After a man shows up dead; the Rubicon family is thrust into a murder mystery to clear their name, ensure their waters are safe, and ultimately to solve a good mystery.

This was enjoyable, but I did find it slow at times. The beginning had some good pace, but by the middle I was wanting to skim to the end. It was more of a slow burn and although there was focus on plot, there was also a lot of time/focus spent on the characters and their dialogue. For me, it just ended up having too much time of not much movement or forward progression; but it was well written and I think many will love this.

I loved this debut novel by @ninaksimon & the story behind her writing of this book! As an oncology nurse, I so often hear about how patients don’t want to be defined by cancer. I love that Nina & her mom wrote this book as a way to make memories together! On top of that, this is a great murder mystery that is full of twists and great comedic one liners that are timed perfectly. The story follows an estranged family, full of strong women. A cancer diagnosis brings the three women under one roof, but it is a local murder that really pulls them together. Can this trio discover who the murderer is before someone else is killed?!

Seriously, just go ahead and pre-order this one! I’ve put my order in for a physical copy!

As always, thank you @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

This was a good mystery story by Nina Simon. It is about three generations of women a mom her daughter and granddaughter who try to solve a murder mystery. Thanks William Morrow and Netgalley for my arc.

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for this arc.

I don’t read too many contemporary murder mysteries but this one sounded interesting. The dynamics of the Rubicon women caught my attention and made me want to read about them. In a way, solving the murder was kind of a side interest to watching the way Lana Rubicon power walked into a scene and grabbed it with both hands. Lana is the kind of woman who can make grown men fear and obey her and now she’s passing on some of her skills to her granddaughter – while solving a murder.

I was correct to pay more attention to the women of the book and how they go about solving the murder rather than be focused on the “who-dunnit.” The Rubicon women are tough each in their own way. Lana, as mentioned, has built her own career and makes men sweat merely at the sound of her heels coming down the hall. She’s a steamroller and lets little stand in her way. Cancer? She might be staggering a bit in exhaustion a few days after her chemo sessions but can still shove the weakness aside and pull off a power suit and designer shoes while intimidating Jack’s loser boss with a direct stare. Though I would love to believe that Lana could pull off all she does, it seems a little bit of a stretch for a woman at the end of five months of chemo.

Beth seems like the quiet, gentler one but she stuck to her guns, kept her baby, renovated her house, went to nursing school, and has raised Jack alone with no help from the father and little from her mother. She might not be able to completely rein her mother in but she can curb her a little. Beth has also dealt with the stares and comments about her biracial daughter and unlike Lana, Beth knows things can be stacked against Jack just because of the color of her skin. She is fiercely protective of her daughter but also doesn’t let Jack get away with breaking rules they’ve made.

Jack loves the slough, loves being on the water, loves seeing the natural world around her and is horrified at what her tourists found. Even after her grandmother’s spirited defense and the investigation turns away from her as “person of interest,” Jack is keen to help figure out what really happened and why. The more time she spends with Lana – or Prima as Jack calls her – the more life lessons and negotiating skills Lana imparts to her about getting men to do what you want.

These women are tough and fierce when they need to be. Do they eventually crack the case? Well, eventually. There are a plethora of possible culprits with motives, secrets, and means to have done the crime. There’s also a police detective who is determined to shoo Lana and her interference off the case. I enjoyed watching them put their skills and knowledge to work as well as following along via the clues lightly scattered along the way. The final paragraphs hint at possible future books which I would be happy to read. B

Woah! Ok, so this is on my highly anticipated read list.
And I have the opportunity to read and review it!
They had at me at….. The Maid meets The Last Thing He Told Me. Sign me up!

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon brilliantly infuses comedy and mystery into the unpredictable murder mystery.
A tightly-plotted, story, Mother-Daughter Murder Night keeps you guessing till the very last twist.
I enjoyed the laugh out loud moments, the characters and the family dynamic was so relatable.
Something about Simon’s writing made their personalities so vivid.
This was a page turner; I found it hard to put down.
The web of lies, family vendettas and mystery that is so tangled I was immediately sucked into.
This book is very well written, the pace is excellent and made for an all around phenomenal read.
A remarkable debut whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio who come together as amateur sleuths to solve a murder in their coastal California town.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and William Morrow for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
This is a fun book about college friends who remain close by getting together yearly for a “book vacation.” Friends Erica, Claudia and Anna are all turning 40, and a trip to the Maple Sugar Inn in Vermont seems like the perfect place to catch up and talk books.
Little do they know that Erica has chosen the Maple Sugar Inn for a very different reason. Each character faces a challenge and is able to overcome it with the help of good friends and family.
This book delves into what makes a family, why these relationships are so important to us and what we do when our ideas of our past are different than what we thought.
#netgalley

4.25⭐️

<i> Nothing brings an estranged family together like a murder next door. </i>

This was a fun murder mystery. It felt a bit like Gilmore Girls, if Emily channeled Jessica Fletcher. I loved the strong and quirky and complicated female characters/ dynamics, and the mystery was decently intriguing enough to sustain the story.

Thank you Nina Simon, author, William Morrow, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was nothing like what I expected from the title and description. I had high expectations, and it started out as a pretty fun read, with a fun family dynamic and mostly strong female main characters, but I quickly lost interest when it turned into a modern amateur-ish Nancy Drew type mystery.

Don’t get me wrong - I love a good mystery. This one just seemed almost like YA writing with the grandmother becoming the detective.

I ended up skimming pages because I wanted to know the outcome, but wasn’t invested enough to read it thoroughly and intently.

It was OK - just not for me.

Dysfunctional family trying to solve a murder? Sign me up! This book was great! I love the dynamics between the grandma, mom, and teenage daughter. I read it quickly as I couldn't put it down. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this intergenerational story of a grandmother/mother/daughter working together to solve a murder. I will say I had to suspend disbelief for some of this because OF COURSE you should not investigate a murder on your own but once I got beyond that I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between these three generations of women. The mystery frequently took a back seat to the dynamics between the three women, but I liked that the focus was on the women and their lives instead of only the murder. This was a lighter murder-mystery book.

The author’s note as well as the lovely author interview I participated in through Cindy’s thoughts from a page enhanced my enjoyment of this novel. Simon wrote this with her mother after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. I love the idea that writing this book gave them both something positive to focus on.

4.5 stars

This was a great debut novel from Nina Simon. It was an entertaining mystery at it's core, but it turned out to be so much more!

Lana is a powerful business woman living in LA. After a fall, she learns that she has cancer. She has to give up her high-powered life and move in with her daughter Beth and her granddaughter Jack, in a small bungalow in a secluded coastal town. Beth and her mother have always had a difficult relationship, so this makes for an interesting dynamic.

Lana is so bored and takes to looking out the window with binoculars and sees some strange activity. Then, independent teenager, Jack, discovers a dead body on one of her kayaking trips that she leads with her job at the small boat shop. Jack is quickly on the homicide detective's radar as a suspect. These strong women all band together to help solve the mystery and clear Jack's name. I loved watching all of these characters grow, heal and love each other. They are all strong women and have to really learn to put old differences in the past and work together to trust each other.

I really loved this story and was very excited to participate in an author chat with Nina. She was so kind and generous with sharing her own personal stories. I love the special connection to her Mother and how this story came about from her own experiences. Nina is such a dynamic person who has held many interesting jobs. I cannot wait to see what she brings us in the future!.

I want to give a big thank you to @ninaksimon , William Morrow, @NetGalley and Cindy from @thoughtsfromapage podcast for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Another great pick from Cindy and a wonderful author chat.

So I will say straight away, that the best me major issue I found this book is the cover. I don’t feel like it matches the tone of the book at all, and I almost passed this one up because the cover looked so boring. But, I’m so glad I didn’t, because this was such a delightful romp of a murder mystery!

A sleepy coastal town is rocked when the body of a local conservationist is found floating in the slough. And Jack, the teenage kayak guide who found him, quickly becomes the prime suspect. To clear her name, her grandma Lana commits to investigating and solving the murder herself, and her mom Beth grudgingly agrees to help. The amateur sleuthing trio encounters danger, red herrings and a whole cast of suspicious characters along their way to unmasking the true killer. I can honestly say I couldn’t figure out the ending until the very last minute! I loved the short chapters, made it easy to read in short little bites when I only had a few minutes. The middle 1/3 lagged just a little bit, but I was still engaged with the plot!

thank you to Net galley and Harper Collins for a copy of this ARC!

What happens when you merge Gilmore Girls with a murder mystery?

It was an absolute pleasure to read Nina Simon's MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, a murder mystery in which three generations of women work together to solve a puzzling death.

There's Lana Rubicon, a real estate mogul who prefers high rises and martinis to the cancer treatment she's forced to endure. Then there's her daughter, Beth, who takes in her obstinate mother for the duration of her treatment. Beth's teenaged daughter, the young but independent Jack, rounds out the trio. When Jack finds a body while kayaking, and Lana herself has spotted a curious midnight incident while bedridden, the three women work through their differences to solve the case.

I'd call this a "cozy adjacent" murder mystery. Not quite a traditional cozy mystery, but it does have a cozy feel. Set in a small, coastal town, the story is as much a mystery as an exploration of female relationships. If you normally read women's fiction, you'd also enjoy this one. And if you love the mother-daughter dynamics of Gilmore Girls, you'll find plenty to enjoy here.

As for the mystery, it wasn't my favorite—I didn't find it particularly complex, or the reveal surprising. But I did enjoy the character growth, the non-mystery plot, and the setting in Northern California.

I was drawn to the premise of this book and absolutely love the backstory behind what inspired the author to write it. There is actually a mother, daughter, and a granddaughter involved in the story which could have been wonderful. However, I was expecting (and hoping for) a lighter, fun mystery. The book is well-written, but I was disappointed there was so much conflict between the characters instead of them all working as a team. However, I think the ending is great and closes the book on a positive note. I would rate the book 3.5 stars.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from William Morrow and Scene of the Crime, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

This was a great debut novel from Nina Simon! It involves a triple-generational murder-solving team (a teenage girl with her mom and grandma), and it’s a fun cozy mystery! I suspected just about everyone at some point, but didn’t actually figure out for sure who the murderer was. The book wasn’t as funny as I was expecting given the title and description (I was thinking along the lines of Finlay Donovan or Dial A for Aunties), and there were a LOT of terms relating to land control and terrain that I wasn’t super familiar with, but I definitely still enjoyed the book!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read before pub day on September 5th!

This was the story of a single parent and her daughter who are faced with several challenges. Beth and her daughter Jack live in a small apartment within a small town when they are faced with having to take care of Beth’s mom Lana due to her recent cancer diagnosis. Lana decides to move in with her daughter so she can be cared for.
Beth’s teenaged daughter Jack works at a Kayak rental/ tour company within her town. On one of her journeys with a group, she stumbles upon a startling discovery. Someone has been murdered. When the police get involved it becomes evident that Lana, and Jack need to try to solve a murder mystery in their hometown. Although Beth chooses to take a back seat to the investigation, she is still as supportive as she can be for the sake of her daughter.
There are many questions that need to be answered to get to the bottom of things. Nina Simon has seamlessly and logically constructed this novel to satisfy the reader’s curiosity. The novel is more than just a mystery. It is a combination of family and community drama that will keep you turning the pages.
If you enjoy learning about family secrets, and following the scandals that take place in a small tight knit community, then this book is a must read.

Beth is a single mom trying to raise her daughter Jack in a small town on the ocean, until her mother calls her to ask her for help. Lana, who has never even visited Beth, now needs to come live with her and Jack while she gets treatment for cancer. If this wasn't enough of a change, Jack also gets embroiled in a murder investigation when she finds a body while working. Lana, needing a distraction from her cancer and needing a purpose, decides to help Jack by investigating the murder. Mother, daughter, and granddaughter join together to solve the crime.
This story wasn't just about murder. It was about mothers and daughters learning to rewrite their relationships. It was about understanding the past and understanding each other. It was about learning to cope with the stress of disease and putting your differences aside for a common goal.
I really enjoyed this story. On one hand it was a good quick murder mystery, similar to Murder She Wrote. On the other hand, it was a story about love and forgiveness. If you like quick reads and powerful characters, this is the book for you.
Thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow Publishing, and the Scene of the Crime Early Reads for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

A hometown mystery that three generations of women strap in to solve!

I don’t know, honestly I think I’ve just read too many “grandparents solving mysteries” and I’m starting to judge them all against each other.

This one had a beautiful setting, some interesting elements to the solve, a few dramatic scenes, and of course, some emotional undertones as mothers and daughters start to understand each other better — but in the end, it just didn’t quite stand out to me. Perfectly fine read! I wouldn’t NOT recommend, it just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley for my digital copy! Mother-Daughter Murder Night is available on Sep. 5.

3 outta 5 ⭐️

This is a very slow burn cozy mystery. It started off strong, but by the end I was ready for it to be over. This one just wasn’t for me.

I soft DNF'ed this book but there is nothing inherently wrong with it. It gave me the impression it would be cozy and similar to Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. I would definitely put it in a similar category and there were parts I enjoyed and was curious to find out what happened. I think I felt the set up was a little repetitive - you go do this with this person and find out this information... which is a logical template for this type of book I think it was just dragging a little for me. I am sure I'll pick it up again in the future and it will be satisfying!