My Life in Books: Book 20 - Landscaping [and Investigative] Services, Anyone?

Book 20: The Root of All Trouble by Heather Webber (aka Heather Blake)

The Root of All Trouble
(click here to purchase)

Description: WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS...
When a spring storm rolls through Freedom, Ohio, landscape designer Nina Quinn expects to get her hands dirty with the mess left behind. But after high winds uproot a tree, revealing the corpse of a man inside its rotted hollow, Nina quickly realizes that cleaning up after Mother nature's fury is the least of her worries. It soon becomes clear that there is no lack of suspects in the man's untimely death. As a shady contractor and philanderer, he'd angered a lot of people before he disappeared, including some of Nina's closest friends. With the help of her police detective ex-husband, a mysterious coroner's investigator, her ex-con employees and her zany neighbors, Nina sets out to uncover a killer...before another victim ends up planted six feet under. [Heather Webber]

To he honest, as much as I love Heather's work, I have not read any Nina Quinn novels yet. But since I received this one straight from the creator herself, and because I wanted to celebrate her new book release, I decided to jump right in. I finished the book the first day I started it because I couldn't put it down.

Now, normally I have an EXTREME-OCD issue with books where there is no possible way for me to EVER read a series out of order. Oh, the horror! What if I missed who's dating who, who did what to who, or who the hell is that?! Nope - I have always started with the very first page of the very first novel of the very first of the series in order to assure myself that I would not miss out on any detail, no matter how big or small. BUT, and this is a very big BUT, with The Root of All Trouble, I couldn't help myself.

I was immediately drawn into the story by some of Heather's outrageously funny characters. For instance, Nina Quinn, our heroine, is surrounded by a whole lot of crazy and deals with it in some pretty quirky ways. Perry and Mario, who love each other very much, seem to find that the important things in life to argue about pertain to secret admirers, home renovation (and decoration), and who gets to have the last word. Mr. Cabrera goes shakily through the novel on what appears to be an endless hangover. And Kevin, Nina's ex-husband, has again begun flirting with her, yet she's not sure she's either ready or in anticipation of that.

It seems as though this isn't the first time that Nina finds herself in the middle of a murder - even though she has nothing to do with the murders, she is very skilled at wiggling herself into the heart of an investigation. Frankly, I enjoy her enthusiasm!

I recently purchased the first of the series on my Kindle and plan to begin working through the series soon. This book (number 7!) has really pulled me in solely through the characters. When I finished the novel, I felt that one day was definitely not enough time to spend with Nina's gang.

My signed copy of
The Root of All Trouble!

*I would offer to lend out any and all books that I own, but I have a VERY strong attachment to my books. Maybe if you left something of value in my possession with you borrow it - a DNA sample, car, social security card, credit card, your child (though I don't want to be responsible (or a babysitter) to him/her, and honestly, I'm not entirely sure you would return my book and pick the mentioned child up!). Sorry! But I can lead you to specific stores and websites where you can purchase books at a discount. I buy most of my books used through Amazon, but I am a firm believer in used book shops and the rewards program through Barnes and Noble (free shipping and lower prices and B&N.com!). Or, you could check them out from that old-fashioned thing called the library, but personally, I need to purchase my own books, bestow my own energy upon them, and then keep them as trophies on my bookshelves!

Other books in the Nina Quinn series: