Reese Witherspoon has selected Nina Simon’s Mother-Daughter Murder Night as the latest pick for her popular book club.
Simon’s mystery novel, published Tuesday by William Morrow, follows a teenage girl who discovers a dead body and becomes a suspect in the murder. She, her mother and her grandmother then launch their own investigation into the crime. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Nancy Drew meets Columbo in this feisty-female–driven whodunit.”
Witherspoon announced the novel’s selection in a video posted on Instagram, saying, “OK, September means back to school, but it’s also a great time to pick up a good book … I just loved how intriguing the mystery was, but also the dynamics between a grandmother, a mother and a daughter, a teenage daughter.”
Mother-Daughter Murder Night is the first novel by Simon, who has worked as a NASA engineer, museum director, and nonprofit CEO. On her website, she explained the inspiration for her novel: “Writing a novel was never on my todo list. Then, in 2020, my mom got diagnosed with advanced cancer. I quit my job to help care for her. My mom and I have always enjoyed reading mysteries, so we started imagining one that featured characters a bit like us—hardworking California women trying to balance professional ambition and motherhood.”
Her mother, she added, is now doing well.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
