Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Nina Quinn #3

Digging Up Trouble

Rate this book
Digging Her Own Grave

Landscaper Nina Quinn makes her living from surprise garden makeovers. It's not her fault that someone duped her into digging up the wrong yard. And she certainly can't be blamed when her handiwork turns the unsuspecting real owner apoplectic and he drops dead from a heart attack . . . can she? Nina's got enough trouble already, with her divorce from faithless hubby Kevin nearing completion and her unruly stepson up to his teenage neck in possibly illegal mischief. Now she's in danger of losing her business! But there's something screwy about this rather convenient "accidental" death of a man whom apparently no one could stand -- not even the "grieving" widow who's threatening to sue Nina's overalls off. To save her livelihood -- and her skin -- Nina's going to have to dig deeper into the dirt than she ever has before . . . and see what sort of slimy secret things crawl out.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 28, 2006

82 people are currently reading
648 people want to read

About the author

Heather Webber

29 books4,138 followers
USA 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.

Facebook author page:
Heather Webber Facebook

Facebook Bookaholics Group: Heather Blake Webber Bookaholics


Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
253 (29%)
4 stars
366 (42%)
3 stars
214 (24%)
2 stars
27 (3%)
1 star
5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
Profile Image for Linda.
2,265 reviews57 followers
November 21, 2022
While I really like the characters in this series one of my favorite parts is the setting since it takes place where I live. Some real twists and turns in this one and I enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Jeannie and Louis Rigod.
1,991 reviews39 followers
September 7, 2010
I began reading about Nina Quinn years ago with the first novel "A Hoe Lot of Trouble" and loved it. I had lost sight of the novelist until I was lucky enough to be re-introduced to her via a reading group. Then Ms. Webber wrote a new series about Lucy Valentine and I fell in love again.

So, being confused I ordered the original series out of order. So, This is the third book and guess what? I love it. Nina Quinn is a hard-working, reality based person who happens to find bodies in the most unique ways.

I would love to be counted a friend among her group in the book. Her employees have the most fascinating pasts and her family is family.

Do yourself a treat and read this series from start to finish or even re-read them. Then go and read all the other books Ms. Heather Webber has written.
Profile Image for Connie N..
2,746 reviews
February 7, 2024
#3 in the Nina Quinn cozy mystery series

After beginning a new job at the home of her ex's family's home, Nina is confronted by the real homeowner and realizing that she's been duped into working on the wrong house. Unfortunately, the homeowner is upset enough that he has a heart attack, and his wife threatens to sue Nina and her business. Which means, of course, that Nina is right in the thick of the investigation, despite Kevin's insistence that she stay out of it. Before long, Nina uncovers clues about blackmail, although it's unclear who is blackmailing whom. Bobby presses for a more serious relationship, while Nina and Kevin are counting down the days until their divorce is official. Riley is continuing to live with Nina, and he also works at the company owned by the homeowner involved in the garden surprise job. Tam's baby is imminent, so Nina has a temp filling in for her at the office. An interesting mystery, with some extra personal moments to lighten things up. I continue to enjoy this series.
399 reviews7 followers
August 9, 2010
Yet another Salvation Army find, and another good read. It's the third in a series, but I suspect that that might be an advantage in terms of ongoing family/relationship plot. Protagonist Nina Quinn, a landscaper living in Ohio, runs a firm specializing in surprise garden makeovers. (Whatever happened to all of those surprise home/garden makeover shows, anyway? I miss them!) It seems that she also has a habit of encountering murder victims, which doesn't make breaking apart from her almost-ex husband, a town detective, any easier.

I like Heather, I like her team of ex-con employees (thanks to Nina's cousin, who works in probation), I like her family and pretty much everything about the book and series. Parts of the plot were a little obvious, but I was willing to forgive that. Best of all, the book didn't suffer from plucky-heroine-ends-up-in-peril syndrome! That, alone, would make the series worth reading!
Profile Image for Toni.
1,510 reviews63 followers
August 12, 2025
Another great read 😊

This character set is growing on me. I’m not the biggest fan of Kevin, Nina’s soon to be ex. But Bobby is fast becoming more than a secondary character. I was floored that Nina’s mom, sister and cousin created such a mess in her house all under the guise of a surprise. Just because Nina is an expert in garden and landscaping surprises, it didn’t mean any of them were good at it. The neighbors Ursula and Donnatillo along with her step son Riley are pushing into main character territory. The only thing I dislike about this is how many people step all over Nina’s boundaries. And I thought I had it bad. And that dog BeBe, someone either train him or get him a slobber bucket. Overall the story is good. Characters read like a bunch of family horning in on business they need to stay out of. Glad it’s not my life but it’s like trainwreck you can see coming. Hard to take your eyes from it.
Profile Image for MC.
132 reviews1 follower
January 19, 2018
This is the 3rd book in the Nina Quinn series. I have loved the series since Book 1. Nina is such a great Character. She is one of those characters you could imagine meeting in real life. I have no trouble stepping into these books. From her Helpful (Not always in the best way) Mom to Her Pushy Always there Neighbor. If you love a great cozy mystery and wonderful characters. I think you would love this book.
731 reviews
November 10, 2020
Surprise garden makeovers, I would love one! When Nina is set up to do a "surprise", the surprise is she was tricked into doing someone else's yard and the homeowner was not happy. Which brings us to the homeowner dropping dead from a heart attack and the confusion of why go to all that trouble. Many twists and turns as to what and why.
15 reviews
February 9, 2023
A fun engaging mystery. Kept my interest peaked throughout the entire book. I am enjoying the Nina Quinn series and the mishaps that happen just make her a more believable person.

Heather Webber is a wonderful Author with a realistic view and a mischievous side that makes you love her stories even more
Profile Image for Sue Ellen.
959 reviews
July 9, 2025
The murder mystery in this one was really well structured and kept me guessing. I didn't figure it out until just before the main character did. I'm still struggling to like the main character, but I like her friends and family an am hoping she will start to mature as the series goes on.
526 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2018
I thought book about landskaping has to be boring and snoring, but I really enojoyed it - I liked characters, seeting, plot. It was really quick and lightto read. Mystery itself was good as well.
Profile Image for Nancy H.
3,070 reviews
January 7, 2019
This is a very good mystery in the 'gardening' genre of stories that has many twists and turns that will keep the reader turning pages!
Profile Image for Allison Ann.
675 reviews32 followers
January 17, 2021
Glad Nina finally got together with Bobby. Hope she is completely over Kevin, although I expect some backsliding. Good mystery, interesting characters as usual.
Profile Image for Sandra.
Author 13 books33 followers
April 24, 2021
I enjoyed the story and references to Ohio.
Profile Image for Lauri.
35 reviews5 followers
April 23, 2022
Another great book from the Nina Quinn series
4 reviews
January 8, 2023
Excellent

Great book, good mystery. I love her books. I have read all in this series. If you haven't read your missing out.
1,000 reviews
April 19, 2024
3.5. These books are cute , funny and lovable characters
A treat
30 reviews
March 30, 2025
So many twists to these characters. Very hard to put this book down . Excellent writing you feel like you are right at the scene experiencing everything!
Profile Image for Deborah Lind.
269 reviews
June 9, 2025
Another Nina Quinn hit!

I enjoy these characters and their stories so much.

Funny, little bit crazy, and a whole lot of heart.
Profile Image for Aurian Booklover.
588 reviews41 followers
February 17, 2014
Another great instalment in the Nina Quinn series.
Nina Quinn is a very curious woman and when her almost ex-husband’s former sister-in-law Lindsey Lockhart wants to hire her to create one of her surprise gardens, she accepts. Nina does sense that something is not quite right here, but she wants to use the connection to get some answers about Kevin’s first wife, who died in a boating accident. But Lindsey refuses to tell her anything, and as the garden make over has been paid for already, Nina has no choice but to get on with it.

And so, early one morning they begin the gargantuan task of transforming a garden that has been neglected for decades into a beautiful piece of paradise. But when a strange man accuses them of trespassing in his garden, and falls dead at Nina’s feet because of a heart attack, she doesn’t know what to do. Lindsey doesn’t answer her phone, and the suddenly arriving widow accuses Nina of murder.
If Lindsey has tricked her, she really could be sued for murder as she has no permission from the home owner’s to be in their garden at all.

Her almost ex-husband Kevin is a homicide inspector and is assigned the case. He can’t believe his former inlaws are behind this, but there is no other solution. Apparently everyone hated the dead man, Russ Grabinsky. Lindsey’s husband Bill and Russ were partners in Growl, a very successful vegetarian fast food restaurant, and the same place Riley is now working part time.

When Nina goes back to the house the next day, to try to persuade the widow to let her finish the job on the garden, and to have her drop the possible law suit, she gets rebuffed. Greta does not want to talk to her, and she appears to be really grieving for her louse of a husband. But why did Lindsey and Bill pay such an enormous amount of money to have someone else’s garden made over?

Something more is going on here, and Nina is determined to find out what. Why is Bill sneaking around the house while she is doing the same? Who has been arguing with Greta about being blackmailed? What is it with the lawsuit the home owners association? Why does Bill need the accounting books back so badly?


I really enjoyed this third book in the series. I like how Nina and Riley’s relationship has changed from the teenager who could barely stand her, to what it is now. Nina’s personal life is a bit of a mess though. Her husband cheated on her with his female partner, and Nina kicked him out. But she still has feelings for him, and now he is making sounds of regret and wanting her back. So why is he still living with Ginger? But Nina is also seeing someone else, the attractive vice principal of Riley’s school, who is really good to her. What is she to do?

As her cousin Ana is a parole officer, almost all of her employees are former convicts. And now one of them is giving her trouble by not showing up at work, or being very late. She hates to have to let him go as he is very good at finding the special objects for her gardens. But her other employees have to work harder to catch up for him, and she can’t have that. So Nina and Ana try to figure out what he is doing, if he is violating his parole or if he is in trouble. And of course that means donning wigs and trying to find him in the seedier part of town. Where they happen to find someone completely unsuspected instead …

Nina’s star secretary and good friend Tam is going into labour, and she really needs a replacement. At first she is so not happy with whom Tam send to her, but when the lady has to leave again, she sorely misses her competency.

Nina’s mother and sister are a real pain though, and at first Nina is happy with what they have surprised her with, but well, things get worse and worse. Still, it does help her finally end up in the arms of the man I want her to choose, so all is well after all.

The plot of this mystery was not all that hard to guess, but it was fun to see Nina unravel it nonetheless. I liked the ending, the good deed that Nina did with the blackmail pictures. I was surprised by the killer though. I was suspecting someone else completely.

I really enjoy Heather Webber’s writing style, her quirky characters and her sense of humor. An older neighbour Lothario, who has a name of being a jinx and getting his female companions killed. Nina’s former English teacher whom she still fears but is again a part of her life. Her employees with their colourful backgrounds. But I do admire her for giving these people a second chance. A huge dog called BeBe with a crush on Nina …

9 stars.


© 2014 Reviews by Aurian



Profile Image for Caitlin C.
487 reviews14 followers
March 7, 2017
Nina's plate is full with make overs but she can't help but agree to take on a make over for her soon to be ex-husbands first wife's sister. She is hoping to get the scoop on what happened to his first wife who died tragically when Riley was young. It doesn't take long for Nina to realize something isn't right and she soon learns that she has been duped into making over the wrong yard. When the homeowner comes home in the middle of the day and finds his yard torn apart he keels over and dies. Nina fears for her business when his widow threatens to sue her and Nina is determined to prove that he was murdered and did not die as the result of her make over. Another great one, really like this series and will continue to read it.
Profile Image for Robin DeJarnett.
Author 3 books71 followers
January 17, 2009
When I realized that reading a hundred books in a year meant reading two a week, I started looking for some that would be a little faster to read than the 400 page paranormals I've been hooked on for a while. I picked up 'Digging Up Trouble' at RWA last summer, and at about 240 pages, was able to finish it pretty quickly.

This one caught my eye specifically because it's written in first person, something I'm trying to do. I really enjoyed the voice of this book, and was very comfortable in Nina's head.

It's been a while since I've read a true mystery - and this one was fun, for the most part. The main character, Nina Quinn, is a kick, with her self-imposed commandments (she doesn't believe in coincidences, for one) and her ever changing middle names ("That's me. Nina Colette Good Citizen Ceceri Quinn"). She's the owner of a gardening company called "Taken By Surprise" that specializes in one-day garden re-dos (a la 'While You Were Out'), but seems to get caught up in murder as regular part of her business.

The characters are what made the book for me, the plot was okay, though the under-lying reason for the trouble wasn't too hard to discern. The reason the book only gets three stars from me is due to the ending - I enjoyed the build-up, the subplots, and the multiple suspects, but the final reveal did not live up to the rest of the story.

I'm starting to develop a pet peeve for books that build and build and build on a story for hundreds of pages but then only devote one or two pages to the climax. Yeah, I want to know who did it, but I also want a little time to collect my emotional pay off as well. I felt a little short-changed with this one.

This is the third book in the series, and I have the fourth, so I'll give that a try and see if the trend continues. Hopefully this was a fluke and I'll get that 'ah' sigh at the end of the next book with an ending that I can savor.
Profile Image for Carrie.
1,356 reviews85 followers
April 28, 2016
I thought this books was about the same level as the previous books. I found them entertaining, but I like them less than the author's other series. My opinions on the characters and overall plotlines are the same as previous books, still enjoyable and entertaining. Parts of this book were a bit slow, but as a quick read, it quickly got better.

I've never been in Nina's position of being cheated on and awaiting a divorce, so this is purely my opinion of how I think I would be in that situation. But I found her teetering with Kevin to be a bit annoying. I am not sure how I feel about Bobby. I think he's a better choice, but I honestly think she could do better. my favorite relation ship has to be between Nina and Riley, I just adore their interactions.

The story was like the others, Nina gets dragged into a murder plot and feels she has to solve it. As far as subplots go, I wanted something more from the Jean Claude arc. I knew it would be something like that, but I wanted something more.

Overall I enjoyed the book. Will I read the next one? Sure, it's already on my library want list.
Profile Image for Karen-Leigh.
2,991 reviews21 followers
November 7, 2024
Digging Her Own Grave

Landscaper Nina Quinn makes her living from surprise garden makeovers. It's not her fault that someone duped her into digging up the wrong yard. And she certainly can't be blamed when her handiwork turns the unsuspecting real owner apoplectic and he drops dead from a heart attack . . . can she? Nina's got enough trouble already, with her divorce from faithless hubby Kevin nearing completion and her unruly stepson up to his teenage neck in possibly illegal mischief. Now she's in danger of losing her business! But there's something screwy about this rather convenient "accidental" death of a man whom apparently no one could stand -- not even the "grieving" widow who's threatening to sue Nina's overalls off. To save her livelihood -- and her skin -- Nina's going to have to dig deeper into the dirt than she ever has before . . . and see what sort of slimy secret things crawl out.
Profile Image for MissSusie.
1,515 reviews263 followers
December 11, 2010
As usual Nina Quinn seems to be a magnet for dead bodies. And she is still struggling with which man she wants to be with.

There were times in this book that I felt I missed a page but didn't; like when her and Ana were gong to go find out about Jean-Claude and they find out about the accident then the next page its the next day and she's at work without telling us what happened the night before it was a bit confusing. And the ending was very anti-climatic and felt rushed. I guess she made her decision but it was never explained and I felt a bit cheated especially since this is the last book in this series. There just seemed to be alot of holes in the story and alot left unexplained.
Profile Image for Trisha.
296 reviews6 followers
July 26, 2012
Another good installment in this series. For some reason I get a big kick out of BeBe's antics and the fact that he caused her to find something many were looking for was a plus. The characters are lots of fun and I love all their flaws. The mystery in this wasn't necessarily the biggest mystery but still wasn't handed over on a silver platter too early in the story line (although since I had read it years ago, that might not be too fair to say). Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.
775 reviews6 followers
June 12, 2014
As this series progresses- I like Nina more and more. And the crazy cast of characters is just as lovable as the heroine. These are real people, with real lives and that makes everything just that more believable. There was a lot going on and there was a lot of juggling that at times had my head whirling. But I like that carnival ride feeling when I'm reading a good mystery. The ending was a little too tidy for me but it certainly gave us a hint about what was to come in the next one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.