Expected publication date: July 27th, 2021
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.
**
I’m just going to come right out and say it-this second outing in the Sunshine Vicram was even better than the first simply because I was NOT expecting the level of emotion caused by this book! I rely on Darynda’s writing for humor and snark with a side of heart and this time it came with a big old sucker punch of sadness. There were two points where I cried big, ugly snotty tears and they both involved a certain character who is not Sun or Levi. (That’s as much as I am going to say becaise I do not want to give anything away!)
For readers that don’t care for angst, there is also a LOT of humor starting with Sun’s blind date with a pest control entrepreneur followed by her BFF Quincy’s battles with Randy the raccoon. Since all of Sun’s relationships are a potential source of levity, especially with Auri and her parents, I can safely guarantee there will be more laughs than tears! All in Del Sol is not light however, the big question spilling over from the first novel is what is the truth behind Sun’s abduction as a teenager and her daughter Auri’s father? Was Levi’s uncle Kubrick working alone, or was there another Ravinder involved? How does Levi fit in and what exactly does he know? I can assure you that we actually get some of the answers in this book, but there are always more mysteries to be found when Sun is involved!
First Levi is injured at the Roadhouse Bar and Grill going to the aid of an old friend who is somehow connected to an old case of a kidnapped boy Sun had never been able to solve. Then Auri and her friends Sybil and Cruz throw themselves into an investigation of an old series of missing person cases, plus toss in a hitman and a secret cabal responsible for running the town…one thing you can be sure of is that a sheriff’s work is never done in Del Sol! (Especially a sheriff who still has no idea why her parents schemed to get her elected, and whose best friend iis hiding a big secret from her!)
Darynda deftly weaves the many plot points and a large cast of secondary characters into an entertaining and at times heartwrenching tale that is sure to please her longtime fans and hopefully bring in new ones. (Definitely read ‘A Bad Day for Sunshine’ first!!) A third in the series has not been announced yet, but there absolutely has to be one because there is more we need to know about the residents of this quirky town!
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this early!!