Ink and Shadows
The Blurb
Known for her window displays, Nora Pennington decides to showcase fictional heroines like Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Madeline Miller’s Circe for Halloween. But a family-values group disapproves of the magical themes and wastes no time launching a modern-day witch hunt. Suddenly, former friends and customers are targeting not only Nora and Miracle Books but a new shopkeeper, Celeste, who’s been selling CBD oil products.
Nora and her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife—but then someone puts an end to a life. Declared an accident, the ruling can’t explain the old book page covered with strange symbols and disturbing drawings left under Nora’s doormat. It’s up to Nora and the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to sort out the clues before more bodies turn up and the secrets from Celeste’s past come back to haunt them all.
The Details
Series: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society Novel – Book #4
Author: Ellery Adams
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Bookstore
Publisher: Kensington Books
ISBN: 1496726421
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
My take on the “A Secret, Book, and Scone Society” series has sometimes been good, at other times not good. The main character is easy to like and dislike equally. Nora has never seemed to grow to me; even now, in book four, Ink and Shadows, she is far too namby-pamby. I get not wanting to lose control, and given her past, I can understand her reluctance to drive or reveal her past. But it’s not as if she killed someone, although, if you are just now reading book one, you might not realize this. Her bookstore sounds impressive, as does the town itself. Although she has friends and the community’s support, she always backs off whenever she wants to do or say something, making it hard to like her. There are times when I have wanted to shout at her to “get a spine”.
The premise of this edition to the series has made me wonder if the author might be trying to take the character down a different path from where she started and this might be a transition book? First off, there is no real secret society, which is one of the things that drew me to the series in the first place. Everyone knows about Nora and her co-conspirators. The scones are far and few and play little to no part in the overall scheme of things. The CBD twist in this book seems as though it was just thrown in. Books are everywhere, and this is one of the bright spots in the series.
It’s not to say that Ink and Shadows, or the series, don’t have value; these books are entertaining and even emotional at times; I dare say more than one reader will choke up at the ending of this book. Suspects aren’t really over the top, and motives are present if a bit convoluted. Everyone congregates at Nora’s bookstore all the time, which is fun and keeps readers happy. The victim(s) are genuinely likable, even when they are secretive and rude. However, I found that the big reveal at the end was unnecessary and did not add value to the story. The CBD controversy never came to anything. In general, I would caution readers who are interested in reading this book to start by reading the other books in the series; otherwise, you will be lost and, most likely, not finish or enjoy this addition.
The Author
Ellery Adams has written over thirty novels and can’t imagine spending a day away from the keyboard. Ms. Adams, a Native New Yorker, has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, rescue animals, and large bodies of water. When not working on her next novel, she bakes, gardens, spoils her three cats, and wastes far too much time on Pinterest. She lives with her husband and two children (aka the Trolls) in central North Carolina.
Other books by this author include the first book from, The Secret, Book & Scone Society or from the “A Book Retreat Mystery” series, Murder in the Cookbook Nook.
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