Heather Webber – Weeding out Trouble

The fifth book in the Nina Quinn series, published July 29, 2008.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: what a sad looking dog



Landscaper Nina Quinn would do anything for her employees. After all, Taken by Surprise, her garden makeover business, wouldn't be blooming if it weren't for them. So when Kit Pipe, her right-hand handyman, goes missing, Nina immediately starts digging into his disappearance. But all she finds is Daisy Bedinghaus, Kit's ex - and she's dead as dirt.
An ex-con who'd been dumped by Daisy not long before her murder, Kit's the prime suspect. But Nina's determined to prove his innocence and nip this whole thing in the bud. After all, it'll get her out of her all-too-crowded house, where her ex-husband the cop is recovering from a gunshot wound on her couch and her thorny new stepson is giving her the evil eye. But as she comes closer to unearthing the truth, Nina will find that facing the frost in her home is nothing compared to confronting the real killer's ice-cold stare.


The fifth book already in this fun cozy mystery series. Only two more to go. And I will be very sad if I have read that last book, as I love Nina Quinn, her crazy family and her friends and neighbours. They really are a tight knit group, and most of them are very quirky.

When Nina comes home after a long day and discovers her ex-husband in her house, she is not happy. Especially when she learns he has no other place to go and recover from being shot, as his current girl friend is out of state, and he needs looking after. Her stepson Riley (who is living with her instead of with his father) implores her to let his father stay as he is all the family he has left, and so Nina doesn’t really have a choice. Lucky for her, her mother (who dislikes Kevin for cheating on her) will take care of him, so Nina won’t have to do that.

She has bigger problems. Her favourite employee is missing, and accused of murder. Nina is certain he did not do it, but he certainly has his looks working against him in this. The police seem to consider him the only real suspect, and they are tailing her wherever she goes, determined that she will lead them to Kit’s hiding place in due time.
So if the police will not even try to solve the case, it is up to Nina and her friends, including her old English teacher Ursula, to find the real killer. And there are more scary suspects to choose from …


A great mystery, a great ending and I had a lot of fun reading this book. I am happy that Nina has her own new love interest, and she can escape her full house to be with him at times. I really like him, and I am glad she turned Kevin down but good when he tried to make up with her. The louse.

It is a fun series, with really good mysteries and great characters. Recommended.

9 stars.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian