Customer Reviews

Aunt Dimity and the Duke

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Although this is the second in the charming Aunt Dimity series, it is chronologically the first in the ongoing story of one enchanting English woman who changes lives for the better.

This time we meet homely American computer nerd Emma Porter. She has just been dumped by her longtime beau for a glamorous younger woman. Rather than cancel their planned trip to view the gardens of England, she decides to make the journey solo. An avid gardener herself, she feels this is just the balm her troubled ego needs. She gets far more than she bargained for when a pair of elderly sisters send her to view fabulous gardens owned by a Duke. Before hse has barely set foot on the soil, she finds herself designing the Duke's chapel gardens, preparing for a once-a-century fete, reconnecting a handsome handyman with his two young children, solving the murder of a rock star, and leading the Duke to wed the woman he has desired for years. Meanwhile, Aunt Dimity keeps her finger in the pie and all live happily ever after, or so we surmise.

If you like your mysteries light with a good-natured ghost and love in the air, you'll enjoy this one.

If you aren't acquainted with Aunt Dimity, you have a wonderful experience in store for you. Do it now! Don't read the synopsis...just buy the books...all of them...then read and enjoy. They are delightfully unexpected. Both the men and the women in our family love them. We feel that the less you know about them before you read them the better. We only wish there were more of them.

Nancy Atherton does not center this book around her usual title character, Lori Shepherd - but rather around her English neighbors and best friends. It is a delightful sideroad to travel down.

The entire series is simply delightful and a great read.

As I began reading this book I almost immediately found that I was totally confused. Lori and Bill, the main characters from the first book were nowhere to be seen and in their place I found an almost completely different set of characters. The only holdovers that I could find were Aunt Dimity of course, the delightful Pym sisters and Emma Porter. Emma had only a minor role in the first book but in this entry she was one of the main characters along with Derek Harris a recently widowed father of two delightful children. After doing a little research I found that this book, like the first one is introducing characters that will be central to the series later on but I had to figure this out on my own for there were no indications whatsoever within the book as to what was going on.

The author has chosen a grand English estate for the setting of this book as she introduces her second set of characters and a lovely setting it is. Emma Porter is an American who as an avid gardener is touring English gardens and while roaming around a hedge maze she runs into the Pym sisters who seem to be there at the behest of Aunt Dimity. The good sisters decide that Emma is the perfect person to renovate part of the gardens at Penford Hall, the home of their friend Duke Grayson Alexander. From there the story takes off as Derek Harris and his children are also at the Hall while Derek repairs a stained glass window that is a central part of the history and legend of Penford Hall.

As in the first book no one dies in this entry although there seems to have been a very mysterious death at Penford Hall a few years earlier. That death plays a central part in the mysterious plot of this book but that is not the only mystery present so when one mystery is solved there are plenty more to take its place. Amazingly the author is able to juggle all of these mysteries in such a way so as not to confuse the reader any more than necessary and in the end everything is as usual all tied up in a neat little package. A good cozy mystery should never leave its readers hanging after all.

As in the first book this story is very well written, fun and engaging. So much so in fact that I found myself unable at times to put the book down even though the hour had grown very late. The characters are well thought out, believable and quite memorable and the setting is so well described that I could almost smell the fragrant gardens and feel the rich soil in my hands. All in all this is a very good book but I am going to have to deduct at least one star for the confusing way that this book approaches the fact that it is introducing a whole new set of characters without any warning whatsoever. I'm not sure how I would have accomplished this task differently but I just wasn't satisfied with the way that this author did it.

Heroine: plump

CompuTech executive Emma Porter, a dumped frump abandoned by her lover of 15 years for a blonde sylph 20 years her junior, is anxious to leave New England for Old England and a long, relaxing vacation among the finest gardens of the world.

Once there, a series of odd coincidences lands the amateur gardener at Cornwall's infamous Penford Hall, where his grace, Grayson Alexander, insists she is the one meant to restore his grandmother's favorite flowerbeds. While there she meets the duke's old friend Derek Harris, widowed earl's son and father of two precocious young children, who was hired by Grayson to renovate the manor and ferret out a missing antique lamp in the process. Derek expresses concern to Emma that his old friend's estate is in terribly fine shape considering that his grace had been left in penury by the late duke. In fact, the Hall and its nearby village appear to have undergone extensive expensive renovations in the very recent past.

But where did the money come from? Was it possible Grayson was dealing in illicit funds? And did it have anything to do with Lex Rex, the punk rocker who met a tragic ending on the duke's yacht, and who turned out to have been penniless himself at the time of his death?

Perhaps only Grayson's super-model cousin Susannah knows the answer, but she's not talking--at least not since an "accident" in the ruins of a nearby castle left her unconscious.

What worked for me:

An avid gardener myself, I'm always keen to read a story that involves flowers.

The mystery kept me turning the pages, as did the sweet romance blossoming between Derek and Emma.

I haven't tried it so can't vouch for it, but the strawberry tart recipe certainly sounds scrumptious.

         Size-wise Emma is full-figured, plump in her own eyes but deliciously curvy in her hero's. In fact, the men in the book seemed to prefer the charms of "hippy" women to that of the willowy super-model-in-residence.

What didn't work for me:

I thought the writing quality fell off a smidge in the middle of the book.

This is the second novel, albeit a prequel, in the Aunt Dimity series, yet she only appeared briefly in the story. In fact, "Aunt Dimity and the Duke" seemed more like "Emma Porter and the Duke's Friend".

Overall:

           A good read for fans of British cozies who like a gardening theme, a hint of romance, and a dash of the paranormal in their stories.

If you liked "Aunt Dimity and the Duke" you might also enjoy "Thornyhold" or "The Dancing Floor".

I read all the Aunt Dimity books. This one was a little slower in the beginning, but once your in, it's a good read. I liked that the main character wasn't Lori Shepard, but rather focuses on her best friend. It helped bring her character to life in the other books. I reccommend reading the whole series.

Love the series. Aunt Dimity and the Duke is my favorite thus far. The descriptions of English gardens were breathtaking. Made me feel I was there and also made me want to return for another visit! Nancy makes the characters come to life and you can't help but fall in love with them. I'm anxious for her next book release.

If you are a fan of the "creamy bosoms" or "the rotten corpse revealed..." genre then Nancy Atherton's series will be too tame for you. IF, however, you are overwhelmed by the school shootings, drive-by shootings, drugs, earthquakes, and other natural and man-made mayhem then these books are PERFECT! Ms. Atherton's writing is elegant yet humorous, each chapter begins and ends with a hook without relying on blood, sex and gore for suspense. Our entire family has gobbled up the series (and we're lovers of such diverse authors as Patricia Cornwell and Garrison Keillor)! This series is also effective for bridging my 12-year old daughter from "babysitters" to more sophisticated literature. She, too,is hooked. TO: Nancy Atherton Re: MORE BOOKS! Write faster, girlfriend. We love you!

Although this is the second book of the Dimity series I would recommend reading this one first as it is sort-of an off shoot from the character in the first book Lori - if you read Atherton's first book Aunt Dimity's Death first you sort-of loose some of the excitement of this book but it is still fabulous and fun.

Aunt Dimity and the Duke is set once again in the lush countryside of England. This time, as I said above - Aunt Dimity helps out Emma, who subsequently becomes Lori's best friend, (this book takes place before her first in the series)who takes a position gardening at a local mansion. There she meets Derek and helps to solve a mystery!

A wonderfully fun book.

The Aunt Dimity series is made up of great, light reads that are really fun. No heavy thinking here; just an enjoyable, lighthearted book. As I was reading this one, though, I kept expecting Lori to appear, but she didn't. I really think this book should go before Aunt Dimity's Death, not after. At any rate, it was still a very enjoyable read, and I recommend it.