9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Aunt Dimity's At It Again, and She's Delightful, April 9, 2006
If you like fun characters, and playful cozy mysteries without too much violence, you'll enjoy Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea. In this ongoing series, Lori, a lively mom and housewife, finds herself solving odd mysteries, with the help of the spirit of a departed friend, Aunt Dimity, who has willed her cottage in Englznd to Laurie. Dimity communicates with Lori through magic writing in a big blue journal.
This time, somebody wants to get even with her husband, Bill by harming Lori and her five-year-old twins, Will and Rob. This person signs himself Abbadon on threatening e-mails sent to Bill's office. There's nothing to do but whisk Lori and the boys away to an island on the west coast of Scotland, to a castle owned by an eccentric family friend.
Two body guards and Aunt Dimity's advice can't keep Abadon from finding the hideout fortress. But he doesn't come before Lori and two English aristocrat friends uncover what might be a dark secret on the island, and the castle's owner, Sir Percy almost turns out to be someone Lori nevvr expected him to be.
Everything comes together in a horrific storm that leads to a thrilling ending befitting any mystery, and a fun ending befitting a story where one of the characters communicates kindly from the Beyond.
For me the most fun of the Aunt Dimity series has been the way Nancy Athwerton creates fun and suspense out of what might in other hands become cliche situations. I think the playful spirit of Aunt Dimity lets this happen. If she can communicate with Lori through a blue journal, then Lori can have a good friend who owns a Scottish castle. The climax can come on a dark and stormy night.
Atherton cleverly adapts the magic of having spirits around to the every day world. The Aunt Dimity series is fantastic without venturing into an altered reality, such as a land of Hobbits, or a school for wizards. This attribute makes the books refreshing. We can be comfortable knowing Lori will come out all right, because the story is playful. We can solve a mystery without a lot of blood and guts. We can have fun with wonderful characters and settings that offer us an enjoyable read.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder by the Sea! Ok, not quite., February 15, 2006
With Aunt Dimity & the Next of Kin being my first exposure to the Aunt Dimity series, I wasn't sure I was looking forward to Aunt Dimity & the Deep Blue Sea, but I decided to soldier on, since I already had it. The first book wasn't too bad, just extremely superficial with a small message attached to it. Would this be more of the same? Thankfully not. While the resolution of the plot leaves something to be desired, and the mystery turns out to be a bit corny, this held my attention much more than the first one did.
The book opens on a tense note, with Bill, Lori Shepherd's lawyer husband, coming home to tell his family that they must vacate their quiet village home because he has received death threats, apparently from a former client. While he works with the local police to figure out who it might be and to stop them, he gets one of their rich friends, Sir Percy, to fly the rest of the family away to a secluded location. It turns out to be an island cut off from most civilization. There, Percy has a castle and has hired two of the best bodyguards he knows (Damian and Andrew) to watch over Lori and the kids. Of course, she takes the Aunt Dimity journal with her, the one where Dimity's ghost communicates with Lori. But there's something strange about the only village on the island, with the residents doing everything in their power to keep tourists at bay. What's the secret behind their activities? And is it as nefarious as it seems?
Aunt Dimity & the Deep Blue Sea has a lot more tension than the earlier book, and I adored it for that reason alone. Unfortunately, this is also a strike against the book, mainly because none of the tension actually builds to anything, except reconfirming Lori's worldview that everybody is nice (except for the man trying to kill her family to take revenge on Bill, of course). Thus, I really enjoyed the book while I was reading it but I was left a little annoyed once I was done. The attempted murder plot almost feels tacked on and the rest of the story, while atmospheric, ultimately shakes down to nothing in particular.
Instead, Atherton gives us an extended tour of the castle and surrounding lands, spending quite a few pages doing this, despite the fact that the book is quite short. Usually, when an author does this, most of the information will be put to good use later in the story, but most of it isn't in this case. It just adds to the atmosphere a little bit while dragging the plot to a halt. This is, however, where we meet Damian and Andrew. Damian becomes the main focus of the plot, as he is Lori's personal bodyguard and she takes it upon herself to get him to lighten up a little bit. He never cracks a smile and he doesn't respond to her little jokes at all. When the mystery of what's going on with the village presents itself (and it does in a very coincidental fashion), Damian finds himself drawn in due to Lori's infectious curiosity.
In fact, the interplay between these two characters is the highlight of the book (along with Aunt Dimity, of course, but more later). I only have two books as a sample, but Atherton seems at her best when she gives Lori a male companion to play off of, whether it's Gabriel in Next of Kin or Damian here. Especially wonderful is the scene when the power goes out and Lori asks him into her room to find out his thoughts on the village. He is stiff as a board and even thinks she might try and seduce him. It's a hilarious scene and Damian's growth throughout the book is great.
It's too bad that none of the other characters even come close to this. All of them have their role to play in the plot and that's about it. The arrival of an old friend is way too coincidental, even as Atherton tries to justify it. Other coincidences abound too, supposedly adding to the tension but then being explained away. The attempted murder plot doesn't interfere with the island mystery except for the interludes provided by Bill's phone calls, which seem to be included in the story more to remind us that there actually is something serious going on than anything else.
Aunt Dimity is a bit more prominent this time around, actually doing something for once (using her unique situation to confirm what a departed spirit is either doing or not doing, but to say more would be spoiling). She's a great character, which can be surprising considering we only know about her through her writing in the journal to Lori. It also adds a bit more substance to her role in the series, as well as confirming some things (which admittedly may already have been confirmed in earlier books). She doesn't know anything about what happens in our world except what Lori tells her, but she can check out what any other dead people are doing (or not doing, if they're not around anymore). Good to know.
Aunt Dimity & the Deep Blue Sea is a much more satisfying book than Next of Kin, despite the way it ends. It's still light as a feather, but at least there appears to be something behind the story this time around. There is a sense of danger occasionally, which is a nice change. While this book certainly won't make me seek out any others, I will certainly read them if they come to me. They're a nice change of pace from having to think much. Just sit back and take a breather while immersing yourself in something kind of fun.
David Roy
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This time it's personal..., April 27, 2006
Once again Lori Shepherd finds herself in the middle of a mystery but this time there is nothing she can do. Bill has been threatened with the death of his family (Lori and the 5-year-old twins). The police are working to try to identify the person writing the letters and advise that Lori and the children go into hiding. While in exile Lori, of course, finds a less threatening mystery to solve.
This one is more laid back than usual as Lori learns about her new environment and the people. She learns to trust the bodyguards ability to protect her and the boys. Then Peter shows up out of the blue with a girlfriend no less.
A wonderful book to get lost in for a day especially if you wish you had an Aunt Dimity to write in a blue journal and help to keep you on the right course of action and even to see the road to take.
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