Separating fact from fiction: Nina Simon explores land conservation in her new novel

A fictional land trust plays a key role in Nina Simon’s bestselling mystery novel, “Mother-Daughter Murder Night.” The story centers around three spunky women — a grandmother, mother and teenage daughter — trying to solve a homicide case involving a ranching family, a land trust and a small community on the California coast. Simon’s story was inspired by her own mother, whose battle with cancer sparked her to put pen to paper, and her strong connection to nature.

Could the land trust be the villain in “Mother-Daughter Murder Night”? We caught up with Simon to talk about conservation, land ownership, family dynamics and mystery.

Darci Palmquist: At the core of your mystery is a dispute over land ownership — what drew you to this topic?

Nina Simon: “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” is both a family drama and a murder mystery about contested land. The mystery centers around a ranch in a marine preserve, and many stakeholders fighting over its future.

The intersection of land and power is a constant source of drama here in coastal California. I wanted to site the mystery around this conflict, drawing on my professional experience in nonprofits as well as my deep love of nature and conservation. On a professional level, I spent decades working in nonprofit museums and community centers, advocating for equitable access to public space. I'm fascinated by battles over public land: who controls it, who uses it, who feels welcome there. On a personal level, we live in nature and are committed conservationists. My husband works on affordable housing, with a focus on the intersections between housing advocacy and sustainable conservation. All of this was grounds for a rich exploration of the tensions, contradictions and crimes inherent in the arena of land politics.

DP: One of the central characters in your story is a fictional land trust. You had some familiarity with land trusts already, but how much research did you need to do for your book? What did you feel you needed to know more about?

NS: So much of novel research requires learning a ton to use an ounce. I spent a lot of time with current and former land trust executive directors, staffers and trustees to enhance this story. I wanted to understand the diversity and complexity of how land trusts operate, and to learn enough about them to be able to simplify for a popular work without gross inaccuracy.

The land trust in “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” was inspired by incredible environmental organizations I’ve met through nonprofit consulting, as well as personal experiences I’ve had navigating the complexities and contradictions of nonprofit work in general. I spent decades working in nonprofits, and while I absolutely love them, I know nonprofits are more complicated than the simple charities they are often made out to be in popular culture. I wanted to explore some of the contradictions and gray areas I’ve experienced directly around educating the public, donor intent and executive director motivations. I tried to do it with love — I do love land trusts and the people who fuel them! — but I also wanted to convey the real complexity inherent in this kind of work.

I’ll also note that the piece of land in question in the book — a large ranch on the edge of a marine preserve — is a real place. Several historical notes in the book about the ranch, including an ownership dispute between Anglos and Mexicans in the 1800s, stem from primary sources the real rancher shared with me.

DP: The setting of the book is Elkhorn Slough, a real place in Monterey Bay, California, protected by many conservation partners, including the accredited Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Have you spent much time there, and what about it captured your imagination?

NS: Yes! I love Elkhorn Slough. My mom, who inspired this novel, is the one who introduced me to it, and I did many research trips on my paddleboard to explore the area. Perhaps the most faithful aspect of the whole story is the setting, which I tried to render with all the evocative beauty, spookiness and wild edges the slough contains. I was drawn to Elkhorn Slough because it exists on the border of many worlds. It’s a national marine preserve slammed right up against a working marina, an old power plant and many active farms. It exists on the border of wilderness and industry. In my experience, border places are zones of conflict. And that makes it a perfect setting for a fictional crime.

And there are so many juicy land conservation questions to grapple with in Elkhorn Slough. The land surrounding Elkhorn Slough is a scarce, valuable resource. Everyone agrees on that. But what is the best expression of that value? Should it be preserved for the wild animals that live there? Should it be returned to the people from whom it was stolen? Should it be accessible to the farmworkers who made it productive? Should it be an educational site for ecotourists? A recreation site for fishermen? Should it be developed into housing? Should it plump the balance sheet of venture capitalists? What has the land been valued for in the past, and how might that value change in the future?

I don't have the answers to these questions. But I enjoyed wrestling with them in the pages of “Mother-Daughter Murder Night.”

DP: How did you approach making the world of land conservation accessible to readers who are likely not familiar with it already?

NS: There are three main characters in “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” — a real estate businesswoman grandma, a nature-loving single mom and an outdoor adventuring teenage girl. I intentionally chose to have the grandma, Lana, do most of the investigation into the land trust and land conservation side of the murder mystery. Lana is a smart adult who has spent her life working in business in Los Angeles. She doesn’t come to the topic of land conservation from the perspective of a nature lover or a nonprofit donor. She’s suspicious, curious and engaged. I wrote these parts from Lana’s perspective because I wanted to guard against my own bias as a treehugger. I felt that if I wrote from her perspective, I was less likely to get didactic or preachy about my own beliefs.

DP: The characters of your story are three generations of women. Can you tell us more about how you brought them to life?

NS: I wrote this book as a love letter to my mother, as a way to connect with her during a tough cancer diagnosis. In the earliest stages, it wasn’t a book at all: it was a story my mom and I could escape into, to distract ourselves from the stress and struggle of her illness. We based the three women at the heart of the story loosely on our own family, and then we’d sit for hours in hospital waiting rooms dreaming up their personalities and how they’d react to different scenarios. It was only after I really “knew” these women that I started writing their story down.

I think of the book as both a family drama and a murder mystery. It’s as much about these three women renegotiating their relationships as it is about solving a crime. In many ways, “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” is a meditation on what it means to be a strong woman across generations, circumstances and opportunities. I wanted to explore the different ways strength shows up in each of this family — Lana the boss, Beth the caregiver, Jack the explorer — and how it affects how they see the world and each other.

DP: How is your mom doing now?

NS: My mom is doing great right now! Given the kind of cancer she has, she may never be in remission, but she is strong and leading a full life. We’ve been going to launch events together, taking walks, and scheming about future books. We’re so blessed to get to share the success of “Mother-Daughter Murder Night” together.

About Nina Simon: Nina Simon addressed the land trust community as keynote speaker at Rally 2020, where she spoke about relevance and community engagement. She is the author of a work of nonfiction, “The Art of Relevance.” Learn more about her at https://ninaksimon.com/.

Fun fact: "Mother-Daughter Murder Night" was Reece Witherspoon's September book club pick!