Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.
A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think: Gilmore Girls, but with murder.
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.
Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.
With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.
What a ride!
From start to finish, Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon is a fast-paced, hard-hitting whodunnit of the very highest caliber. It brings you to the edge of your seat and doesn’t let you go.
Real estate mogul Lana Rubicon’s world is completely rocked when she is diagnosed with cancer. What makes it even more upending is that she is forced to move in with her daughter and into her granddaughter’s bedroom while undergoing treatments. Far away from Lana’s familiar Los Angeles hustle and bustle, Lana’s daughter, Beth Rubicon, and granddaughter, Jacqueline, better known as Jack, live three hundred miles north of Los Angeles above Elk Horn Slough, just off Monterrey Bay.
Unable to sleep one night after treatment, Lana sees a man with a wheelbarrow dumping something near the slough. But who would be doing such a thing in the wee hours of the morning? When Jack discovers a dead body on one of her after-school kayak tours, the investigation is on. With Jack an unlikely but still a suspect, Lana dives headfirst into the investigation, seeking out clues, often placing herself in danger in the process.
Her daughter, Beth, isn’t too keen on interfering with an active police investigation, but circumstances and the effort to prove Jack’s innocence take precedence. As a full-fledged member of the investigatory process, Jack helps prove her innocence and contributes significantly to the discovery of the true murderer.
Lana Rubicon’s need to fill her time with something meaningful puts her formidable “drive” back into motion, and she proves herself even more adept at following the clues than the local authorities. When the investigation widens to include a second death, the stakes become even higher, with an iconic ranch and its future ending up in the middle of the fray.
Working together, Lana, Beth, and Jack are a daunting team that proves combining their efforts to be more beneficial, especially when the danger is heightened and the outcome and even their very lives are left in serious jeopardy.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night is a breathtaking thriller and an intriguing mystery of the greatest order. The reader takes every heart-pounding step right along with the story’s vivid, relatable, and resourceful characters, whom you find yourself rooting for the entire way. The pacing is perfect, and the scenery descriptions are so realistic you can smell the salt and brine. The book’s acknowledgments say this is Nina Simon’s first novel. However, she writes like a well-seasoned mystery author.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night isn’t just an enthralling murder mystery; it’s also a story of uncovering the mysterious ebb and flow of family relationships and how working and being together can sometimes be the best mystery of all to solve. 
Nina Simon writes crime stories about strong women. A former NASA engineer, slam poet, and museum director, Nina lives with her family in an off-grid community in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mother-Daughter Murder Night is her first novel.
