A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE by Nalini Singh

Now it is school holidays and if we weren't in covid 19 bubbles many people and families would be in holiday homes around the country, swelling the populations of small towns, coastal, lake side and river communities. Sounds idyllic. Golden Cove is one such town, fictional of course, situated on the rugged, in places quite isolated and insular West Coast of New Zealand. They breed the people tough in these pockets of NZ, it's a man's world - hard men, where the women have to be tough too, able to hold their own in these places. There are dark secrets here too, with mysterious disappearances of young women some eight years previous. But there are plenty of good people too, as in all communities who look out for each other, and it is in times of crisis that a community really comes together.

Into this town returns Anahera Spenser-Ashby who some years before escaped the small town, making her way to London, and marrying what would be deemed well. Turns out he is not such a good husband and she decides to come to back to Golden Cove, licking her wounds, to live in the small house close to the sea that was where she lived her mother before her mother's death, possibly suspicious as Anahera's father was a violent man. And still lives in the area.

She is warmly welcomed by childhood friends and others. There is also a new cop in the place, recently sent from Christchurch, demoted to a small town for misdeeds that are slowly revealed. An immediate frission of sexual tension is apparent. There is also a beautiful young woman, Miriama, who works in the local cafe, saving money for her own escape from the small town to university and beyond. All the males in the place clearly adore her and it is all a little creepy how blatant their lust/adoration/glorying of this gorgeous creature is. Naturally she disappears, and a large chunk of the book is devoted to searching for her. At the same time the characters, possible motivations and interpersonal relationships of the locals are revealed.

In a nutshell then this is a whodunnit, where almost everyone is a suspect, and other women in the town, such as Anahera, begin to feel threatened and anxious about the men in their lives. The undercurrent tone of fear, intrigue, and imminent danger is very real, making this book a great page turner. The setting is also perfect for the tone of this story - the wild West Coast can be a darkly beautiful and threatening place, dense native bush, stormy beaches and windy sand dunes, small bleak towns, winding roads - a character all on its own.

But despite a great story there are also niggles - yet again we have a novel where young women are the victims, brutally murdered. All over our TVs, movie screens, the daily news this is what we are confronted with - violence against women. And usually done by men they know. Same same here, and not different. I don't know if this is the author's point, to highlight again this situation, but if it is she offers no solutions to this never going away soon problem. Do we really need to read another novel with young women being murdered as its premise? Despite this, the author's talent as a writer is out there plain to see and read, making for a really engrossing and thrilling novel. In the end the baddy really was quite a surprise.