Customer Reviews

Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin (Aunt Dimity Mystery)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why five stars? Because Nancy Atherton promises a light-hearted romp -- what I call airplane reading, something to take our minds off where we are and what we're supposed to be doing. We don't ask a lot of those books: just smooth writing, comfortable setting, likeable characters and enough interest to keep the pages turning.

And that's exactly what Atherton serves up here. Visiting a nursing home, Lori befriends Ms. Beacham, legal secretary who dies almost immediately. Lori learns that this unassuming woman has left legacies to all sorts of people, including herself. And she agrees to take on a quest for Ms. Beacham's next of kin.

Atherton breaks a number of mystery conventions with this book, leaving us with plot that's gentle even by cozy standards. Even MC Beaton wreaks more havoc in her country villages! A novice writer probably wouldn't be allowed these lapses. Still, Atherton plays fair with the readers, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the characters.

As a newcomer to the Aunt Dimity series, I plan to go back and read more. After all sometimes we don't want a meaty tome: we're satisfied with an airy, exquisitely baked puff pastry.

Please read the ENTIRE series - beginning with the first. You won't be able to put them down. In this last book in the series Aunt Dimity takes a backseat to the story - but it is okay by this time. You become so much a part of the family that you want to stay - not close the book. This series is home, a place to go when you feel like crying or giving up. It is a comfort zone of reading and I guarantee that it will lighten your life and you will search for more like it and be eager for the next in the series. Give it a try.

I love this series. The premise is that Aunt Dimity, who is dead, can communicate with Lori Shepherd via a journal. Lori talks and Dimity writes her responses for Lori to read. I can accept this because these stories are rich in friendship, love, trust, caring, and community.

Lori's twins boys are now 5 and as active as ever. Lori stays active in the town of Finch, the church, and now visits at the Radcliffe Infirmary those patients who have no other visitors. It's at the Radcliffe that Lori meets Elizabeth Beacham, a retired legal secretary. They hit it off immediately and become friends. But as is the nature of cancer, Miss Beacham dies and Lori is devastated. Then she learns that Miss Beacham has left her a desk in her will. Lori feels that she has to find Miss Beacham's brother who disappeared years ago to find out why his sister died with no family at her side.

Of course this starts the chain of events that cause Lori to learn that Miss Beacham was more than she appeared to be. She also learns that cities can also have communities as tight knit as Finch. She recruits helper on her journey to find Kenneth Beacham and manages to lose her temper, jump to conclusions, and finally approach her goal.

As usual, there is a message to the book. This one examines our preconceptions of people and their roles. If you haven't read any of the previous Aunt Dimity books you can start with any of them including this one but why rob yourself of a wonderful, relaxing, reading experience--start at the beginning with Aunt Dimity's Death. Enjoy.

"Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin" is Nancy Atherton's 10th Aunt Dimity book and it is a winner! It rates right up there with the first two books of her series, although all are great.

Aunt Dimity is featured a little more here than in other books, which focused on neighbors and friends of Lori Shepherd, but I would still love to have Aunt Dimity featured even more!

Upon initial inspection, "Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin," may sound rather bleak as Lori meets Elizabeth Beacham while on her volunteer duties of visiting hospital patients. Elizabeth has a terminal disease, but is without family. Her brother, whom she was seemingly close to, has disappeared. Learning of Lori's great knack for solving mysteries, Elizabeth seeks her help.

While the premise may sound depressing, I found the story to be very uplifting and inspiring. It was more than just a "cozy read." It leaves the reader reflecting on what is truly important in life. Is it wealth or social position? Is it fame or possessions? Is it the love of friends or neighbors? Is it family? The answer I arrived at was that it is the legacy that one's life imprints on those you leave behind.

This is a series that is best when read consecutively and bought all at once - because once you start reading the first book, "Aunt Dimity's Death" - you will not want to stop!

I bought this book on a whim a few months ago and finally got around to reading it. I am going through a very difficult time right now and my concentration is scattered. I picked up this book and it is a blessing. I was drawn into the warmth of Lori and Ms. Beacham and for a little while was able to transport myself to the cozy English village and Ms. Beacham's neighborhood. I look forward to reading the other books.

Aunt Dimity books seem to bring forth all manner of "cliches" from reviewers. Cozy, warm, witty, charming. They all fit but the Aunt Dimity books are more than that. The main character is Lori Shephard, an expatriate American living in a village in England with her husband and twin sons and a host of friends in the village. Lori was left her cottage by her mother's longtime friend, Aunt Dimity. Lori's mother was a widow who raised Lori on her own. After her mother's death, Lori is in the depths of despair, out of time, money and love. The "discovery" that the friend that her mother told her bedtime stories of over the years actually existed and had left Lori her estate, changes things for Lori. She finds that she can communicate with Aunt Dimity, and goes to her for advise over the years. With Aunt Dimity's insight and help, Lori solves a number of mysteries in her own village, and surrounding area.

I love the Aunt Dimity series, cannot wait to start a new one and am always sad when it is over. My own copies are worn and well-loved and I have "introduced" Aunt Dimity to friends and family over the years, even the ones that I thought personally might not be "worthy" of reading her...and there has been only one that didn't fall for her.

I only wish I could give this series more than 5 stars.

What to read after finishing a gut-wrenching, action-filled Star Wars novel? How about a little light mystery? Sounds like a smashing idea! Luckily, I was able to obtain the two latest Aunt Dimity mysteries, by Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity & the Next of Kin was first on the stack, so I plowed through it. Actually, plowed isn't the right word. Perhaps traipsed? Yes, the book is that flimsy. Enjoyable as it was, if I wasn't holding it in my hands, it probably would have fluttered away on the breeze that flows through my apartment. But is it good, you ask? If you like a mystery that's less dense than the proverbial "cozy" mystery (and those are pretty thin at times), then you'll love it. It's good, but not really my cup of tea.

Lori Shepherd is an American woman living with a nice lawyer husband in Finch, a small English village outside of Oxford. She is rich, but does her part by contributing to various causes and helping out around the town, going into Oxford to help at the homeless shelter, picking up trash at the church with her two young sons, and volunteering at the hospital. She visits patients who don't have family or friends to visit them. There, she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a terminally ill woman whose only family is a brother who seems to have disappeared years ago. Lori becomes determined to track down this brother who couldn't even be bothered to visit, and with the help of one of Beacham's neighbours, begins unraveling the mystery. Lori thought she was a lonely old woman living from hand to mouth, but the reality is much different. As always, the ghost of "Aunt Dimity" plays the sounding board to Lori's problems and theories, until the truth finally comes out.

The concept behind the Aunt Dimity series is kind of cute, with Lori coming home to talk to the ghost who communicates through the act of writing in a special journal. It's intriguing, but ultimately doesn't mask the utter silliness of the plot. There's no real tension behind the story and not much meat to it either. If there was, we wouldn't need the subplot of Lori playing matchmaker for Beacham's neighbour. And isn't it a nice coincidence that the perfect suitor just presents herself while they're trying to figure the case out! There's no real conflict in the story, with just a little at the end when everything's wrapped up nice and tidy, Lori's found out the truth and has to get her two cents in before leaving the scene. Even that's over in a few paragraphs. What's amusing about this lack of tension is the number of times that Atherton ends a chapter on what appears to be an ominous note, only to have any shred of anxiety dissipate within the first paragraph of the next chapter.

There's really nothing wrong with a nice story about nice characters who have a flaw or two, but no really bad traits. Yes, Lori can have a bit of a temper, but the only time it really asserts itself, she quickly realizes she's been rude and moves to apologize. The other time it comes out is the comeuppance at the end, where the story has justified it. And that's the perfect word for this book: nice. It's a pleasant read, not very taxing, and it can be fun at times. The interplay between Lori and Gabriel (the neighbour) is nicely done, if a bit forced at times. Aunt Dimity is neat too, when she's in the book (which isn't all that often, considering her name's on the front cover...she should sue for more screen time). She's wise and always helpful, and Atherton captures her small English-village sensibility perfectly. In fact, she captures the entire village, making Finch a place I'd really like to spend time in (though I'm probably much too reserved for all the busybodies that live there).

There are two main problems with the book, aside from what I've mentioned earlier. First is the fact that Lori really doesn't do that much to solve the puzzle. She has a lot of information just fall into her lap. Her friend Emma does the Internet searches for information on the brother, a couple of her homeless charges provide her with information on where he used to live, and Dimity provides the perfect clue that opens up everything (maybe that's why her name's in the title). Lori has the wrong idea almost from the outset and refuses to think otherwise until she finds out the real situation.

The second problem is that I don't buy the setup to this story at all. We're led to believe that Miss Beacham set up the beginning of the trail of clues for Lori to sniff out based on the knowledge that Lori has told her that she likes mysteries and has solved a few in the past. That's fine. However, Miss Beacham never leaves her sick-bed at the hospital, so how could she do this? She must have had some outside help to plant everything just right. Sure, the ending of the book explains it to the reader, but for somebody supposedly as intelligent as Lori, that should have been the first question on her mind. How did Miss Beacham do this, and who helped her?

There are a lot of complaints about Aunt Dimity & the Next of Kin, but ultimately I didn't feel like I had wasted my time. It won't take that much time to read for any but the slowest reader, and it is the perfect tonic for someone who just wants a really quiet book. There is a running theme about being alone and how humans need social interaction to thrive, but that's about it. This book is not for everybody, but if you like this sort of thing, it's a great example of it.

David Roy

I like the description of the Aunt Dimity mysteries as "Nancy Drew for grown-ups." If you are feeling down and discouraged, grab an Aunt Dimity story, a plate of cookies, and pot of tea for an afternoon. No four-letter words, no sex, and good always triumphs over petty in these books. My only criticism is that Lori is especially obnoxious in Next of Kin (she always is but seems more belligerent, judgmental, and inflexible here). Her moral reclamation is that much more dramatic after her childishness, so it's easy to forgive Atherton's portrayal.

What a find! I love mysteries, and for some reason, have just discovered Aunt Dimity with this book! I don't know how it took me this long, but I was thrilled to find out that there are already nine or ten more I can read! Other reviewers have described the general plot, so I won't. Suffice it to say that it is a wonderful example of an English "cozy", while still being intelligent and up-to-date with good character development, and a pleasant whiff of the (somehow rational) supernatural. At the same time I was reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman", and while that is a good, instructive book, I must say that for several days I left it behind and turned with great relief and anticipation to "Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin".

The Aunt Dimity series is the first mystery series I've read. I really like the "family-friendly" nature of the book, the setting in England and endearing/interesting cast of characters.

What attracted me to the series initially was the "cozy" cover-art, I hope they re-release this paperback with the original cover-art. It's not the same without Reginald and Hamish!