A Madness of Sunshine

by Singh, Nalini

  Her art had never been a creature of sunlight.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  When I began to write this book, I realized there was so much I didn’t know.

  My first port of call was the New Zealand Police media team and they were very helpful in answering my general questions about sole charge stations and related matters. At the same time, I reached out online to the staff who run the Christchurch City Libraries/Ngā Kete Wānanga-­o-­Ōtautahi Twitter account for a piece of local knowledge, and got a cheerful and helpful response from Donna.

  Life then brought someone into my sphere who was able to answer my forensics and postmortem questions, and who was extremely giving of their time.

  I also needed help with Te Reo Māori. My friend Mihiteria King started me off by generously answering a long list of questions, then Fern Whitau helped me go deeper, most specifically into the Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu dialect, with kindness and patience. Another friend, E. V. Lind, stepped in to help me find the right person to get a piece of information I needed.

  I have to give a special ­shout-­out to Alison Shucksmith, who read a ­pre-­edited copy of this book and picked up an error I would’ve regretted very much had it gone to print.

  Thank you to each and every one of you. I very much appreciate your time and willingness to share your knowledge. If there are any mistakes in this book, they are mine. The same with any artistic license taken.

  To Cindy, Nephele, Erin, Elaine, Bridget, Rita, and Jessica, as well as all the incredible people behind the scenes at both Berkley and The Knight Agency, you’re amazing and I’m so lucky to work with you.

  To my writing friends. Thank you for being so excited about this project from the very start.

  And to my ­family—­thank you. For so much.

  Last but not least, thank you for picking up this book set in a remote part of what will be, for most of you, a distant country. Come visit. It’s lovely and dangerous and beautiful.

  —­Nalini

  ALSO BY NALINI SINGH

  Guild Hunter Series

  ANGELS’ BLOOD

  ARCHANGEL’S KISS

  ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT

  ARCHANGEL’S BLADE

  ARCHANGEL’S STORM

  ARCHANGEL’S LEGION

  ARCHANGEL’S SHADOWS

  ARCHANGEL’S ENIGMA

  ARCHANGEL’S HEART

  ANGELS’ FLIGHT

  (SHORT STORY COLLECTION)

  ARCHANGEL’S VIPER

  ARCHANGEL’S PROPHECY

  ARCHANGEL’S WAR

  Psy-Changeling Series

  SLAVE TO SENSATION

  VISIONS OF HEAT

  CARESSED BY ICE

  MINE TO POSSESS

  HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE

  BRANDED BY FIRE

  BLAZE OF MEMORY

  BONDS OF JUSTICE

  PLAY OF PASSION

  KISS OF SNOW

  TANGLE OF NEED

  HEART OF OBSIDIAN

  SHIELD OF WINTER

  SHARDS OF HOPE

  ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR

  WILD INVITATION

  (SHORT STORY COLLECTION)

  WILD EMBRACE

  (NOVELLAS COLLECTION)

  Psy-Changeling Trinity Series

  SILVER SILENCE

  OCEAN LIGHT

  WOLF RAIN

  COPYRIGHT

  First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Gollancz

  an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd

  Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  An Hachette UK Company

  Copyright © Nalini Singh 2019

  The moral right of Nalini Singh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN (Trade Paperback) 978 1 473 22953 2

  ISBN (eBook) 978 1 473 22955 6

  www.nalinisingh.com

  www.gollancz.co.uk