A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

Atmospheric and suspenseful, this mystery thriller drew me in and kept me fully engaged and guessing until the very last page!

Golden Cove, New Zealand -- "It's lovely and dangerous and beautiful."

Anahera Spenser-Ashby, née Rawrir, returns to her childhood home from London where she'd been living for the past 8 years -- she's just buried her lying, cheating husband. She had never intended to go back, but now she settles in the cabin where her mother had died and finds that much has changed in this wild land at the bottom of the world. Shortly after Anahera reconnects with her best friend, Josie, who now owns the town cafe, a 19-year-old girl named Miriama disappears. Miriama was scheduled to leave Golden Cove to do an internship with professional travel photographers and was the most beautiful girl in the small community where everyone knew and watched over everyone else. Golden Cove's sole policeman, Will (a former detective in Christchurch), and the majority of its inhabitants begin an intense search but no trace of Miriama is found. The community has lost one of its own and the circumstances are eerily similar to disappearances that occurred one summer years ago -- three women had walked into the bush and never came out. Those cases were considered a matter of tourist accident, but was a serial killer hiding in Golden Cove and could that person now have taken Miriama? Will has a huge job ahead of him. NO SPOILERS.

I really enjoyed this one, especially because the setting was so interesting and new to me. I've not read any other books by this author, but the writing was excellent and the narrative style as it shifted between Anahera and Will was extremely effective in advancing the story in their points of view. The characters were very appealing and relatable and I didn't even mind the romance part so much. I kept guessing until the climax and big reveal and found the conclusion very satisfying. I'm sorry to leave Golden Cove behind.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - mystery thriller, romance -- unusual setting