The Cozy Mystery List Blog

As part of the long-running series featuring the first book of various Cozy Mystery series, mostly recommended by site visitors, today I’ll be discussing The Secret, Book & Scone Society, the first entry in the Secret, Book & Scone Society Mystery Series.

Having been badly burned years before, Nora Pennington has more than her share of experience with serious trauma, and she uses her experience to run Miracle Books, a bookstore that specializes in finding the right book to help others suffering trauma or other pain help recover. This establishment is right at home in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, a small vacation town that caters to many looking for physical or emotional healing.

When a man who had been about to come to Nora’s to find a therapeutic book turns up dead on the train tracks, the sheriff is very quick to come to the conclusion of suicide – too quick for Nora to be comfortable. Nora isn’t the only one who finds Neil’s death suspicious, and together with them they form the Secret, Book & Scone Society, determined to discover if there was a more sinister reason for Neil’s death.

It quickly turns out that the dead man, Neil, has a number of reasons someone might want to see him out of the way. Not only had he hinted to Nora that he had a guilty conscience, he also has a number of ties to the town, including being involved in the development of a new subdivision that would replace a section of rambling countryside with tight-packed houses – unpopular in a tiny town that bills itself on the scenic countryside surrounding it.

There’s definitely a different sort of energy around the Secret, Book & Scone Society than in most Cozies. Generally speaking, Cozies are about a relaxing and easy atmosphere, but this particular book focuses far more on how the past can sometimes be painful and the necessity of slow healing. When the book opens, Nora is intentionally isolated, even though she has lived in the community for years, and only through discussions with the rest of the Society does she gradually open up to forming friendships again. This can be a refreshing change for some, but I can also see how it wouldn’t necessarily be the book for every Cozy fan.

Also, as I have mentioned before, I really appreciate when a book gets to the actual mystery quickly – and this book certainly does that, with the mysterious death being announced at the end of the first chapter.

This isn’t the first book series I’ve discussed by Ellery Adams – you can also read my thoughts on the Books By the Bay Mystery Series. She has also written the Book Retreat Mystery Series, the Books by the Bay Mystery Series, the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series, and others, often under other names such as J. B. Stanley, or Jennifer Stanley.

As always, if you want to read more of these brief discussions of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page.