*Review* A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

 Genre: Police Procedural

Published: July 27, 2021

Pages: 414

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 listened to the audiobook version of this book through my library Libby account. This is my honest review. 

This is the second book in the Sunshine Vicram series and continues  the story of the Del Sol police department. It feels like it picked up pretty much where A Bad Day for Sunshine left off with the loose threads, and then added more intrigue with new crimes to solve. There seemed to be two main storylines: Sunshine's investigation and Ari's forays into finding a long ago local serial killer. But there are also still more minor problems to solve along the way.

The banter is just as great as it was in the first book, and we're treated to even more hilarious  local business signs. The relationship between Sunshine and Levi takes some turns, leading them closer together and Ari and Cruz start behaving a little more like hormonal teenagers. While some of the mysteries are wrapped up by the end of this book, there are still some loose ends hanging.

The transitions between characters' POVs wasn't as problematic for me in this book. I'm not sure if they were just done better or if I'm just getting used to how they're handled though.

Overall I give A Good Day for Chardonnay 3.9742 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

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, and her books have been translated into 17 languages. As a born storyteller, Darynda grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, certain they went away the better for it. She penned the international bestselling Charley Davidson series and is currently working on several beloved projects, most notably the Sunshine Vicram Mystery Series with St. Martin's Press and the Betwixt and Between Series of paranormal women's fiction. She lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Click here to read one of the more popular short stories by Darynda called The Monster:

https://theneverneath.com/2018/02/02/the-monster-part-1/

She can be found at http://www.daryndajones.com