A Good Day for Chardonnay

February 1, 2021

Jones moves on from her "Charley Davidson" series in this second outing for Sunshine Vicram, a small-town New Mexicochief of police who loves coffee, donuts, and wine (see the title). Here, she wrestles with a nasty bar fight, her teenage daughter's pursuit of a serial killer, and her own queasy attraction to bad-boy distiller Levi Ravinder. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 10, 2021
In bestseller Jones’s entertaining sequel to 2020’s A Bad Day for Sunshine, multiple crimes keep intrepid Sunshine Vicram, the sheriff of the sleepy tourist town of Del Sol, N.Mex., on her toes. Sunshine and Chief Deputy Quincy Cooper are called to the Roadhouse Bar and Grill to investigate the near-fatal stabbing of survivalist Keith Seabright, whose life was saved by the intervention of Levi Ravinder, Sunshine’s “former—and admittedly current—crush.” Soon crimes are popping up at every turn, including kidnapping, murder, fraud, and evidence tampering. Meanwhile, Sunshine’s teenage daughter is certain she has discovered the identity of a local serial killer, “half the town is confessing to a fifteen-year-old murder,” and the mayor is demanding that Sunshine investigate the possibly mythical Dangerous Daughters, “who secretly run the town behind everyone’s back, including the city council’s.” Snappy dialogue and appealing characters enhance the crazy, stop-and-go plot, and a bit of a cliffhanger points to more fun ahead. Fans of zanier mysteries will welcome Sunshine’s further adventures. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM Partners.

Starred review from June 1, 2021
The continuing adventures of a conflicted New Mexico sheriff and her daughter, who's too smart for her own good. Sunshine Vicram was abducted for five days as a teen and then, nine months later, delivered a daughter who's both the delight of her life and the bane of her existence. Sunshine's been in love with Levi Ravinder, her kidnapper's nephew, her whole life. Levi's risen above his family's criminal background to become a wealthy man, but unanswered questions about the kidnapping keep them apart. Because large chunks of her memory of the event are still missing, Sunshine's still working to unearth her past even as she takes on cases plaguing the little town of Del Sol, the latest a near-fatal stabbing in which Levi intervened and was hit by the suspect's pickup truck. Sunshine doesn't know that the incident will give her a lead in the disappearance of a young boy, a case she worked while a police officer in Santa Fe. And she's not the only hard worker. Fifteen-year-old fireball Auri, who wants to be just like her mom, is scrutinizing an old woman she thinks is a serial killer. The investigation lands her and Cruz De Los Santos, the young man she loves, into deep trouble. Sunshine's past, present, and future are all at stake as she struggles to unravel a tangled web of deceit. A hilarious amalgam of mystery, hot sex, and comedy of errors. Can't wait for the next episode.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 20, 2021
Sheriff Sunshine Vicram (introduced in A Bad Day for Sunshine, 2021) hunts three strangers who attempted to kill Del Sol, Arizona local, Keith Seabright. Levi Ravinder, Seabright's closest friend and Sunshine's constant distraction, throws a wild card into the works by tracking the men himself. It's the worst possible time for her teenage daughter, Auri, to court danger with her own investigation into a possible octogenarian serial killer. Sun is rewarded for these struggles by clues to her forgotten past when Levi's uncle, Wynn, confesses that he was the shadowy figure she remembers rescuing her from a kidnapper fifteen years ago. Answers in all of these events spark more questions, steamy confrontations, and Sun's realization that her beliefs about Auri's conception are way off base. Del Sol is the kind of town that readers love to visit, with quirky, tight-knit residents and good-guy cops taxed with puzzling crimes a smidge more than average. Sunshine Vicram's second adventure carries on with her debut's quirks and romantic tension, raised by a compelling dose of character evolution.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.