Reviewed by Jeanne
Miracle Springs is a spa town, a tourist town. Not only are there natural hot springs
purported to have healing qualities, but the town also boasts fine dining and
specialty shops. It also features Miracle
Books, a book shop owned by Nora Pennington who seems to have the knack of
finding just the right books to help a reader get his or her life in order. It’s a talent that pairs well with Hester
Winthrop’s scones sold across the way at the Gingerbread House: after a talk
with a customer, Hester creates a one of a kind scone suited to that person,
one that will evoke specific feelings or memories.
Nora is a solitary soul, having come to Miracle Springs
hoping for her own healing from her past.
She has acquaintances but no close friends. That changes after a visitor to the book shop
dies unexpectedly by falling in the path of an oncoming train. The fall onto
the tracks is ruled an accident, but Nora feels strongly that this was not a
man contemplating suicide. She’s not
alone: Hester, June Dixon, and Estella Sadler agree and together they form The
Secret, Book, and Scone Society to prove that Neil’s death was murder. All four women have been living damaged
lives, each with a secret in her past that has left her emotionally isolated,
even flamboyant Estella. To solve the
crime, they will have to learn to trust one another—and themselves.
The reviews recommended this book for readers of Sarah
Addison Allen and I can certainly see why.
There’s a whiff of magic in the air, especially in Hester’s concoctions.
She says she can read scents and flavors around a person the way that psychics
claim to read auras. Nora’s bibliotherapy works much the same way,
using a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, old and new, to address problems of
the spirit, often in an oblique way. The
descriptions of both are designed to draw readers in: the sensory appeal of the
various scones is described very well, and bibliophiles will revel in the book
selections.
The female friendships formed during the course of the story
are the strongest part of the book. The murder mystery is serviceable enough,
but the true mysteries are in the backgrounds of the four women. Their secrets are revealed only gradually,
after the reader has gotten to know them which helps provide context, how they
became the people they are today. Most
of the characters are not natives of the area and haven’t been too interesting
in forming meaningful connections with anyone, much less locals, so there is no
strong sense of place. We’re told the
setting is in the mountains of North Carolina and people mention going to
Asheville, but the book could have been set anywhere. That’s not a criticism, just an observation.
This is a first in series book, and I look forward to the
next installment.
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