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Nina Quinn #6
Trouble Under the Tree
When landscape designer Nina Quinn agrees to deck the halls of Christmastowne, an indoor Christmas village, little did she know how dirty the job would be.
Christmastowne has been plagued by mishaps. Someone’s stealing toy donations, cutting lines to the security system, starting fires, and poisoning the poinsettias. Worst of all, Nina’s neighbor, Fairlee McCorkle (aka Mrs. Claus) is found murdered under Christmastowne’s enormous decorated tree.
The deeper Nina digs for clues to unwrap a killer, the more she discovers that some secrets are best left buried in the past.
Christmastowne has been plagued by mishaps. Someone’s stealing toy donations, cutting lines to the security system, starting fires, and poisoning the poinsettias. Worst of all, Nina’s neighbor, Fairlee McCorkle (aka Mrs. Claus) is found murdered under Christmastowne’s enormous decorated tree.
The deeper Nina digs for clues to unwrap a killer, the more she discovers that some secrets are best left buried in the past.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2011
44 people are currently reading
612 people want to read
About the author
Heather Webber
29 books4,134 followersUSA Today bestselling author Heather Webber loves to read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, and bake. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and is hard at work on her next book. *Heather also writes under the pen name Heather Blake.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 14, 2018
A great addition to this older series. Love that all the fun, recurring characters continued to play a big part in the stories.
Unfortunately, the series ended after the next book (which I had read out of order), so have completed the whole thing now.
I have starting following the same author's Wishcraft series (written as Heather Blake) and need to get back to her Lucy Valentine series, as well. But will definitely miss reading about Nina and the gang.
Unfortunately, the series ended after the next book (which I had read out of order), so have completed the whole thing now.
I have starting following the same author's Wishcraft series (written as Heather Blake) and need to get back to her Lucy Valentine series, as well. But will definitely miss reading about Nina and the gang.
November 24, 2020
What an entertaining way to spend an afternoon! This fast-paced story features a fun heroine, Nina Quinn, whose landscape company has just finished a big project for a retail center called Christmastowne. But the grand opening is plagued by a series of mishaps and oh—a body found under the 30 ft. Christmas tree! 😯 What a fascinating fusion of mystery, humor, and heart! The characters in this book are so great, most of them delightful, some of them obviously not so nice! The dialogue is so witty and the plot full of surprises—I’d be giggling on one page, and shocked on the next! Note to Heather Webber—my maiden name is Walters, but I’m nothing like those sisters!
March 4, 2023
This is the 6th in the series and they just keep getting better and better. I love the humor in this one and the banter back and forth between the characters. I found myself staying up late to finish.
It's winter, which means there's not a lot of work for Nina and her team at Taken By SUprise, a landscaping company that specializes in one day landscaping jobs. She has agreed to do the indoor landscaping for Christmastowne, an indoor Christmas market owned by Benny and Jenny Christmas. Benny is a pro athlete who has experienced debilitating injuries after a car accident.
Christmastowne is plagued with mishaps from the beginning, from poisoned pointsettas to severed Christmas lights. Riley, who is working at Christmastowne, notices that presents have started disappearing. Mini fires are breaking out in the Gingerbread decorating shop, Santa is drunk and Mrs. Clause keeps groping the elves. Kevin agrees to work as an elf so he can keep an eye on things. This book had me laughing out loud. When a body is found under the tree, Nina realizes that things have gotten serious. She starts investigating, despite Kevin's protests.
Nina is going through a bunch of personal issues with her family, and fiance, Bobby. I love this series and I am super bummed that the next book is the last.
It's winter, which means there's not a lot of work for Nina and her team at Taken By SUprise, a landscaping company that specializes in one day landscaping jobs. She has agreed to do the indoor landscaping for Christmastowne, an indoor Christmas market owned by Benny and Jenny Christmas. Benny is a pro athlete who has experienced debilitating injuries after a car accident.
Christmastowne is plagued with mishaps from the beginning, from poisoned pointsettas to severed Christmas lights. Riley, who is working at Christmastowne, notices that presents have started disappearing. Mini fires are breaking out in the Gingerbread decorating shop, Santa is drunk and Mrs. Clause keeps groping the elves. Kevin agrees to work as an elf so he can keep an eye on things. This book had me laughing out loud. When a body is found under the tree, Nina realizes that things have gotten serious. She starts investigating, despite Kevin's protests.
Nina is going through a bunch of personal issues with her family, and fiance, Bobby. I love this series and I am super bummed that the next book is the last.
December 22, 2021
I have read other Webber books and really enjoyed them....this one had too many unknown characters from the beginning without any way to connect who was who. I barely made it through.
June 24, 2013
I enjoyed this book so much that I couldn't put it down. I finished it in a few days. Nina gets herself into a lot of different "situations" that would make the typical person go crazy. She deals with a lot of ups and downs in this book. As always Heather Webber leaves up wanting more, with the cliffhanger that she leaves at the end. Argh, I don't want to wait for the next book! As I've said before, this author is funny, really funny. If you have read a book or more of this series or any of Heather Webber's books. I guarantee you will enjoy this book. The next and most recent release from this series is called The Root of All Trouble.
September 21, 2024
EZ reading with a Christmas setting. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the characters and their contributions to the story to make it a cohesive mystery story. There are many instances of humor through the entire book as you look into the life of Nina Quinn and her circle of family and friends. The fact that a body dressed as Mrs Clause is discovered under a giant Christmas tree at the grand opening of a Christmas village is enough to peek your interest. I enjoyed the mother who works to make her Christmas decorations to be lovely and perfect and goes crazy when a Snoopy Woodstock blow up snow globe appears in her front yard. I enjoyed Nina who seems to always find her self finding bodies - in this book and past books. A tiny bit of romance, good guys are not always good and bad guys are not all bad, and an open ended ending all leads to a fun, fast, reading experience that makes you want to read some of the other books in this series of mystery books.
July 13, 2019
This book was enjoyable but maybe a tad on the outskirts of cozy-town. It had several different mysteries throughout - a couple dealing with the close-knit family of the main character in addition to the main storyline. And as you can probably figure out from the cover and the title, it takes place at Christmas. While it can be read as a stand-alone, it contains quite a few references to previous books in the series.
May 18, 2021
As much as I liked the story, I was real sad to see Bobby leave. It seems that Nina finally found the guy who would make her truly happy and it seems like all the obstacles came full force to keep them apart. It would be nice if Brickhouse and Donatelli tied the knot. It was real nice of Nina to give her getaway to them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2020
I enjoyed this book immensely even though it was a holiday book.
April 27, 2021
Predictable, but very cute. Just the kind of pick-me-up read I needed.
November 7, 2022
4 1/2 stars
January 6, 2012
Heather Webber’s TROUBLE UNDER THE TREE is a delightful page-turner with a witty amateur sleuth in Nina Quinn.
The holidays are stressful, and it’s even more so for Nina Quinn. She’s working long hours on decking out Christmastowne, her fiancé is out of town helping his ailing mother, and she may have lingering feelings about her ex-husband. When a string of incidents occur at Christmastown, it’s up to Nina Quinn to dig through the dirt and lies to solve not only Christmas capers, but also a murder, or two.
TROUBLE UNDER THE TREE yanks the reader into the story with the wonderful voice of Nina Quinn. She’s sarcastic, witty, and a wonderfully well-written character within an amazing supporting cast. Each character is different and makes their mark. The plot is fast-paced. For a mystery, Webber does well in dropping hints of some secrets but still leaving some big surprises for the end. Since this is a book in the Nina Quinn series, backstory and re-telling who characters are and hinting at the previous books are used. Personally, I could’ve done without these tidbits and still enjoyed and understood the story, but it didn’t affect my love for it either.
After reading TROUBLE UNDER THE TREE by Heather Webber, I want to run out and read the rest of the Nina Quinn series. Be prepared to dig right in!
The holidays are stressful, and it’s even more so for Nina Quinn. She’s working long hours on decking out Christmastowne, her fiancé is out of town helping his ailing mother, and she may have lingering feelings about her ex-husband. When a string of incidents occur at Christmastown, it’s up to Nina Quinn to dig through the dirt and lies to solve not only Christmas capers, but also a murder, or two.
TROUBLE UNDER THE TREE yanks the reader into the story with the wonderful voice of Nina Quinn. She’s sarcastic, witty, and a wonderfully well-written character within an amazing supporting cast. Each character is different and makes their mark. The plot is fast-paced. For a mystery, Webber does well in dropping hints of some secrets but still leaving some big surprises for the end. Since this is a book in the Nina Quinn series, backstory and re-telling who characters are and hinting at the previous books are used. Personally, I could’ve done without these tidbits and still enjoyed and understood the story, but it didn’t affect my love for it either.
After reading TROUBLE UNDER THE TREE by Heather Webber, I want to run out and read the rest of the Nina Quinn series. Be prepared to dig right in!
January 7, 2013
Every Heather Webber book I read seems a little bit better than the last. She is definitely my favorite cozy writer (and one of my favorite writers, period!). I love everything about her stories - the plots keep me guessing, the side characters are fun and interesting, and I adore Nina (the main character). There's usually a hint of romance, which works perfectly for me as well.
I had one minor quibble, and it was that I figured out what was going on at her parents' house from the first time it was mentioned.
I had one minor quibble, and it was that I figured out what was going on at her parents' house from the first time it was mentioned.
December 12, 2013
Nina Quinn has taken a job during the Christmas season preparing an indoor "Christmastowne" - a place created by an old schoolmate that will be themed that way all year round. Usually, Nina and her crew do their landscaping outside, but this was a chance to keep everyone on the payroll during the off-season.
Weird things keep happening at the site, and even Nina's stepson thinks there is something wrong about the place. When a body turns up under the big tree during the lighting ceremony, Nina decides to investigate. Between this series of events, someone sabotaging her mother by placing inflatables on her lawn and rooftop (which offends her sensibilities), and mysterious behavior by her only sister, Nina has a lot going on. Her fiance also seems to have become uninterested, and she can't decide how that makes her feel.
Not great literature, but a fun holiday read. I enjoyed it.
Weird things keep happening at the site, and even Nina's stepson thinks there is something wrong about the place. When a body turns up under the big tree during the lighting ceremony, Nina decides to investigate. Between this series of events, someone sabotaging her mother by placing inflatables on her lawn and rooftop (which offends her sensibilities), and mysterious behavior by her only sister, Nina has a lot going on. Her fiance also seems to have become uninterested, and she can't decide how that makes her feel.
Not great literature, but a fun holiday read. I enjoyed it.
October 9, 2023
Loved it! For some reason, I thought this book was a novella so I did not rush to read it. Sad for me because that means I read it out of order. As always, there is silly fun and really delightful fun. The mystery was complicated enough that I did not figure it out; I just suspected everyone. I did guess the prankster before the end and loved who it was. I especially appreciate that there is growth and character development in each book of the series. I do hope there are more books in this series but the last one so far was handled so well that I wouldn't feel cheated if it didn't continue, just heartbroken.
November 18, 2024
When landscape designer Nina Quinn agrees to deck the halls of Christmastowne, an indoor Christmas village, little did she know how dirty the job would be.
Christmastowne has been plagued by mishaps. Someone’s stealing toy donations, cutting lines to the security system, starting fires, and poisoning the poinsettias. Worst of all, Nina’s neighbor, Fairlee McCorkle (aka Mrs. Claus) is found murdered under Christmastowne’s enormous decorated tree.
The deeper Nina digs for clues to unwrap a killer, the more she discovers that some secrets are best left buried in the past.
Christmastowne has been plagued by mishaps. Someone’s stealing toy donations, cutting lines to the security system, starting fires, and poisoning the poinsettias. Worst of all, Nina’s neighbor, Fairlee McCorkle (aka Mrs. Claus) is found murdered under Christmastowne’s enormous decorated tree.
The deeper Nina digs for clues to unwrap a killer, the more she discovers that some secrets are best left buried in the past.
August 5, 2012
Although I only gave it 3 of 5 stars the first read, I enjoyed it a lot this time and upped the rating to 4 of 5 stars. I think I gave it the lower rating before because I wasn't happy about Bobby at the time; however, it didn't bother me as much this time. I loved the mystery Christmas decor that kept showing up at her mom's house. Christmastown was a bit over the top.
March 25, 2012
Oh my gosh was this good. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series to see what's happening in Nina's love life and with everybody else in her family. I again, never guessed the killer. Didn't even suspect. Another great book by Heather Webber.
December 11, 2011
This was a great read, as are all of Heather's books!
September 4, 2014
We are back in Nina Quinn's world in a holiday story. Of course there is a murder that Nina becomes involved in solving. Great story.
February 7, 2012
good book, but didn't like ending.
August 2, 2012
I love this series-- looking forward to more!
February 11, 2014
Solid Nina Quinn; good. Nothing too exciting but it was a good read.
March 25, 2013
loved this book. best one yet... cant wait till the next!!
March 12, 2013
Great book and great series. I can't wait for more. I really need to retread the series so I can write a better review.
April 14, 2014
Same loveable Nina. I'm not sure how I feel about Bobby.
June 24, 2014
Love Love Loved this book. Nina is always a hoot!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews