Aberdeen Magazine Book Club

Mother-Daughter Murder Night
By Nina Simon

Three generations of women under the same quaint little roof is the perfect setting for a little family drama. Throw in a murder victim floating down the river, and a sketchy environmental land deal, you have quite a mystery to unfold. Set roughly three hundred miles north of LA in the marshes off the central coast, Mother-Daughter Murder Night uses a very casual writing style to unravel a dark mystery. Predictably this novel has smart, strong, if somewhat audacious, female characters needed to navigate the traditionally masculine world of farming, conservation law, and family trusts. But that is where the predictability ends. This mystery is no, “Murder She Wrote.” It is packed with several red herrings and a unique understanding of human behavior creating twists and turns when least expected. The family dynamics of the three main characters lead to equally humorous and touching moments. The grandmother is a 50ish LA real estate mogul and while fighting cancer, must move in with her daughter who is a nursing home/hospice nurse with a teenage daughter of her own. As the mystery unfolds, so do the family secrets, reasons behind the dysfunctional relationships, and how deep the need is for a child to gain their parent’s approval.  Simon intertwines the family drama and murder mystery so seamlessly you forget that this is a first-time author. This book is filled with good “bad guys” too. Unfortunately, the read will be over before you are ready to say goodbye to the unique cast of characters. Mother-Daughter Murder Night could easily be turned into a series or at least a Hulu movie.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
By James McBride

There is something almost comforting about a book that reminds us that we are all connected in some way. No matter the color of our skin, our street address, or cash in our wallet. We are all connected. McBride begins this charming story with a prologue set in 1972 when construction workers find a skeleton at the bottom of a well in Pottstown, Pa. The reader is then taken back in time to 1936, in a neighborhood called Chicken Hill. A neighborhood where Jews, immigrants, and African Americans all lived side by side. There is a large cast of characters whose stories intertwine and weave together the secrets and dreams of living on the outskirts of white, Christian America. Here is where they struggle and survive together with The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store being the center of the Chicken Hill community. As in all small communities there are times of strife and bickering amongst its members as well as evidence of great kindness and the innate goodness in people.

The beginning of this story introduces several characters before it reveals the more sinister plot and that might prove difficult for those readers who need action quickly or they lose interest. I can understand wanting my attention grabbed by page 5, but if you give up on this story due to its volume of characters, you will miss out on all the glory this book provides. Personally, l love a robust character with lots of layers and this book is full of them with names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, etc. This book gifts the reader with joy, grief, laughter, justice, and a sense that no matter what happens, goodness and love will always win. This is a murder mystery wrapped up in a heartwarming tale.

A special note about the author. James McBride is an accomplished Jazz musician as well as an author which could attest to his lyrical way of turning a phrase. //