Nina Quinn Books In Order

Publication Order of Nina Quinn Mystery Books

The Nina Quinn series is a series of novels by popular American mystery writer Heather Webber. Webber published the first novel in the series A Hoe Lot of Trouble in 2004. The novel proved one of her very best works attaining critical acclaim and much popularity among mystery fans all over the globe. After the success of the first novel, the novel went on to spawn six more titles by 2013. The novels are easy and quick reads that are full of likable characters and several twists that will keep the reader guessing as to who has done the crime. They are a very entertaining reads and though they center on the investigation of gruesome murders manage to come across as very humorous. Heather achieves this effect by having characters that are very quirky, relatable, and memorable even if they play secondary roles to the lead character Nina Quinn. Nina the lead is not a needy, whiny character that you would find in some cozy mysteries, and does not need the help of anyone to solve her seemingly unending personal problems. Together with her cousin, they have some kind of effrontery that is guaranteed to land just about anyone in trouble and it often ends up just like that.

The novel follows the narrative of Nina Quinn a landscaper whose specialty is surprise garden makeovers, which are typically completed in a day. At the beginning of the series, Quinn is just getting out of a very bad marriage to her unfaithful cop husband Kevin. She also lives with Riley her stepson, a very mischievous boy who gets into all kinds of illegal mischief that she often has to get him out of. Even as Quinn eventually gets a new boyfriend, her old relationship with Kevin her ex-cop husband always seem to dog her life. He is involved in her life several times in working alongside her to find a killer. While her job seems like one that would have a lot of downtime and many dull moments, it is just the opposite. Quinn is a very good landscaper and this often works to her detriment, as she is always the one called in to do some of the most unpleasant landscaping projects that turn up many literal and figurative skeletons. Being the lovable character that she is, Nina is so willing to help others with their troubles that she often finds herself caught in the crossfire taking bullets not meant for her. Her amateur sleuthing sees her stumbling into all kinds of slimy happenings, the worst of which are very convenient deaths and dead bodies.

The Nina Quinn Mysteries are fast-paced novels with good fun mysteries. What makes these novels so great is the combination of a believable and plucky protagonist who has to deal with her own personal problem in business and family, while also trying to solve a series of murders. Similar to the main character Nina Quinn, her family including her ex-cop husband and her mischievous stepson are quirky and hysterically funny blend of characters that are just delightful and frequently outrageous. The novels have been compared to the Stephanie Plum series of novels by Janet Evanovic, particularly the main character Quinn, who just like Plum has to deal with an ex-cop husband. Heather Webber writes novels full of heartwarming love stories that are full of vivid descriptions of the characters and settings. In the true fashion of historical fiction, the novels are written in the characteristic warm and engaging style, and meticulousness that is peculiar to Webber novels. The ordinary narratives of love, heartbreak, hope, and redemption that she tells have a timeless quality that is sure to delight any mystery fan.

A Hoe Lot of Trouble, the first novel in the Nina Quinn series of novels introduces the lead protagonist Nina Quinn. Quinn runs one of the best landscaping companies in her town and engages in some amateur sleuthing. At the beginning of the novel, Nina has had it with her cop husband’s unfaithfulness, and leaves him. Kevin has been having an affair with his partner and this has severely strained their marriage. Things come to a head when Nina kicks him out of their home. Her landscaping company requires a lot of her time, her troublesome stepson is up to his usual mischief, and her nosey mother is pestering her to prepare a bridesmaids dress for her sister’s wedding. She just has too much on her plate to deal with Kevin’s infidelities. But with all that she has to deal with, she notices that her gardening tools have been mysteriously disappearing. What makes it even more distressing is that some of the tools are very essential to the business and very expensive. Things get even worse when she learns that her mentor, a man who introduced her to the art of landscaping had been the victim in a gruesome murder. Nina now knows that it is up to her to dig for clues to the mysterious, frustrating, and evil happenings that seem to have descended on her small town.

Trouble in Spades, the second novel in the Nina Quinn mysteries sees trouble continue to follow Nina Quinn’s landscaping business. She is saddled with a Chihuahua that resists any attempts at housebreaking, the most terrible of stepsons, and is still recovering from a recently ended relationship with an unfaithful husband. Nina is in desperate need of a break and she believes that taking up the backyard makeover project for Nate and Maria, some of her best friends may be just what she needs. But things go haywire when Nate suddenly goes missing and Nina’s work on the project soon unearths a dead body. To complicate matters, a thief walks the neighborhood picking up anything that takes his fancy from the homes of the elderly. Nina gets home to find a suspicious package on her doorstep and soon after, yet another body turns up at the most inconvenient of times. The only way that Nina is ever going to have peace and quiet is if she can unravel and uncover some of the community’s dirties of secrets, while ensuring that she survives the endeavor.