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Heather Webber’s last book in this rollicking series, TROUBLE IN SPADES, won a nomination for the Agatha last year for its humor, pacing and adorable characters. In her latest, DIGGING UP TROUBLE, Webber brings Nina Quinn back for an outing that’s just as engaging as her previous effort. Nina Quinn has a pretty interesting job. She runs a service that provides surprise garden make-overs to an upscale clientele, and she does it with a staff she’s recruited from the ex-cons her probation officer sister sends her way. As DIGGING UP TROUBLE opens, we find Nina in crisis. Her marriage to Kevin is in shambles, the divorce all but final, due in no small part due to Kevin’s continuing grief over the loss of his first wife, Leah, and his affair with his homicide detective partner, Ginger Barlow. When Nina is contacted by Kevin’s sister Lindsey about a job, she jumps on the offer, hoping to find out more about Leah’s death. It’s all just a little strange, though. Lindsey seems flighty and distracted when Nina tries to talk to her about her design plans and, worse, refuses to tell Nina anything about Leah’s death. But Nina needs the work and marshals her crew to begin the make-over. It isn’t long before Russ Grabinsky is dead of an apparent apoplectic fit he sustains when he arrives home to find Nina excavating his backyard. It turns out the property Nina’s been hired to salvage doesn’t belong to Lindsey after all. When Russ’s widow threatens to sue her, Nina is sure she’s close to losing everything she’s worked hard to build. But something seems strange about the whole situation. It seems that no one, not even the man’s widow, could stand him and as she uncovers more and more suspicious inconsistencies and coincidences, Nina becomes convinced that there was more to his death than a simple heart attack. With the help of her step-son, Riley, and her posse of ex-con staff, Nina finally gets to the bottom of the whole mess. DIGGING UP TROUBLE is a funny book with a likeable protagonist and a nicely drawn supporting cast. The solution to the murder is pretty preposterous, but don’t let that stop you from spending a few cozy hours with Nina and her crew.
Reviewed by Carroll Johnson, October 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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