Thoroughly charming - a mystery, a multi-generational family saga, an environmental bent - all the details add up to make this book a winner! Looking forward to Simon's next!

What is your favorite book or movie that explores mother and daughter relationships?

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon is a delightful new novel that explores mother and daughter relationships during a murder investigation. Lana Rubicon runs a powerful real estate empire in Los Angeles. After she finds out she has cancer, needs treatment, and help, she moves in with her estranged daughter, Beth, and granddaughter, Jack in a coastal city three hundred miles north of LA. While her relationship with Jack strengthens, Beth and Lana remain at odds. Jack discovers a dead body while leading a tour group on a kayaking trip for her job, and quickly becomes the prime suspect. Lana pushes all of her energy into solving this mystery to help her granddaughter. Will she be able to solve this mystery and repair her relationship with her daughter?

I was not sure what to expect when I started reading Mother-Daughter Murder Night. Were the mother and daughter committing murders, victims of murders, what exactly did the title mean? The title is a memory that Lana and Beth have of watching crime shows together for a mother-daughter murder night. Lana wishes she could bring those happy times back by solving this mystery. I loved that.

This novel was all about family dynamics and relationships. I loved the characters, especially strong-willed Lana and her equally strong-willed granddaughter Jack. I felt at one with frazzled mom Beth trying to keep it all together. I loved these relationships and would really enjoy seeing this book made into a movie. The humor was fun throughout this book as well.

I enjoyed the cozy mystery aspect of this novel as well and wanted to know how it would end. I did guess the ending, but I enjoyed the journey getting there.

This is author Nina Simon’s debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. I thought it was touching to find out in the acknowledgement section that Nina wrote this novel with her own mother as a project to divert them from her mother’s cancer and treatment.

Book Source: Review copy from NetGalley and William Morrow Books. Thank-you! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fantastic. I’m usually more into a thriller/suspense rather than cozy mystery, but I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great, the storyline moved well, there were lots of twists. Just all around good book!

An excellent read about mother-daughter relationships with a murder thrown in just to keep things interesting! A fish out of water tale starts when Lana, a smart, high powered real estate broker in Los Angeles, is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and has to move in with her estranged daughter, Beth, in a small coastal village. Lana has a Rear Window moment when she sees something suspicious through her binoculars, and shortly afterward, her granddaughter, Jack, is leading a kayak tour where a dead body is discovered. The environment plays an important role in this whodunit, as well as family. Highly recommended.

A generational family story focused on murder next door? Sign me up! Though there was complicated mother-daughter relationships in this book, that only added to the story and felt very cohesive to the mystery going on around them. I loved the characters and how different they were.

I really enjoyed this story. I didn’t like Lana at first, but she really grew on me as the book went on. Jack was my favorite character though. She was so strong for a 15 year old! I suspected quite a few people of being the murderer, except the actual murderer! I appreciate when that happens.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nina Simon and William Morrow for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I knew I was going to like this book when I’m the first chapter the character just wants a Diet Coke - me too girl. Me too. This was such an interesting take on a mystery and I would definitely read another by this author.

I thought this was a creative idea for a novel and I loved that it was a tribute to her mother. The debut author definitely captured the characters of the three women, and I loved seeing their dynamic change with time. The story started out slow and meandered a bit, and occasionally lost itself in details and dialogue. However, solid work from a debut author. 3.5/5

Beth and her mother Lana don’t have the closest of relationships, but when Lana gets a devastating medical diagnosis, Beth, a nurse, pulls some strings and gets her the finest of care…but her recovery is now taking place in Beth’s home with her daughter, Jack. Living in Elkhorn Slough, Jack works as a guide for canoe excursions and is an avid paddle boarder. When a body is found floating face down in the slough by a member of her excursion, fingers are pointed everywhere but where they should be. When Jack herself comes under suspicion, Lana starts her own investigation. Beth isn’t too happy with the investigation especially with the way she’s been rearranging her life. Beth recently lost one of her favorite residents at work and Lana starts to wonder if the two deaths could somehow be connected. As the investigation continues Beth finally joins in … if you can’t beat them, join them. The closer they get to the truth, the more danger they are in, will they be able to solve the mystery and repair their past relationship in the process, or is it much too late? Simon writes not only a well executed murder mystery, but a novel about the complexities of a mother daughter relationship and knits the two together seamlessly. Thank you to HarperCollins for an ARC of this book.

This was so smart and so entertaining! Who doesn't love a little dark humor with their murder read? I really loved the plot and characters in this one. If you love a female cast, pick this up!

I selected MOTHER -DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT for my book club and overall the readers felt it was enjoyable, if a little silly. I enjoyed the characters and the situations more after speaking to the author Nina Simon, about the circumstances that inspired the book. I truly liked and cared for all three female protagonists- and agree with the Gilmore Girls reference in the notes- but I wasn't wholly prepared for it to feel so much like a cozy mystery. I think the cover would have been more apt to show a woman in binoculars in a kayak eating popcorn, than the cover that suggested a darker thriller. Overall, enjoyable, but I like my mysteries less fluffy.

I really thought I would enjoy this one - it kind of fell flat for me - It kind of drags and I had to struggle to get myself to pick it up and finish it, The characters weren't really likeable to me except for maybe Jack. There are plenty of good reviews out there so I seem to be in the minority on this one.

3. 75 stars rounded up! This was a charming and entertaining mystery novel from first time author, Nina Simon. The mother and daughter in mother daughter murder night are Lana and Beth Rubicon but also Beth‘s daughter, Jack. Laura and Beth have had an estranged relationship since Beth got pregnant as a teen and left for Northern California , Lana comes to live with Beth and Jack when she’s diagnosed with cancer and needs help. While all this is going on in their lives, Lana, up late one night due to her cancer treatments, accidentally witnesses what she thinks could be a murderer, dumping a body. Desperate to give herself something to hold onto in the middle of all the chaos of her life, Lana decides to investigate the murders happening around them. This was an entertaining read, but what I enjoyed more than the murder investigation was the dynamic between the three women. I would definitely read another novel about the Rubicon family.

When dark comedy meets murder mystery with strong female leads, you get Mother-Daughter Murder Night! While the family dynamics were a much stronger aspect than the murder mystery part, both aspects played an important role in story. I wish they was more of a cozy vibe from the “cozy mystery” this was supposed to be, and since it wasn’t exactly a thriller, the book fell a little short. The characters kept to story going for me though. If mother-daughter relationship wasn’t as great as it was I may have DNF’d it. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This is a really difficult book to review. Even though this novel centers around a murder mystery, the book is not really about that. The focus of this book is around the relationships of 3 generations of women. It's about how difficult mother-daughter relationships can be and how powerful they are. The strength of this book is completely in how well each of these characters is developed. I loved all 3 of the main women in this book, Nina, Beth and Jack. They were so vastly different yet I could see myself in each of them.

The biggest weakness of this novel is the plot. The murder isn't well crafted and it's neither cozy or suspenseful. It feels almost like an afterthought, which I was really disappointed by. Overall, it's a fine novel, but I hope Nina Simon manages to polish the craft of plot development since she already can craft excellent characters.

Unique set of characters: grandmother, mother and daughter. Lana Rubicon has built a a high powered real estate empire in L.A. She finds herself in her daughter's little town and she is bored. Then a local boy finds a dead body while kayaking. The mystery begins and Lana turns detective to solve the murder and protect her family. In this book the women of the Rubicon family have to work together and depend on each other. A new concept for them.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery novel wrapped up in a family story.
The story opens with Beth burying a body, but it isn't what you think! Her teen daughter, Jack, works at a kayaking club, and is called to the scene of a dead body. Meanwhile, Lana, Beth's mom, finds out she has brain tumors. So, Lana comes to live with Beth and Jack. Since Lana can't run her business while convalescing, she decides to solve the murder mystery, and to protect her granddaughter.
Beth and Lana are at odds with each other. Lana has never visited them before, and now is changing Beth's home decor.
This story bonds the 3 women and also uncovers a shady and greedy person intent on taking control.
Enjoyable story.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night was an excellent book. I would classify this book as a cozy mystery, and just as the publisher marketed it--"Gilmore Girls," but with murder. If you are looking for a fun read, this is it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this cozy murder mystery that focused on the "whodunit" mystery, but also the relationships of three generations of women. Lana was a fabulous character, and I really loved how the story unfolded. The ending was satisfying, and overall this was a very enjoyable read!

Sadly this was far too slow and meandering to really get me hooked and exciting. After almost 100 pages in I still didn’t find myself invested in the crime of whodunnit.