Paper Cuts

The sixth entry in Adams’s Secret, Book, and Scone Society series (after 2022’s The Vanishing Type) finds bookstore owner Nora in a jam when the woman her husband left her for—who’d just extended an olive branch to Nora—turns up dead. Distraught, the bookseller turns to her “Society”: a quartet of small-business owners in the fictional resort town of Miracle Springs, N.C. As gossip spreads, Nora befriends the deceased woman’s young son, unleashing animosity from some townsfolk, and setting off a flurry of events that reunites a few families, causes ripples in a few more, and sends several characters to the ER. The story coasts on well-constructed characters (particularly Nora and the murder victim’s neurodivergent son), delightful literary chats among Nora and her bookish friends, and a loving glimpse of the grit required to operate a small-town bookshop. The pace can flag, but never for too long as the author leads readers into darker corners of Miracle Springs than she’s ever shown before. Series regulars will not be disappointed, and this entry’s generosity of spirit may gain Adams new followers. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (May)