A few months ago, I entered a “name the cover” contest that Ellery Adams was hosting on Insta. (If you don’t follow her, you should. She has fantastic content and gorgeous bookish photos!) She surprised me by including one of her books in the prize package and what a fun little treat The Secret, Book & Scone Society (Kensington Books 2017) is for anyone who loves books.
Set in Miracle Springs, North Carolina (we all know how much I love an NC setting!), The Secret, Book & Scone Society focuses on Nora, owner of Miracle Books. Nora, physically and mentally scarred from a past she’d love to forget, has a bit of a gift – she provides alternative healing in the form of literature. As Nora is a former librarian and current bookstore owner, the novel is chock full of literary references from Harry Potter to Atticus Finch, Water for Elephants to A Man Called Ove, and Shakespeare to Amy Tan.
When a visiting businessman is found dead on the train tracks, Nora knows something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Nora, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society – a sisterhood of misfit and broken booklovers with devastating secrets. The bond that forms between the women while they investigate the death of the businessman is my favorite aspect of the novel.
When another body turns up and one of the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society is arrested for the murder, there’s no turning back. But there’s little a group of well-read women with bellies full of comfort food won’t do for each other – and it’s that connection between the group of women that sets this book apart for me.
If you’re looking for a good summer read to add to your stack, this is a solid choice.
A Girl Named Tommi 