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Secrets & Scents
Best friends Kelli & Jo quit their day jobs in Silicon Valley to open a book and candle shop in Sugar Pine Station, a quaint and quiet mountain village near Yosemite, California.
As they begin renovations, Kelli discovers a mysterious bundle of letters hidden away for over forty years. Each envelope contains an enigmatic prophecy, the first one predicting an Opening Day disaster.
Now Kelli & Jo are forced to put on their sleuthing caps if they want to save their business. Will more tragedies strike? And will they unravel the secrets of the mysterious letters?
Secrets & Scents is Book 1 in a brand new cozy mystery series by Lyn Perry and features many of the endearing and quirky characters of Sugar Pine Station that fans have grown to love from the Ma Tutt cozies, including Mack the Mysterious Cat.
As they begin renovations, Kelli discovers a mysterious bundle of letters hidden away for over forty years. Each envelope contains an enigmatic prophecy, the first one predicting an Opening Day disaster.
Now Kelli & Jo are forced to put on their sleuthing caps if they want to save their business. Will more tragedies strike? And will they unravel the secrets of the mysterious letters?
Secrets & Scents is Book 1 in a brand new cozy mystery series by Lyn Perry and features many of the endearing and quirky characters of Sugar Pine Station that fans have grown to love from the Ma Tutt cozies, including Mack the Mysterious Cat.
140 pages, Hardcover
Published December 5, 2022
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 5, 2024
This cozy mystery story is filled with humor, action, and suspense. The characters from Sugar Pine Station will pull you into their world and you will want this town to be a real place one could visit.
April 23, 2023
This is cozy mystery at its finest. Determined female protagonists, charming romantic interests, plucky supporting characters, and enough danger to provide some chills without truly causing worry. The tropes of the genre are frequent but Perry executes them in a way that makes them charming rather than repetitive.
The story begins with a possible murder, as these novels often do, but then jumps back in time to build the setting and characters before diving into the mystery. I enjoyed this, as too often cozy mysteries introduce the “female protagonist in a new small town business venture” with a backstory of two sentences. That’s fine in a low-stakes novel but I’m so glad that Perry fleshed out the two leads with more detail.
Speaking of leads and characters, there are four (if I remember correctly) different POVs in this novel, which is a plus for me. The author does a fantastic job of making these personalities distinct without banging the reader over the head, avoiding a common problem with the POV trope. The female leads are fiery and sweet but a bit too stereotypical at times, with a lot of references to their concerns about the food they are eating and their weight/exercise routines. It would be nice to see these gals enjoy the pizza and beer without verbally stressing about the extra miles they will have to run. If these two traits are important to the characters, Perry could write about how much they enjoy the meal and then simply open the next scene with a jog to work or another innocuous reference to their enjoyment of exercise that isn’t directly tied to food consumption.
The supporting characters, such as Ma, are delightful and add some zest to the plot. My one gripe is that the writing switches back and forth between various names for Ma without explanation as to who they refer to. This is partly my fault since Ma is the lead of a previously published series and I would have understood these references if I had read those books. However, given that Secrets and Scents is the first in a new series it would be helpful to include more explanation or a cast of characters at the beginning of the novel.
Some other details that I thoroughly enjoyed include:
*the awareness on the characters’ parts to only do chest compressions and not breaths when performing CPR (not many people realize that this is now the recommendation)
*the use of the term Romany instead of the derogatory term gypsy
*the inclusion of a recipe with the book, a cozy mystery trope that is always welcome!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m glad I discovered Perry’s work. I’m excited to read the next installment!
The story begins with a possible murder, as these novels often do, but then jumps back in time to build the setting and characters before diving into the mystery. I enjoyed this, as too often cozy mysteries introduce the “female protagonist in a new small town business venture” with a backstory of two sentences. That’s fine in a low-stakes novel but I’m so glad that Perry fleshed out the two leads with more detail.
Speaking of leads and characters, there are four (if I remember correctly) different POVs in this novel, which is a plus for me. The author does a fantastic job of making these personalities distinct without banging the reader over the head, avoiding a common problem with the POV trope. The female leads are fiery and sweet but a bit too stereotypical at times, with a lot of references to their concerns about the food they are eating and their weight/exercise routines. It would be nice to see these gals enjoy the pizza and beer without verbally stressing about the extra miles they will have to run. If these two traits are important to the characters, Perry could write about how much they enjoy the meal and then simply open the next scene with a jog to work or another innocuous reference to their enjoyment of exercise that isn’t directly tied to food consumption.
The supporting characters, such as Ma, are delightful and add some zest to the plot. My one gripe is that the writing switches back and forth between various names for Ma without explanation as to who they refer to. This is partly my fault since Ma is the lead of a previously published series and I would have understood these references if I had read those books. However, given that Secrets and Scents is the first in a new series it would be helpful to include more explanation or a cast of characters at the beginning of the novel.
Some other details that I thoroughly enjoyed include:
*the awareness on the characters’ parts to only do chest compressions and not breaths when performing CPR (not many people realize that this is now the recommendation)
*the use of the term Romany instead of the derogatory term gypsy
*the inclusion of a recipe with the book, a cozy mystery trope that is always welcome!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m glad I discovered Perry’s work. I’m excited to read the next installment!
March 1, 2023
Best friends Kelli and Jo are thrilled that the opening day for their new book and candle shop, Reading Makes Scents, is finally here. However, the celebration hits a bad note before it can even get started when Kelli finds a stranger unconscious in their storage area. Who is he? Why was he attacked? Does it have anything to do with the prophecy they found weeks before in their building?
While I normally skip paranormal themed stories, I made an exception here, and I’m glad I did. It does employ a narrative technique I dislike (early multi-chapter flashbacks), bet there is a good story here. I got quite caught up in it near the end, in fact. The story is a bit different from what I normally read, but it worked well. The paranormal elements are light, and they are a fun addition to the story. I loved Kelli, Jo, and their love interests. The rest of the cast are fun as well, and the town where the action takes place was delightful. The book is on the short side, so keep that in mind. As a bonus, there’s a recipe at the end. If you are looking for something light and fun, this book is for you.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
While I normally skip paranormal themed stories, I made an exception here, and I’m glad I did. It does employ a narrative technique I dislike (early multi-chapter flashbacks), bet there is a good story here. I got quite caught up in it near the end, in fact. The story is a bit different from what I normally read, but it worked well. The paranormal elements are light, and they are a fun addition to the story. I loved Kelli, Jo, and their love interests. The rest of the cast are fun as well, and the town where the action takes place was delightful. The book is on the short side, so keep that in mind. As a bonus, there’s a recipe at the end. If you are looking for something light and fun, this book is for you.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
January 17, 2024
I didn't love the writing style but there was an interesting twist.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews