think the story would have been fine without it. I didn't find that it added much to the story.  

I think fans of this author will enjoy the book.  It is definitely a slow burn mystery.  If you can make it to the halfway point, the ending is worth the journey.