Nina Simon writes crime fiction about strong women. She is the New York Times bestselling author of My Sister is Going to Kill Me (2026) and Mother-Daughter Murder Night (2023). This big-hearted whodunnit was a Reese’s Book Club pick, an Anthony Award winner, and a “best of 2023” selection for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CrimeReads, and LibraryJournal.

Before turning to fiction, Nina wore many hats: NASA engineer, slam poet, game designer, museum director, and nonprofit CEO. Her work on community participation in museums, libraries, parks, and theaters has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NPR, and the TEDx stage. Nina was named an Ashoka fellow, a Silicon Valley 40 under 40, and Santa Cruz County Woman of the Year.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nina now lives part-time in an off-the-grid redwood cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and part-time in Tucson, AZ. When not writing, she loves rock climbing, beach volleyball, backpacking, cooking, and all manner of outdoor adventuring in the mountains, water, and desert.

Nina's Featured Titles

My Sister Is Going to Kill Me: A Novel

William Morrow |
Mystery/Thriller

From the New York Times bestselling author of the runaway hit Mother-Daughter Murder Night, a Reese’s Book Club pick, comes another fun, family-centered whodunnit about two sisters who work together to find a killer as they raft down the rapids of the Grand Canyon.

What’s a family vacation without a little murder?

Liv and Mandy Chisholm’s yearly sister trip is a sacred tradition, an attempt to bond as their lives increasingly diverge. Liv, the ever-practical older sister, packs the color-coded itineraries. Mandy, a bedazzled human tumbleweed, brings the spontaneity.

This year, the sisters take off for a rafting adventure through the breathtaking depths of the Grand Canyon with a group of strangers. But beyond the terrors of whitewater rapids, sibling squabbles, and rogue reptiles, the ferocious beauty of the river carries a darker undercurrent, and an unexpected guest: a murderer in their midst.

When a fellow traveler is found dead and another corpse hits the water, the rafting trip flips from idyllic sister vacation to high-stakes murder investigation. Every suspect has a secret, every clue is drenched in mystery, and Liv and Mandy can hardly trust each other, let alone their own instincts. With the river raging and danger around every bend, the Chisholm sisters must work together to catch a killer—and keep their relationship from capsizing—before it’s too late.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Small-Town Murder Mystery Unites Three Generations of Women

William Morrow |
Mystery/Thriller

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.

“I just loved how intriguing the mystery is but also the dynamics between a grandmother, a mother, and a teenage daughter.” —Reese Witherspoon

Think: Gilmore Girls, but with murder.

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking, stumbling into a complex small town murder. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.

With Jack and Beth’s help, this trio of amateur sleuths uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.

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Regeneration - Planting Seeds for a Creative, Inclusive, Vibrant Future

What tools do you use when you want to rethink everything? New York Times bestselling author, cultural activist, and serial reinventor Nina Simon will offer five paths to build energy, community, and hope in our work as artists, educators, and creative practitioners. You’ll connect with honest, surprising stories, concrete tools you can use, and inspiration to carry into your own season of regeneration.

This talk can be presented as a 25min keynote plus Q&A, and/or a 2.5hr workshop (with participant workbook).

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Write What You Love

In this personal, funny talk, New York Times bestselling author Nina Simon will share unconventional writing and publishing advice. Drawing from her unorthodox background as a traveling slam poet, museum blogger, self-published textbook writer, escape room designer, and now New York Times bestselling mystery author, Nina will share concrete tools and inspiring stories to help you follow your passion to the writing that will serve you best.

Topics will include:
– separating the creative process from the publishing process
– using your words to create the career you didn’t know you wanted
– surprising techniques to stay motivated and quench doubt
– strategies to embrace and celebrate failures along the way

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Creative Collaboration

Every industry approaches collaboration differently. In this interactive talk, former museum director, game designer, placemaker, community activist, and bestselling novelist Nina Simon will share five radically distinct approaches to working with colleagues, partners, clients, and community members to co-create incredible projects and programs. You’ll leave the talk with a wider vocabulary for what’s possible and new tools for effective partnerships that fit your project or work style.

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Truth Becomes Fiction: Using Real-Life Experiences to Spark Bestselling Stories

In this personal, funny, and heart-wrenching talk, author Nina Simon will share the stories behind her bestselling murder mysteries Mother-Daughter Murder Night and My Sister is Going to Kill Me, each of which was rooted in a family experience. From finding humor in a stage 4 cancer diagnosis to mining a sibling vacation for good material to engaging her mother as her first editor, Simon will share the beauties and challenges of creating fictional stories rooted in complex, loving real relationships.

Nina’s Event Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

New York Times Bestseller (Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
Reese’s Book Club pick (Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
Anthony award for best first novel (Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
Left Coast Crime award for best first novel ((Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
Golden Poppy award for best mystery (Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
Santa Cruz County Woman of the Year (2017)
Ashoka Fellowship (2019)

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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