A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones is currently scheduled for release on April 7 2010. This is the start of a new series- but it follows the Charlie Davidson series, but newcomes to Jones' work will be able to enjoy this new start.
Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose. Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff—an election her adorably meddlesome parents entered her in—and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it's reminding Sunny why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and Sunshine has her hands full. Enter sexy almost-old-flame Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshal, both elevens on a scale of one to blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And they said coming home would be drama-free.
A Bad Day for Sunshine is a great start to a new series, even if I kept distracting myself by trying to make connections with the previous series. Sunshine and her daughter Aurora are two snarky peas in a pod. They are both smart, good detectives, and care more than they might want to about the world around them. I liked the way the town, and its cast of characters, were introduced. I liked the way characters I thought I knew- or should know- were given the same amount of attention as those I thought were completely new. I thought the mystery of the missing girl and the escaped fugitive were very well built, and solved. I like that the characters do not take themselves too seriously and seem to understand that so much comes in shades of gray rather than simply black or white. The point of view does switch regularly between Auri and Sunshine, which was incredibly important and worked perfectly in some places. However, there were many places in which the switch was made with no division and it took me a while to figure out what was happening. I had to go back and reread a few paragraphs to figure out where the switch was made. I did enjoy the build up of the characters, the mystery, and that there were unanswered questions that left me wanting more without leaving me feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion. I look forward to continuing this series, and seeing how the connection with the prior series continue to grow.
A Bad Day for Sunshine is a good start to a series, with connections and characters Jones fans will enjoy.
