The mystery was intriguing with its many twists and connections to books and art but for me the highlight is the close bond of friendship shared by the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society. It made me want to move to Miracle Springs just to get to know them. We're not talking "Let's do lunch" or a distracted "How are you doing?" friends. We're talking friends who know each other's inner-most painful secrets and guard them, even from other loved ones.
The plot sounds relatively simple on the surface. A stranger is found murdered with a mysterious book in his coat pocket. In addition, at the same time some of main character Nora Pennington's beloved bookstore books are found defaced, with the name Hester violently sliced out of copies of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter". Is this somehow connected to Nora's friend Hester, a treasured friend in the Society? Will Hester''s secret ruin her relationship and recent engagement? Is there some connection to Hester having found a beautifully illustrated novel with secrets of its own? Could Hester be guilty of murder?
Bottom line, this is an intricately plotted, meaningful story of not just murder but friendship and, yes, secrets. Are secrets always best kept secret? The story reminds us that we all are touched by past relationships and events. It's also a wonderful reminder that family isn't just blood relatives, that the real magic "is what happens when you finally find your people", whether near or far. Full of book and movie references, nicely collected for us by category at the end, this is an intricate, evolving story of family, friends, and, yes, murder. I highly recommend it.
BTW, it would be remiss of me with the current emergence of the on-line word game Wordle not to mention the role a word "game" plays in the story.
Thank you #NetGalley and #KensigntonBooks for this wonderful story. It has been a thoughtful delight to follow from book one and I look forward to more.
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