Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (Debut Mystery Novel, 2023).
This one is a solid first novel, despite a slightly misleading title. The book itself explains that years ago, then-struggling single mother Lana Rubicon and her young daughter Beth bonded over watching a classic TV murder mystery series (read the book to find out which one) and dubbed that “Mother-Daughter Murder Night.” But the book takes place in the world of today. A place where Lana is an aggressive real estate developer, long-estranged from Beth yet forced to move in with her daughter and 15-year-old granddaughter while undergoing treatment for cancer. There’s a lot of family tensions here and Lana more easily finds common cause with granddaughter Jacqueline (known by all as Jack) than with Beth.
The three generations do love each other, though and all will eventually work to solve a murder (later linked to a second death and concerning competing visions for the sale, exploitation or possible conservation of valuable coastal farm/ranch property. It could more accurately be called a “Mother-Daughter-Granddaughter Mystery” or some such. But that’s a pretty small nit to pick.
Sophisticated and hard-driving Lana is a big city fish-out-of-water in Beth’s small coastal California town. Still, she and Jack bond when the young girl happens upon a dead body when leading kayaking tourists nearby. A sexist/possibly racist fool of a detective briefly considers Jack a possible suspect, but she’s easily cleared. Bored to death during intervals between her cancer treatments, Lana seeks to find the real killer and Jack enthusiastically lends a hand. Beth is less sold on the idea, but eventually does contribute.
Together they uncover a messy family conflict, lies and land disputes in an area dominated by wealthy ranchers, fishermen and would-be conservationists. Simon paints an entertaining picture of the regional atmosphere with a knowing hand (she lives nearby). She does well in showing a lot about family dynamics, especially the conflicts between parents and their children. There’s an action-packed finale and the book’s pacing isn’t bad. It’s all set in an environment and deals with background issues that haven’t been done to death.
The eventual healing of this three-woman family’s fraught relationships is heartwarming, too–if on balance both a bit too easy and predictable.
A good, not great debut–and well worth checking out.
jimleeauthor 