Review: The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams

The Secret, Book, & Scone Society (Secret, Book, & Scone Society #1)
by Ellery Adams
narrated by Cris Dukehart

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
A quirky club in small-town North Carolina holds the keys to health, happiness, friendship—and even solving a murder—all to be found within the pages of the right book…

Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain. So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help. But before he can keep their appointment, he’s found dead on the train tracks.

Stunned, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to earn redemption by helping others. To join, members must divulge their darkest secret—the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place. Now, determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman’s demise, the women meet in Nora’s cozy bookstore. And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge—proving it’s never too late to turn the page and start over…

My Review

I got this one in audio and picked it up when I was in the mood for a cozy mystery. This book feels a bit heavier than most cozies.On the one hand I really liked the more intense vibe this book had and other times I missed the more cozy vibe I expect from a cozy mystery.

This book follows 4 characters who start the secret, books and scone Society who each have a secret. These characters have been through some hard things and it all comes to light throughout the story. They have difficult events in their past and have been alone for a long time. Now’s the time for healing, trust and friendship. I really liked those themes of healing and started anew and how people are human and make mistakes. These character all feel so real with their own scars, hopes and dreams and personalities. It did give the book a whole different vibe than most cozies. I think it’s definitely what makes this book stand out from other cozies, but also at times it felt like a bit much when I was expecting a lighter read.

Having said that I did really like reading about these 3 characters who become friends. And while the book is told from Nora’s point of view, everything really is a group effort and all 4 of them are invested and help with the investigations. I liked how the focus is really on them doing things as a group and wanting to find justice for the dead guy. Then along the way we get to know all 4 characters more, find out their stories and secrets and also see more of them healing. They all felt very real and realistic. I felt for what they had gone through and it was inspiring to see how they’re dealing with everything.

I liked Nora as main character and especially liked how she helped people by recommending books that she thought would help them. I loved that! The scenes where she’s recommending books to people to help them felt so inspiring and I loved how she picked the books she thought would fit. The whole book has a strong theme of books and I also appreciated how widely Nora was read, lots of genres and books get mentioned, although at times it was a bit much as there are a lot of books mentioned.

The mystery was a solid one. It kept me guessing, but at times I felt there wasn’t as much progression, with not many suspects falling off through the book. The ending has an interesting but sad twist. I wasn’t a fan of part of the reveal about who was behind it all, but also thought it made sense. The book also deals with the business the murdered men was part of and I thought that was an interesting angle as I haven’t read many cozies with that. I liked how Nora and her friends use a wide variety of techniques to investigate the mystery.

I liked the narrator Cris Dukehart, she was a new to me narrator. I thought she did the different voices really well and the book was pleasant to listen to. My only complaint was that some voices were softer in volume than others and if I had the volume set too low I struggled to make those out. I definitely would listen to books narrated by her again.

To summarize: I enjoyed this cozy mystery and thought it was a solid start to a new series. This book feels a bit heavier than most cozies as it deals with 4 characters who each have their own scars and secrets, which all come to light in the book. Despite that it deals with themes as healing, hope, friendship and starting anew which gave the book a hopeful vibe as well. All 4 characters of the society feel very real and realistic and I liked how they tackled things as a group. I liked reading about Nora’s job as bookstore owner and how she recommended books to people to help them. Books are a big theme of this book and there a bunch of mentions of food as well. The mystery was a solid one that kept me guessing, although at times the progress felt slow. The ending had a twist that surprised me, but it also felt a bit sad. I liked the narrator and how she did different voices and would listen to books narrated by her again.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.