4.5 rounded up
Enjoyed this as much as the first book. As a fellow survivor, it was easy to relate to and such a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Secrets in the Stacks is the second installment of the Survivors' Book Club Mysteries. I enjoyed returning to Sedona, Rarity, and the Tuesday night Sleuthing Club. Lynn Cahoon has done a fantastic job of further developing these characters along with introducing new characters, Darby, who is working part time for Rarity, and unfortunately has to enlist the Tuesday night Survivors/Sleuthers to solve her Grandmother's untimely end. I can't wait to see what happens next for Rarity and Archer, not to mention Sam and Drew. Thank You to Lynn Cahoon and Netgalley for the complimentary e-galley.

I enjoyed this start to a new mystery series. I will more than likely pick up the next book in this series when it comes out.

This is the second installment of the Survivor’s Book Club mystery series. This is a fun cozy series with pretty wild mystery plot lines. Following the path of the first book, there are so many unexpected twists! I never quite know what to expect from this series and I enjoy that.

Secret in the Stacks (A Survivors' Book Club Mystery Book #2) (Lynn Cahoon) (11/1/2022)

Rarity Cole is a recent breast cancer survivor who relocated from St. Louis to Sedona, Arizona where she opened an independent bookstore. She forms a Survivors' Club book club, where women who have survived breast cancer can meet to share their life experiences as well as discuss books. Soon, the Survivors' Club becomes the sleuthing club after the murder of a club member in the first book and the sleuthing continues in this book with the murder of Catherine Doyle, grandmother of bookstore employee, Darcy.

A wide-ranging cast of supporting characters include best friend/fellow business owner Sam, police officer Drew, local tour guide operator and boyfriend Archer, and as well as the other book club members plus Rarity's Pomeranian dog, Killer. The story line goes in unexpected places.

The cast of characters are further developed in this second book. I would recommend starting with the first book, Tuesday Night Survivors' Club for a better understanding of the characters and past plot. If you love Lynn Cahoon, Tourist Trap/South Cove series like I do, you do not want to miss this new series.

Thank you Net Galley and Kensington Books for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read a cozy mystery for fun in a while, and it took me a moment to get back into the rhythm of the genre. Secrets in the Stacks is definitely on the “cozy” end of the spectrum. There are multiple romance subplots, and most of the mystery-solving feels like a “ride-along” rather than a puzzle that you can solve as you read. That is, solving the mystery requires access to physical evidence that our characters must uncover and examine – so it’s difficult to use logic as a reader to “solve along”.
The best part about this novel was the unique community. While many cozy mystery series that revolve around book clubs, libraries, and bookstores, most of them are general bibliophiles. This is the first series I’ve seen where the protagonists form a book club for cancer survivors. Reading Secrets in the Stacks made me think about how surviving cancer shapes your life in little ways, from the language you use to your patience with your friends’ behavior. Lynn Cahoon survived breast cancer, and she’s definitely infused her experience into Secrets in the Stacks.
However, I did find myself overwhelmed by the number of characters at the top of the novel. It may have been easier to keep track of everyone if I’d read the first entry in the series recently. This issue irons itself out as you get deeper into the novel, but it’s definitely something to be aware of. The book also ended a bit abruptly – I tend to prefer a full chapter of denouement – but this is entirely a matter of taste.

Secrets in the Stacks is the second book in the “A Survivor’s Book Club Mystery” series. Rarity, Darby, and The Next Chapter are back and better than ever. Readers will be thrilled with how far this series and the characters have come in this new installment. Rarity’s bookshop is still hosting the Tuesday Night Survivor’s Club, and murder is rearing its ugly head again. A tarot card reading sends Darby into hysterics when she gets the death card, and a murderer decides it’s time for someone to die.

The characters in this series, from Rarity to Darby to the other returning characters, make me smile. I love a good survivor’s story, and The Next Chapter is my idea of a heavenly bookstore. I did not like seeing Darby suffer, and if this were real life, I would punch her parents in the face for allowing their young daughter to go through a murder investigation, multiple break-ins, school, and work without them by her side. Luckily, she has the ladies from the book club to help her through it all. The book club members are not reluctant sleuths. They are efficient, eager, have access to a town full of rumor, gossip, history, personal data, and they leverage it all to help solve this murder quickly.

The town of Sedona is legendary for its new-age spiritual community and is a wonderful backdrop for a cozy series. The Next Chapter is ideal for sleuthing and info gathering. The victim is only known by a few of the book club members, but she is beloved by all those who knew her. Even though Rarity never got the chance to meet her, she feels as though a member of her own family was killed. Darby, unfortunately, ends up being the number one suspect and is heartbroken at the same time. The suspects are all believable, and the motive, once discovered, makes perfect sense. Secrets in the Stacks has enough action to keep the story moving without being all over the place. I think readers will find this book, the characters, and the plot hard to resist, but then again… why would you?

Secrets in the Stacks is book #2 in the Survivors' Book Club Mystery series by Lynn Cahoon.

A member of the Tuesday Night Survivors’ Book Club finds a murder victim and Rarity is concerned about her and the club begins to investigate.

When I read the first book, I was concerned that a book club made up of cancer ser ivory would be depressing, but it wasn’t. Rarity is making a fresh start and I really like the various characters in the group and how they help each other, especially to investigate murders!

Thank you to the author, Kensington, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Secrets in the Stacks by Lynn Cahoon is #2 in the Survivors' Book Club Mystery series.

Rarity has come to Sedona to pick up her life and do what she really loves, after a tangle with cancer. After the first mystery/murder she was helping sleuth, she ended up with he victim's dog - Killer. They now have a real bond going on.

Rarity has formed a book club of mainly survivors of cancer, but now others have been welcomed in. But when is a book club not a book club? When it is sleuthing! Rarity has a student - Darcy part time working for her and its not long before the group has to go into action and solve who killed Darcy's grandmother?

The group work together along with Drew the local policeman, with little mysterious happenings along the way, always with a sense of danger lurking. I didn't guess the murderer, although details needed to be revealed to see what was going on.

A fun story. Secrets in the Stacks was easy to read and easy to follow. Great well-developed characters made this a must read. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

Sigh.

As I have previous stated in other reviews of this author’s work, I almost always struggle with the first few books in every new series she writes [I am not really sure why, but I almost always dislike them and it takes a few books for me to settle in and eventually I end up loving them, which is the case with 2 of her current series], so I am not surprised that I didn’t love this book [though, I liked the first one and rated it higher than any other “first book” by the author]; what I AM surprised about it just how…inconsistent [?] this book is. Let me explain.

First, there is a TON of repetition. WHY is this a thing now in cozies? WHY WHY WHY??? Is there a new word count that has to be met and instead of giving us a complete story, they must just rewrite what they had just written, but in a different way? I was sorry to see this author succumb to this [STUPID and dumbing down] trope and I hope that she gets past it – she is a talented writer and I know that she can write a very good story, so this kind of crap really isn’t needed.

Second, there is a TON of inconsistencies. A TON. Here is an example: in one chapter, the book club is getting ready to take on the mystery of who the killer is and Shirley [one of the BEST side characters – I just love her and her strength and how she strives to keep her business HERS {it is failing, but she IS trying to keep people from gossiping}] talks about how she will update the murder notebooks and bring them to the next meeting. Move forward to the next meeting [several chapters later] and Shirley hands out the notebooks and Rarity says to her “OH, I didn’t know you were going to make murder notebooks” I’m sorry, WHAT? Seriously? And this happens OVER and OVER and OVER again [the worse was in chapter 17 and 18 when Rarity spends her afternoon researching the man they think is the killer and then in chapter 18 talks about making a memo to herself to remember to RESEARCH THIS SAME MAN. WHAT??? At this point, I even went back and reread it to make sure it wasn’t a mistake on my part and nope, I read it right. I just don’t understand this. So this and the telling of the same stuff OVER AND OVER AND OVER again were two of the biggest flaws in this book.

The mystery in itself is very good. I DID guess who the killer was very early [like from the moment they arrive in the picture], but it was a total guess and it wasn’t until towards the end when things are unraveling that I got the why [though I am still not 100% sure about all of that], but ultimately, it all fell flat. At no point did I feel that Rarity was in danger in the end and the reveal was just so…flat. My heart didn’t race, I didn’t grip my book, I just read it and went “well, THAT was meh”, and finished the book. It was just so anticlimactic and disappointing. Add to the mess that Rarity was acting so weird and defensive and everyone seems pretty catty and…I don’t know, weird in this one, it just was a jarring read. It was like the characters were not happy with the way they were being written either.

Even though it seems like I don’t, I really DO like this author. Her “Farm-to-Fork” and “Kitchen Witch” series are amazing [though it took me 3 books and 4 books in each series to get REALLY into them and then love them] and I so WANT to read the “Tourist Trap” books but I despise that narrator so those are out for me [the first two I read were pretty good and I liked the mysteries] and I really recommend them to people. I just don’t love how this one went and I am really disappointed. Will I read book 3 if there is one? Yes. From my past history with her books, the third book is usually where things turn around for me and I am hoping for that here, though a lot of things need to change for that to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lynn Cahoon, and Kensington Books/Lyrical Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Secrets in the Stacks, the second book in Lynn Cahoon’s Survivors’ Book Club Mystery series, is a mystery within a mystery within a mystery. Each layer of the puzzle draws the reader closer, delivering more suspense than occurs in many cozy mysteries. Woven tightly in this web of intrigue is a heartfelt story that delivers an emotional punch as it intensifies with every page.

Cancer survivor Rarity Cole, proprietress of The Next Chapter bookstore, has carved out a pleasant living in Sedona, Arizona. Her attempt to further her business at a local healing fair is derailed when her part-time employee, Darby Doyle, comes running in, terrified because the Tarot Reader has pulled a Death card. The portended disaster appears to have been transferred when Darby’s grandmother, Catherine, dies shortly thereafter. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes obvious that Darby’s grandmother’s death was in fact murder. What secrets did Catherine hold? Who would want to kill her? And where are Darby’s missing parents? A subsequent attempted burglary heightens the suspense and sets Rarity and the rest of her book club on a sleuthing adventure as they attempt both to clear Darby’s name and unmask a murder before the perpetrator turns his eyes on them.

This book is so tightly-plotted. Full of twists, turns, and clever clues, the action is non-stop. Between hidden identities, corporate conspiracies, journalistic deception, and cold case murder lies a heartwarming tale of friends who band together to help each other. Rarity, Sam, Darby, Drew, and Archer are a tight-knit group. The budding romances between Sam and Drew, and Rarity and Archer, each take a tentative – and logical -- step forward.

Don’t be put off by the “paranormal” tone of the book’s description. Other than the initial tarot reading and a brief “séance” later, later on, the book focuses on the logic of the mystery. It is the human efforts of Rarity and her friends that ultimately solve the crime.

Secrets in the Stacks lives up to, and in many ways exceeds, the potential of the first book (The Tuesday Night Survivor’s Club). I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Note: I received an ARC of Secrets in the Stacks from NetGalley and Kensington Books Lyrical Press. The above is my honest review.

Darby, an assistant at Rarity’s Sedona book store, has had a scary tarot reading. When she arrives home and finds her grandmother dead, she’s devasted. As a young college student whose parents are AWOL in Alaska, her grandmother was all she had. The support Book Club once again turns to solving a mystery. I enjoyed the return of the close group and the mystery.

Rarity Cole shares her recovery from cancer with other cancer patients in her Survivors Book Club. This week they are participating in the annual summer healing fair where Darby has a Tarot Card reading with the Death card popping up. Believing that she is going to die (she has a mammogram scheduled the next day) she runs away only to find when she gets home that her grandmother is dead. Rarity and her friends seek to prove that Darby wasn't the killer even though she is her grandmother's beneficiary.

This is a heartwarming mystery with it's ability to feel the characters emotions, their empathy as well as fear for each other as they grapple with a loved one's death and their own mortality.

Excellent second book in Calhoon's A Survivor's Book Blub Mystery series. There's solid and relatable characters, an interesting mystery, and a few red herrings to keep readers guessing. I also enjoyed the descriptions of Sedona, and really want to visit.
Reads well as a stand-alone.

Many thanks to Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

I loved everything about this book....the plot, the characters, and the setting. I will be going back and reading the first book in this series.

Rarity is excited for upcoming healing fair and looks forward to having her bookstore be a participant. Members from the book club she got started upon opening her store are also going to help out in different ways. There will even be a Tarot card reader there for entertainment and several members are looking forward to a reading. When Darby, one of the book club members, reading doesn't go well Rarity realizes she is afraid her upcoming mammogram is what has her worried. Things seem okay but then Darby finds her grandmother dead, murdered and realizes this is what the tarot reading was predicting. Darby asks the book club to help figure out who killed her grandmother and the group agrees to do so. Everyone has an assignment and putting the clues together becomes more important than ever when other bad things begin to hapoen. Follow along to see if the group will find a killer or someone else will end up dead.

An entertaining cosy "whodunnit.' I guessed one of the twists early on, but that didn't spoil the fun. And who doesn't like a cute little dog named Killer. Secrets in the Stacks is part of the Survivors' Book Clu Mystery series, but can be read as a stand alone.

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A satisfying second addition to this series. Solid characters and an interesting whodunit.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Rarity Cole is the proud owner of a bookshop, called The Next Chapter, which sells titles with a focus on Eastern and Western medicine, food, meditation and other potential powers of healing. She also runs the Tuesday Night Survivors' Club (TNSC) a book club, now a group of ten people that meets, you guessed it, on Tuesday nights! The annual healing fair is on the horizon and there's to be a Tarot card reader. Darby Doyle is the TNSC's latest recruit and a new employee at The Next Chapter. She requests a Tarot card reading by Carson but draws the Death card and rushes off, very upset. She later finds her grandmother, dead...

I'm delighted to be back in Sedona, Arizona. The mystery is one that I did not manage to puzzle out. Very highly recommended, I'm eager to continue the series with Death in the Romance Aisle, due out in 2023.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel, at my own request, from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.