Book Review: The Nina Quinn Mysteries by Heather Webber

 

The Nina Quinn Mysteries

by Heather Webber

I enjoyed that last book I read by Heather Webber that I went right back looking for more by her. I was pleased to find she has written many other books, both magical realism and cozy mysteries. The magical realism cost considerably more than the mysteries so I went for the first in her Nina Quinn mystery series and it did not disappoint.

There are half a dozen books and a two weeks later I’ve already read five of them. I’m not sure how that happened.

A Hoe Lot of Trouble

Trouble in Spades

Digging up Trouble

Trouble in Bloom

Weeding out Trouble

Trouble Under the Tree

The Root of All Trouble

The only thing keeping me from jumping right into that 6^th book is the fact that Jenny Lawson’s latest book, Broken in the Best Possible Way, came out and my husband has already read it. I figured I better get on it before he couldn’t contain himself any longer and started leaking spoilers.

In fact, I’ve already bought the sixth and am looking forward to it once I finish laughing until I can’t breathe and sniffling over Jenny Lawson’s book.

Why am I enjoying the Nina Quinn Mysteries so much? What’s not to love? They are the perfect cozy mystery. They have a strong female lead, literally, because Nina runs a landscaping business.

There are great side characters – from her soon to be cop ex-husband, who is not remorseless and is not a total waste of space, to her stepson, to the ex-cons who work in her landscaping business, each one a fantastic character in their own right, and her family. Oh, plus, the octogenarians who live in her neighborhood. Plus, each of the characters has evolved over the series. They aren’t the exactly the same people we meet in the beginning. Her main foreman, Kit, at the landscaping business is a huge, shaved-headed, skull-tattooed, tough guy with a heart of gold whose girlfriend won’t let him have a dog. With characters like that, how can you go wrong?

The mysteries can be serious but at the same time there are humorous little mysteries running throughout the series. One great example is in the sixth book when someone keeps putting cheerfully tacky and BIG Christmas decorations on her mother’s lawn or house. Her mother is freaking out over it so Nina sets out to discover who is doing it. At the same time, there is a much more serious murder mystery taking place.

This series has just been the best possible escapist cozy mysteries. It doesn’t demand too much of you, you can just go along for the ride, and it’s a fun one, I promise.