Another cute cozy mystery , the eighth in the series set in a charming Miracle Springs, North Carolina. The town is getting ready for Halloween and Nora has invited a medium memorialist to give a book chat and some personal reading at her bookstore. Nora is not exactly comfortable with having the medium but has been assured that have author visits will be good for business. A thunderstorm is brewing as the event begins and just as the author begins the personal readings the lights go out. When they get some candles lit they see the author is having difficulty breathing. was it natural death or murder??? The Secret, Book and Scone Society try their best to solve a murder , have a baby shower and plan a wedding all before Christmas. People are not always who or what they seem.
This was a fun read, great for getting cozy with.

A new book in this series is always something to celebrate. Nora and her friends are back, as wonderful and supportive as ever, and of course, find themselves embroiled in investigating a suspicious death. The almost Halloween setting lends an added aura of spookiness to the plot. Treat yourself to a trip to Miracle Springs!

I like this series. Because of the women’s secrets and pasts, it can veer darker than other cozy series, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed this book, but I also found Nora sanctimonious. I also have a huge pet peeve for book characters saying things like “this isn’t a story, it’s real life,” which she did multiple times. I also wanted to find out the reasons and method behind the murder, but Nora lectured her friends on how it didn’t matter (like in a book— again!).

An unusual author with an unusual past and present has an author event at the store only to have it marred by storms, death, and a concussion. Not the usual expectations for one giving psychic readings! Add in an impromptu wedding, a hostile deputy with secrets, another murder, and a baby.
Another spellbinding read from a gifted author.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from Kensington Books/Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thank you! Available Oct 28, 2025 ***** #bookbub #goodreads #storygraph
#TheTatteredCover by @elleryadams #SecretBookAndSconeSocietyBk8 #NetGalley @kensingtonbooks
#cozymystery #crimenovel #mystery #mysteries #northcarolina #smallbusiness #smalltown #psychicmedium #authors #bookseller #localcops #secrets #lies, #relatives #friendship #ruses #librarything #murderinvestigation

The Tattered Cover was a very good story. It takes place in the town of Miracle Springs. Nora Pennington owns the book store Miracle Books. She had Sheldon Vega who worked part-time as well as her new employee, Charlie Kim. Charlie was taking the regular chairs and putting them away and bringing out the folding chairs to the reader's circle. He was concerned that it would be a tight squeeze. She was having an evening event as Allie Kennedy, a well known cozy mystery author, was in the area to visit her inlaws. She thought Miracle Books would be a good place to promote her new book, The Dry Bar Murders. Nora had gotten a call from Allie's publicist and agreed to do it. Nora called Charlie and told him what she was doing. He was surprised as the book store had been in business for over a decade. She told him that she had gotten another email from a publicist asking if they could do a halloween booking. She thought she would say yes. Charlie said that he would promote the event and get the word out. The publicist said she would send copies of Allie' book as well as the other five books in the series. Nora had bought the old train station building. She wanted to open a bookstore that would become the social hub for the residents as well as visitors. She had succeeded in doing both. She lived in the old caboose in the back of the store.

The store was filled with people who came to hear Allie. It was a good program and Nora told people that there would be another author coming for a Fun and Fright Night. There would be activities in the morning for children and a reading from a horror writer in the afternoon. There would be a talk and demonstration in the evening with a psychic medium, Lara Luz. Her book was on the table. It was a blue book with a white birdcage on the cover. People seemed interested. Allie's books all sold as well as Lara's.

Nora's best friends, Hester, Estella and June were in the ticket agent's booth which was now the small kitchen for the store. "Sheldon was making and serving mock cocktails as fast as he made them. The tip jar was overflowing. She told her friends to go home, especially Estella who was pregnant. She went around her store and found Allie crying. She told someone on the phone that the woman was there at her event. She said she wouldn't let her ruin everything again. Allie came to the checkout with no signs of her crying, etc. There was one person left in the store. He was standing at the table reading Lara's book. Allie looked in the book and turned white. She left the store in a hurry.

Nora woke up the next day with her partner, Sheriff Grant McCabe bringing her coffee. She was living with him because her caboose had caught fire and was waiting to be put back to her home. Grant had two cats, Magnum and Higgins. Grant told her that he would have to cancel their hike as he was getting complaints about illegal dumping.near the AT trailheads. He was going to meet the park ranger to come up with a plan.

Nora loved going to yard sales and flea markets for knickknacks for her store. She got a text from Bea. a flea market vendor who told her that she had a box of bookends that she had in her truck. She wanted Nora to come and go through them. Nora got into her own truck that started oiut as a mail truck, ice cream truck in the nineties and was a work vehicle for a mason who decided to retire after putting in a new engine and tires.. Nora loved the truck and had it painted with colorful books and the name of her store on it. Nora went to the flea market and to Bea's booth. Bea gave her the keys to her truck and told her to look at the boxes and take what she wanted. In the truck she found six boxes labeled bookends. She decided to take them all and wrote Bea a check for them.

There would be tickets sold for Lara's reading. Otherwise the talk was free. Bea asked her about the reading. Nora told her that Lalra refered to herself as a conduit. When she touches people she hears messages. Bea bought herself a ticket.

Halloween arrived and the tickets for the reading were all sold out. She told him who were coming. Terry Rowe, the pharmacist was the 6th person. Charlie's mother, Grace bought 2 tickets. She was bringing a guest. Nora reminded him not to forget the candy for the station. Deputy Paula Hollowell and Nora did not like each other. Paula did everything to make it hard for Nora. She was the K9 handler. She was now dating Hester's ex, Deputy Andrews. Because of this Nora didn't like her even more. She and McCabe didn't see eye to eye when it came to Paula.

At the store Nora saw the cupcakes that Hester had made for the store. She would be making smaller versions for the event. When it was five Nora closed the store and set the chairs around for the book reading. She also got a children's book author to read her book, The Pumpkin Patch Pact.. Her horror novelist had to cancel as his car broke down. She told Charlie. At five Hester and Estella came with bakery boxes and June a few minutes later. Lara Luz arrived with her boyfriend, Enzo Ruzzo. She had the sniffles saying she was fighting a cold. She told Nora that she would only talk for about 15 minutes so that she would have the energy to do the reading. Nora felt uneasy about all of this. Maeve came to the store and went to the children's corner. She delighted the children. Nora thanked Maeve and told the audience that Lara would be joining them. To Nora's suriprise to see Deputy Hallowell came and sat in one of the chairs. Since Lara was a little under the weather Nora told the audience a little about her. Nora was also surprised to see Allie Kennedy arrive. The overhead lights flickered and a light bulb popped. Lara got to her feet and spoke to the audience. Nora sat down. The audience was spellbound. Nora watched the people and noticed that Allie looked at Lara with open distrust. After she spoke Nora asked the audience if there were any questions. The elderly man was the last to ask a question. When he did the whole audience went still. Nora thanked the audience and told them to buy Lara's book. Lara was at the signing table. June was wondering why Deputy Hallowell still there and very chummy with Grace. Could she be the guest coming to the reading? When everyone left but the people who had tickets for the reading. The people sat around the table. Allie was also going to the reading. She had bought the ticket under her real name. The lights were turned off Lara showed them the beads. They represent insight and tranquility, intuition and compassion. The beads moved through her fingers. The storm outside intensified. Hester was the first person she spoke to. After telling her what she knew Hester thanked her. She also spoke to Terry but he was not happy with what she said. She told Terry the connection was broken. She also spoke to Grace. She then took a short break. When Lara came back she sat in the purple chair. She looked pale. She said she had some heart pain. Nora called 911. Lara was not doing well and later died. Hallowell searched for a pulse but there was none She had Lara put on the floor and Hallowell tried to revive her. Nora was hit by m;istake by Enzo and she went to the floor. Hester was there when Nora came to. Nora felt sick. McCabe came in and spoke to Nora. He took her to the hospital and she was kept there overnight.

This is where the story takes off. There is so much to tell I will leave it to the reader to read. Nora finds a tattered journal that belonged to Lara. She reads it. There are so many twists and turns to the surprising ending.

I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corp for this ARC.

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.

I adore this series, and this installment was everything I hoped for. With temperatures already near sweltering, it was glorious to escape to fall in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, where residents of this charming small town are gearing up for Halloween by selecting the perfect costume, planning parties, and getting to work on the perfect spooky decor. Miracle Books proprietor Nora Pennington embraces the Halloween festivities by hosting an author event featuring psychic Lara Luz and her newly published memoir.

Lara enthralls the audience with the tale of how her abilities began. She was struck by lightning as a child and pronounced dead only to be resurrected with the ability to connect with those on the other side of the veil. A mysterious gift to be revered, or the storytelling of a charlatan? Before anyone can find out, Lara is struck dead during a brief power outage.

When Nora finds a strange journal belonging to the woman, she realizes that the chances of Lara dying of natural causes are slim. Once again, she must unravel a dark mystery to bring the truth to light.

The mystery is always a bonus in these books. The author has created such a sense of sisterhood, identity, and acceptance within the pages of each installment that I'm able to completely disconnect from real life and become an honorary resident of Miracle Springs, even if only for a while. Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this early copy. Look for this one on October 28, 2025.

Always a solid series, this latest mystery brings along the story of Nora and her friends nicely. Fun to read, I like where the plot took us and look forward to the next installment. Always a hit with our patrons as well.

#TheTatteredCover #NetGalley is another wonderful addition to this much loved series by Ellery Adams.
As Nora embraces the Halloween festivities , she's happy to host an author event, featuring a psychic who just had her book published.
The event is a hit, and Nora hopes the private reading for a few select guests does just as well.
Unfortunately, as cozy mystery readers, we know things will not go well, and an unexpected death will occur, setting the scene for a murder investigation.
What I did not expect was who the killer was, or the disbelief that this person could even be a suspect.
Ms. Adams set the mood for an incredibly twisted tale that kept this reader glued to the pages.
I think #TheTatteredCover is my favorite so far, and I'm happy to recommend it to other readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

Nora and the book club are drawn into another murder case when a medium dies during a reading at the bookstore. She had a bad heart, so was it natural or murder? They begin looking for clues and trying to figure out why the mystery author, the pharmacist and the deputy came to the signing and the reading afterwards. Great series.
Goodreads

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the opportunity to read The Tattered Cover by Ellery Adams, the latest entry in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. This is a series that remains fresh and relatable, I hope it continues for a very long time.