Paper Cuts
Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh, the woman her ex-husband left her for, walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is forgiveness.
Shockingly, however, this woman who’s been the victim of so much misfortune is about to become a murder victim. Who would do such a thing? Certainly not Nora, but that doesn’t stop the gossip and suspicion, especially after Kelly’s brother claims that he saw the two women arguing.
In seeking justice for Kelly, The Secret, Book, and Scone Society joins forces with the sheriff’s department, but they’ve barely begun their probe when life throws another wrench. After serving a twenty-year sentence, Estella’s father returns to Miracle Springs. And when his past comes back to haunt him, it might be more than the four friends can handle.
The Details
Series: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society – Book #6
Author: Ellery Adams
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Bookstore
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN:1496726472
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
The “A Secret, Book, and Scone Society” series has been one of my favorites since book one. This latest addition, Paper Cuts, fits in perfectly with the other books but has a bit more of an edge to it than the others in the series. Nora’s past comes to call with a young boy who loves origami and his mother, Kelly, the woman who destroyed Nora’s marriage. But when the woman suddenly dies, not from cancer which was slowly killing her, Nora becomes the prime suspect.
Nora thought her past was well and truly behind her; she had moved on and had friends, a business, and the love of a wonderful man. But the appearance of Kelly and her son tears down all the walls she had built around her heart. The little boy is autistic and loves making origami, and even though he is her ex-husband’s child, she can’t stop herself from wanting to help him as he struggles with his mother’s death. As the suspects come to light, Nora feels regret for the way she treated Kelly and can’t figure out why anyone would want to kill her. There doesn’t seem to be an obvious motive, and the evidence keeps leading back to Nora. It takes a lot of digging and a few clues from Kelly’s son to find the killer. But when the motive is revealed, everyone is surprised.
I liked Kelly and her son, and the boy creating intricate origami creations was a delightful way of having a child deal with the death of a parent. I am always opposed to having a child involved in a murder in a cozy mystery. It never feels right somehow, but I felt it was justified. The writing, as always, was top-notch; the story flowed and had few head-scratching moments. I felt the evidence wasn’t always clear to the reader, and the suspects were a bit too easy to spot. Taken as a whole, the story was straightforward to read but a bit slow at times, and it didn’t leave you hanging; the questions were answered, and the truth was brought out into the open. I enjoyed reading this book, but I hope the next one will have less conflict and a bit more of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society involvement.
The Author
Ellery Adams has written over thirty novels and can’t imagine spending a day away from the keyboard. She is a Native New Yorker and has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, rescue animals, and large bodies of water. When not working on her next novel, she does baking, 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. Find her on social media or contact her on her website.
More books from the “A Secret, Book, and Scone Society” series readers will enjoy are Ink and Shadows or The Vanishing Type.
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