Review of "Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel of Suspense" by Nina Simon

 

 

Beth Rubicon and her 15-year-old daughter Jacqueline (Jack) live in a little house beside Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay, California.



Beth is a nurse in a long-term care facility.....





.....and Jack is a high schooler who works part-time for the Kayak Shack, as a kayak tour guide on the slough.





Beth's mother Lana Rubicon lives in Los Angeles, 300 miles south of Monterey Bay. Lana is a commercial real estate mogul who doesn't 'do sick', so Lana's shocked to learn she has several brain tumors that need to be removed ASAP.



Lana and Beth have had a distant relationship for many years, but with her health crisis, Lana reaches out to Beth for help. The upshot is that Beth convinces Lana to have surgery at Stanford, and to recuperate at Beth's home in Monterey Bay. Thus Lana is soon on her way north, with five overstuffed suitcases and a box of files and legal pads.



Four months later, post-surgery, Lana has taken over her granddaughter Jack's room, and is undergoing chemotherapy. By now Lana has lost her position as a Los Angeles real estate shark, and she's frustrated and bored. To fill her time, Lana has taken to gazing out at the slough with her binoculars, watching the people and wildlife.

Very late one night, Lana sees a man on the far side of the slough, dumping something from a wheelbarrow. It strikes Lana as odd, but for the moment, Lana doesn't think much about it. Little does Lana know, this is a harbinger of things to come.



A couple of days later, Jack has the 11:00 A.M. shift as a kayak tour guide, and during the trek, a body is discovered at the side of the slough. 'There, floating in the muck was a person. A mud-covered balloon of a person. Facedown in the water. Not moving, wearing a red Kayak Shack life jacket.' Jack tries to help, to no avail. The person is identified as land trust surveyor Ricardo Cruz.....who was murdered.



Before long, police detectives come to Jack's home to interview her. The questions are aggressive, and Jack's grandmother Lana (whom Jack calls Prima) realizes the cops suspect Jack of killing Cruz. So Prima, who needs something to do with her time, decides to find the murderer herself.



Beth becomes very concerned about the entire situation. She wants her daughter Jack to be found blameless, but she doesn't want her mother Lana looking for a murderer. As it turns out, Jack is quickly cleared of suspicion, but Prima is on a roll, thinking of the case as 'her investigation.'

From this point on, there's no holding Lana back. She makes good use of her womanly wiles, designer clothes, elegant wigs, and 4-inch-heels to bedazzle men, and worm out the information she needs.



Prima also gets Beth and Jack to help with the inquiries, and the threesome discover there may well have been a second murder, disguised as a natural death. There are also shenanigans concerning the land around the slough, which could well be a motive for murder.



The joint sleuthing draws the three gals into danger, and also brings them closer as a family, and seals their bond.

The story has the wonderful ambiance of coastal California, and the descriptions of the slough, with the tides and currents that move a body here and there, are fascinating.



This hybrid thriller/cozy mystery is a fine debut novel for author Nina Simon. Recommended to suspense fans.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jane Oppenheimer, who does a fine job.

 Rating: 3.5 stars