FRAGRANCE OF FORGOTTEN TRUTHS Book Review

Fragrance of Forgotten Truths¹ (book 2 in A Serenity Falls Cozy Mystery series) by Iris Applewood, eBook, 329 pages

*Synopsis from GoodReads: A captivating tale of family secrets, small-town intrigue, and the quiet magic hidden in scent. After losing her research job in the city, Anna Attar heads home to Serenity Falls with nothing but a suitcase and a plan: lay low, help her sister for a few months, and get back on her feet. But plans rarely hold up in a town like Serenity Falls.

Her grandmother’s memory is fading fast. Her sister, Emilia, is convinced their mother’s death wasn’t natural. And Anna finds herself returning to the family perfume tradition she tried to leave behind. What starts as just a few bottles at the farmers market quickly stirs something deeper, as the fragrances she blends begin to unlock memories. Memories some consider best left buried. Then someone breaks into their home, steals their grandmother’s scent grimoire, and poisons a well-known local. With Emilia facing the fallout, Anna is forced to dig into a past laced with rumor, grief, and a decades-old flood the town never quite recovered from. But Anna will need more than formulas to find the truth. She’ll need to remember who she is—and what she’s capable of.

BOOK REVIEW: My return to Serenity Falls did not disappoint! I had all the feelings in this book. Anna even reminds me of my mom's best friend. Anna can break down scents. She can tell what a perfume is made of. My mom's bestie can do that with food. She can taste something and can recreate what she tastes with almost 100% accuracy. Then you have the true crime loving Emilia which is totally me. I love true crime however I don't set up murder boards!

I don't know if I could pick out a favorite part or not because the whole thing read so quickly that I didn't get a chance to highlight anything. The characters are wonderful and colorful for this small town. I could almost picture the Farmer's Market on a cobblestone street. I can't remember if the Farmer's Market was part of the first book or not but that's okay because while this is book 2 in the series, they read as stand alones. Book 1 (tagged as a related post) had a different array of characters as did this one. I actually want to read book 1 again to see if there were any other characters that were in both books because I don't fully remember all of them. This town definitely feels like someplace I would love to call home.

Going with my gut, this is a 4.5 star read for me. I'm not sure what could have been done to make it a solid 5 star but it's definitely good enough to round up to 5 star. Like I said, the characters are wonderful and colorful and the town sounds lovely. This is definitely more mystery based that I remember book 1 being and I'm totally okay with that! I love a good mystery and I was kept guessing all the way.

4.5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 41/50 complete

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