Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496712431
Kensington Publishing
304 Pages
$16.99; $12.99 Amazon
January 20, 2020
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As the owner of Miracle Books, Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business. The local inns are packed with stranded travelers, and among them Nora finds both new customers and a new friend, the sixty-something Sheldon, who starts helping out at the store.
Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl from Danny, a Cherokee potter. It'll make a great present for Nora's EMT boyfriend, but the next day, a little rain turns into a lot of rain, and the Miracle River overflows its banks. Amid the wreckage of a collapsed footbridge, Danny's body lies within the churning water.
Nora and the sheriff both doubt the ruling of accidental drowning, and Nora decides it's time for the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to spring into action. When another body turns up, it becomes clear that Danny's death can't be blamed on a natural disaster. A crucial clue may lie within the stone walls of the Inn of Mist and Roses: a diary, over a century old and spattered with candle wax, that leads Nora and her friends through a maze of intrigue - and onto the trail of a murderer...
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Nora Pennington owns Miracle Books and lives in a renovated train car. Her life is simplistic, or at least she thinks it is. It's been raining incessantly in her small North Carolina town, and people are buying books and the shelf enhancers she has throughout her shop. When she heads to the local flea market to replenish her supply, she comes across Danny, a Cherokee potter who has the perfect bowl for her boyfriend, EMT Jed. But she has an accident with her bike on the way home, and the bowl gets chipped. The next day she intends to take it back to Danny and see if he can repair the chip, but she never makes it. As she crosses the bridge, she sees a body in the river - Danny. But Nora doesn't think it's an accidental drowning, and she's determined to find out who - and why - Danny was killed. Then, when there's a second murder, she knows she needs to act soon, or there might be more on the way...
I felt that the book started out slow, but I'm glad I stayed with it. I really enjoyed the plot and that's probably because I love 'mysteries within mysteries' and this book certainly had an interesting one. Intertwined with Danny's death is the discovery of an old diary within the walls of an inn that's being renovated, and Nora is positive that it has something to do with the murder, although she doesn't know how, since Danny never knew the diary existed. There's also a mysterious person in town that people keep seeing but no one seems to know who may or may not be causing problems; and the appearance of Sheldon, an older man who is staying at the inn but appears in Nora's shop one day and soon becomes her lifesaver.
Then there's the women of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society themselves - four women who have been either physically or emotionally damaged - or both - and hold onto their pain using it as a crutch in their lives.
This is a very good mystery, but it's also a book about damaged and broken women. Not just women who have been physically or emotionally hurt in one way or another, but women who have not been able to move on from their pasts and learn to be happy. It does no good to carry your pain, to punish yourself incessantly. These women refuse not only to trust others, they refuse to trust themselves. We're all scarred one way or another, either inside or out. You can't allow it to define your life. Nora not wanting to get married again isn't because of her scars; it's because of fear. If she's afraid to trust a man enough to love him completely (and more than you know have had bad marriages and move on to a good one) then that's fear. She's afraid. And until she faces her fears, her life will never be whole nor complete. She's using her scars to hide behind; not just of a reminder of the pain in her life, but a reminder not to ever love completely.
I know no one who has not suffered in their life one way or another, but they’ve managed to create good lives and be people you want to spend time with. Therefore, it makes the book rather depressing in part. (FYI, this isn't the 1940's; men don't look at women as 'damaged goods' anymore, so that argument is patently ridiculous.)
However, I did find the plot intriguing, so much so that I read the book in one sitting, without even bothering to get a second cup of coffee. That's a very good sign in itself. I felt the way the two stories were intertwined was done nicely, with twists and turns aplenty. It made for satisfying read, and I was delighted with the ending. This book is definitely a must-read, and I will put this series on my 'need to buy the others' list. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Candlelight-Secret-Scone-Society/dp/1496712439/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3169486016
More on Ellery Adams's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/ellery-adams/
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