Sometimes algorithms work. That is, once in a while all that scrutiny caused by my ignoring cookies (not that kind of cookies!) and causing the web and buying from amazon and etcetera leads to a book recommendation I value. And, I saw a list recently -- I assume I saw it because of an algorithm -- and it led me to the book reviewed here. (It was a list of mysteries focused on books -- and I had read some of them, but not this one!)
Sometimes commas matter. Of course, I know about he various memes and disputes regarding the oxford comma. I know that I put more commas into writing than, say, my partner, who puts relatively little in the way of commas into her prose. And, in the title of the book reviewed here, the comma maters. I did not notice it at first -- and then I understood why the comma matters! There is no spoiler in the not in that the book is about a group of women in a small town in North Carolina who come together because they each have secrets, one is a book seller (and self-avowed bibliotherapist, see below) and one is a maker of "comfort scones" made to order to sooth and heal recipients.
In any case, algorithms and commas came together and . . . I loved this book. I have encountered Ellery Adams before but this one came as a bit of a surprise. The theme -- hinted at above -- is women coming together who had a painful, potentially shaming thing in their past. Each of those in the group eventually tells their story -- and each is, indeed, quite painful. Leaving it behind has both helped each of them -- and yet they have remained stuck in some sense, unwilling or unable to make friends and share trust. So: the book is about regained or regaining trust in self and in friendship. It is also about investigating a mystery in a small town -- so about caring for one's town and one's friend.
And, of course, this is a mystery with a central character who was both saved by books -- and who runs a bookstore and acts as bibliotherapist. By the latter, she means that she listens well and recommends books -- some somewhat surprising -- that will ve their recipient forward -- to healing, to helping their dog heal, to meet whatever need she discerns in the recipient. (I loved her book recommendations -- they were more oblique than one might have expected, and nudged the character receiving them into a kind of self reflection.)
While not centrally a food-related mystery, The Secret, Book & Scone Society does, of course, include scones as a running theme. I love the idea of custom made scones meant to meet the person who is eating them -- while I think there is little mystery to this beyond listening, I love the way it works in the novel. (In fact, it reminds me of the occasions when I say to a bartender can you just make me something -- and often I end up with a drink I love.)
So: read this. read this for your own healing, for fun, and for comfort. It is worth the time, the effort -- and I hope it brings you some warmth and joy as it did for me.
This is book one of a series and book 2 is out already! Hurrah. More to look forward to!