The Secret, Book & Scone Society

By: Ellery Adams

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Miracle Springs is a place of healing. Strangers flock there hoping that the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. And, if none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked scone from the Gingerbread House bakery, 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 and lighten their heaviest burden.

But when a visiting businessman reaches out to Nora for guidance, he's found dead on the train tracks before he can keep their appointment. Determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman's demise, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, and, as the society works to untangle the web of corruption surrounding the murder, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge.

©2017 Ellery Adams (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Loved it

Great mystery, strong characters, and a start on a setting that will grow during the series. Ends with just the right balance between finishing one story and promising another

Pretty good

This is good story about murder, friendship and healing emotional wounds. I enjoyed it even though it seemed a bit too sentimental at times. I look forward to the next one in this series.

Unexpected

Not what I usually expect from this author. A little dark. Still beautifully crafted and the author's knowledge of literature and knack for just the right quote warms the heart. Narration is perfect.

I'd just suggest you pick your time to read this one. While it turns out well of course, it's not something I'd choose to read on a 'down' day.

I love the idea of bibliotherapy and look forward to the next book.

Honorary six stars!

Miracle Springs is a very special place where people come to seek healing, whether physical, spiritual, or emotional, but in The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams, four women need special healing. Each has a personal secret that has kept her closed off from the world even as she helps others in need. Nora Pennington, the focal character, owns Miracle Books and works as an unofficial bibliotherapist, helping others in need by offering them the ideal books to suit their needs and help them on their way to healing. Thus, it comes as no surprise when Neil Parrish, a young executive with the Pine Ridge developers creating a new subdivision, asks for her advice. He seems to have something to regret about his job, but he doesn't go into details. Nora tells him to go to Hester Winthrop's The Gingerbread House and order a Comfort Scone, in which Hester uses some kind of magic to recreate people's fondest memories, and then see her in her shop. But Neil never shows up. Instead, Nora learns that he has been run over by the train on which his associates are arriving in town.

Nora and Hester are joined at the police station by Estella Sadler, owner of the Magnolia Salon and Spa, and Julia Dixon, an employee of the Miracle Springs Thermal Pools. All four ladies are loners, held in place by the paralysis of past pains in their lives. When the police declare the death a suicide, the women decide to work together to get to the truth. Together, they form the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, so named from the magic found in books and Hester's scones, and the women work to learn to trust each other by sharing their deep secrets as they gradually open up to their new friends. When another man from the Pine Ridge developers gets murdered, someone frames Estella, and she gets arrested. Thus the three remaining friends determine to get to the bottom of the case and free their new friend, as they learn further how to open up to each other.

This book is a unique, powerful book about the value of working together to support each other. It's a story of redemption through friendship and books. Nora's use of books to help create healing amid a personal hurt comes across as highly credible, and I loved the breadth of the books suggested by Nora to her clients. Further, Nora gets into interesting discussions with clients about different books of different genres. Certain quotes from various books also play roles in the book. The women further get inspiration for their actions from books and mythology.

This book is ever so much more than a cozy mystery, Ellery Adams's traditional form of writing. It contains much more than just mystery. Rather, the book has elements of fantasy, and has a unique twist on a coming-of-age drama. Those books focus on young adults coming into their own, while this book focuses on middle aged women who have allowed their inner pain to stymie their lives and stunt their personal growth. So they need to discover their real strengths. I really loved seeing the personal growth of each individual woman as she opens up to the other women and develops inner strength throughout the course of the book. In addition, Nora begins to learn to open up her heart as she meets a man, Jed, who accepts her for who she is despite her physical deformities from a fire.

The audio version is performed by Cris Dukehart, who helps to make the book seem realistic. I liked the quality of her voice, which seemed to give strength to the perspective of Nora. Besides giving strength to Nora, Dukehart adds real strength to the quality of the book and the personal journeys of the characters in the book. I am really impressed by her performance.

I have loved all of Ellery Adams's books, but The Secret, Book, and Scone Society has a special depth and strength to it. I am deeply impressed by this book, which made me look inside my own life to see where I need personal healing and want to emulate the ladies in the book. So this book served as a personal form of catharsis, performing the actions of the books in this novel. I highly encourage all to read this book, regardless of your preference in genres, as it has bits of different genres in it and speaks to us all. I give the book an honorary six stars!

A start to a great series

Ellery Adams has has given us Yet another great cozy mystery. Revolving around the healing of books and bringing together four different women who each have their own secret from their past to solve a murder is amazing. Cannot wait to see what happens in the next book.
Cris Dukehart did a great good as narrator. She is able to Capture the tone of each character in the story plot perfectly.

Not as good as the other reviews suggest!

This book was just ok. The plot was fairly predictable and the characters were one dimensional. I did like the book recommendations that Nora, the bookstore owner, made throughout the book.

Disappointed with narrator

The storyline was good. The characters were good. But the narrator was terrible. The men voices were the worst because it sounded like a little kid trying to do a grown up voice. The women’s voices sounded like dolls or an elderly woman trying to do little girl voices.

Not good.

This book is like a book full of obvious or clichéd metaphors, because it is a book full of obvious and clichéd metaphors. Ugh. If you don't like my opening sentence then avoid this book... It's all like that.
Every character has eyes that sparkle, hips that sashay, laughter that hits you like a chill mountain stream.

The central characters are your standard:
- 1 heart and soul, not perfect but not far from it
- 1 i-use-my-looks-as-a-weapon
- 1 good natured, smart, capable and incredibly naive
- 1 the other one that is there but who knows why

You know who the villains are when you meet them because they are also as plain as day.

All the men are dastardly ridiculous misogynists or incredible dreamboats who somehow have managed not to notice their own chiseled abs, strong jaw and perfect hairline. They don't know how handsome they are, and they bring a down-home aw-schucks attitude with them, along with their injured mother who they care for on their own and their rescue dog. Also they just moved into the neighborhood and they intuitively respect unspoken boundaries. Their gaze is full of longing and desperate hope or steely determination.

Excellent new series

I've read all of Ellery Adam's other series and I believe that this might very well be the best she has written to date. The characters are not perfect or glamorous, but they have a lot of depth to them. Each has their own scars, physical and emotional, but they are willing to reveal their darkest secrets in order to help others. I like the idea that comfort scones or certain books can help people to heal emotionally. I'm looking forward to many more entries in this intriguing series.

Not well written or narrated

I hate to go against the other reviews, however I found this writing very simplistic and not captivating. For me the narration was flat and uninteresting. I have read The Music Shop, about a person who knows what record a person needs to hear. That is a fantastic book and I was hoping this would be more of the same. I guess that would have been too much to ask. Disappointed.

The Scret Book & Scone Society

First book by Ellery Adams loved it, it won't be my last & the narrator fitted in perfectly.

really different

EXCELLANT, can't wait to hear the next audio book....... Hopefully it won't be a full year away.