Thank you William Morrow / Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Mother-Daughter Murder Night in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: September 5, 2023
Summary:
The Maid meets The Last Thing He Told Me in this fun, fresh, and twisty debut whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio who come together as amateur sleuths to solve a murder in their coastal California town.
Nothing brings an estranged family together like a murder next door.
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepycoastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.
Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking near their bungalow. Jack quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.
With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.
My thoughts:
This is a book that grabbed my attention because I totally got Finlay Donovan vibes from it. But I also loved the comps that were being made for it – I loved both The Maid and The Last Thing He Told Me, so I figured between all three, I couldn’t go wrong…and I wasn’t disappointed. And it also just happened to be an early read selection for the @thoughtsfromapage patreon group and I loved our group chat as well as being able to hear from the author. The inspiration for this book is really something.
I loved that this book was both a mystery and a family drama. While the mystery does drive part of the story, I think the main focus is really on the family dynamics between the mothers and daughters. They all had issues in their relationships and needed to work through them, with learning to understand and forgive being at the top of the list. This is what really what kept me engaged in the story, as I found each of the three to be so well written and so realistic. I loved Lana, the matriarch of the family, the most, and felt that she really steals the show. She was fierce and formidable, feisty and downright funny at times!
I could sense the author’s appreciation for the environment, and I loved how she worked that into the story. Those early mornings on the paddleboard that Jack loves resonated deeply with me.
This was a great debut and I really enjoyed the whodunit as much as I enjoyed the family drama of the Rubicon women. I would love to see another adventure featuring these women, though I’d be just as curious to see what else this talented author has in store for us.
