Review: Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams

Posted January 20, 2025 by Lola in Mystery, Review / 6 Comments

Ink and Shadows (Secret, Book, & Scone Society #4)
by Ellery Adams
narrated by Cris Dukehart

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Controversy erupts in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, when the owner of the local bookstore tries to play peacekeeper—but winds up playing detective instead . . .

Known for her window displays, Nora Pennington decides to showcase fictional heroines like Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Madeline Miller’s Circe for Halloween. But a family-values group disapproves of the magical themes and wastes no time launching a modern-day witch hunt. Suddenly, former friends and customers are targeting not only Nora and Miracle Books, but a new shopkeeper, Celeste, who’s been selling CBD oil products.

Nora and her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife—but then someone puts an end to a life. Declared an accident, the ruling can’t explain the old book page covered with strange symbols and disturbing drawings left under Nora’s doormat. It’s up to Nora and the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to sort out the clues before more bodies turn up and the secrets from Celeste’s past come back to haunt them all . . .

My Review

I got this one in audio again like the first 3 books and am continuing to enjoy this series. I like the cozy vibes as well as the real themes. The books can get a bit sad and tough to read at times. I felt this one had quite some hard moments for Nora. Luckily she also has some great friends who rally around her and help her, which was great to see.

The mystery involves a women and her 20 year old daughter who move to town. Something’s up with the daughter who is keeping secrets. Then there is a group of women who take offense at Nora’s window display as well as some other stores and warn people to stay away. When Nora finds a body close to her house and a clue under her doormat she gets involved in another mystery. It was interesting seeing the mystery play out and find out who did it, how and why. There are plenty of secrets that come to light along the way. I thought the mystery and who died was quite sad in this one and I was glad when the characters find justice for the victim. Nora has to go through some tough stuff in this book with the mystery as well as her store getting targeted by people who don’t like her window display.

Besides the mystery which can feel quite real and sad at times, luckily there are plenty of cozy moments. I like reading about Nora and her friends as well as Nora’s bookstore. I also liked seeing them try to help the new shop owner Celeste. And it was nice to see Nora grow closer to the sheriff. The romance has some hurdles and I am still wondering who Nora will end up in the end, but guess we’ll see. I do appreciate how it’s not always smooth sailing and the couple actually works things through and talks things out after they hit some hurdles. There’s a tie with Nora’s past which was interesting and I wonder if there will be more about that in future books.

The narrator is great like in the previous books and I plan to continue listening to the rest of the series.

To summarize: This was another great book in this series. the series combines cozy vibes with mysteries and themes that feel real. There are some sad moments and some tough situations for Nora to deal with, but I am glad she has the support of her friends. The mystery was interesting and I liked seeing it al play out, although I thought it was kinda sad and tough to read at times. I like reading about these characters and seeing what they’re going through. Nora has some romance struggles in this one. And there’s a tie with her past that was interesting. The narrator is great and I look forward to continuing the series.