Series: Sunshine Vicram #2
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on July 27, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Small Town & Rural, Women Sleuths
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
From the New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones comes the second novel in her laugh-out-loud Sunshine Vicram mystery series, A Good Day for Chardonnay.
Running a small-town police force in the mountains of New Mexico should be a smooth, carefree kind of job. Sadly, full-time Sheriff—and even fuller-time coffee guzzler—Sunshine Vicram, didn’t get that memo.
All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that’s about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)
Before she can say iced mocha latte, Sunny’s got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. All evidence points to a local distiller, a dangerous bad boy named Levi Ravinder, but Sun knows he’s not the villain of her story. Still, perhaps beneath it all, he possesses the keys to her disappearance. At the very least, beneath it all, he possesses a serious set of abs. She’s seen it. Once. Accidentally.
Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn’t know when to quit, Sunny’s life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.
Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.
Praise for the Sunshine Vicram series
"Laugh-out-loud funny, intensely suspenseful, page-turning fun."--New York Times Bestselling author Allison Brennan
"A Bad Day For Sunshine is a great day for the rest of us."--New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
There is something about the Sunshine Vicram series that just makes me happy and cozy. It has mystery, a bit of fated romance, Gilmore girls-esque mother-daughter banter and love, endearing town residents, all with a bit of tension and danger to finish it off. Buckle in for just one long fan-girly scream because there’s no way I can coherently describe the chaos that is this book.
There is so much going on! Jones loves to juggle plot lines and its easy to get a little muddled. From the overarching plot of closing her own cold case, to every day cases like a stabbing outside a bar. If you’ve read Jones before you know what you are in for, if you haven’t stop now and go back to A Bad Day for Sunshine (review) .
I was excited to see the cold case had some fresh air breathed into it again! Jones is inching us towards explanations but there are a number of obstacles to overcome first. Like false confessions for a start. The current case that falls into Sunshine’s lap is linked to one of her first cases as a detective. It also just happens to involve Levi. Readers get to spend more time with Levi and the electric chemistry between the two morphs away from that insta-love feeling into an attraction with more roots. Well, as mature as we can expect our beloved Sunshine to be. Auri decides to play detective to solve a cold case of her own. I appreciated that most of the POVs were limited to Sunshine this time around. As much as I love Auri, I have a hard time understanding hormonal teenage moments.
I raved about A Bad Day for Sunshine last year and how much I enjoyed Sunshine and Auri’s relationship but I’m going to do it again. That mother/daughter bond gives a straight shot of cozy feels and humor. Auri’s voice definitely reads as a teenager to me and as she attempts to solve a cold case on her own, the Adult/Mom in me was incredibly tense and shouting “Don’t DO THAT!” Her nonsense and know-it-all stance has me fearing the teenage girl stage looming beyond these toddler years with new terror.
This book is essentially a muffin basket full of goodies that won’t curse us. I loved this book and I am so ready to sink into the rest of the series! I have questions that must be answered! Excuse me while I go binge more Jones books in an effort to ward off the dread that I have to wait another year for my next fresh dose of Vicram.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About Darynda Jones
NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.
