Aunt Dimity Down Under (Paranormal Detective) [Hardcover]

Nancy Atherton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2010 | Series: Paranormal Detective

The original supernatural sleuth is back in the latest cozy Aunt Dimity mystery

A shock wave rocks Lori Shepherd's world when she hears that her beloved neighbors, Ruth and Louise Pym, may be dying. Bracing herself for a final farewell, Lori instead receives a request from the eccentric sisters: Find their long-lost brother before it's too late. Aubrey Pym is a wicked scoundrel who was banished from his family long ago; and much to Lori's surprise, she must travel all the way to New Zealand to find him. In granting her dear friends' dying wish, Lori sets out on a journey full of surprises. And with the help of a charming Kiwi and the otherworldly guidance of Aunt Dimity, Lori goes Down Under to search for the mysterious Aubrey, unraveling a web of secrets that has haunted the Pym family for generations.

Nancy Atherton and her Aunt Dimity series have a dedicated fan base that eagerly awaits each new installment. With its exotic setting, endearing characters, and paranormal storyline, Aunt Dimity Down Under is sure to be a hit with loyal readers and new fans who are just discovering Aunt Dimity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New Zealand serves as the alluring backdrop for Atherton's thin 15th paranormal detective mystery to feature Lori Shepherd (after 2009's Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon). At the request of dying spinster twins Ruth and Louise Pym, Lori heads down under to find out what happened to their older, disinherited brother, Aubrey Pym. In New Zealand, Lori discovers Aubrey is dead, and his son, Edmund, soon follows Aubrey to the grave. As a result, Lori must deliver the vital message the Pym sisters entrusted to her to Ed's 18-year-old runaway daughter, Bree. As Lori tours such scenic sites as Waipoua Forest and Tongariro National Park in her hunt for Bree, Aunt Dimity's journal provides otherworldly encouragement. Since Peter Jackson is filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy during Lori's visit, Tolkien references abound. What starts as a missing person's case turns into a travelogue, charming but not very mysterious. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Lifelong residents of the English village of Finch, the elderly Pym sisters, Ruth and Louise, are dying, so they ask their neighbor, Lori Shepherd, to find their long-lost brother, Aubrey, who was banished from the family in their youth. Lori discovers that Aubrey relocated to New Zealand, so she and her aunt Dimity travel there to find out what has become of him. Lori, along with companion Cameron Mackenzie (a native New Zealander and an old school friend of her husband), learns that Aubrey is dead, but his teenage granddaughter Bree is alive. The two travel from city to city, always one step behind Bree. Fans of the long-running series will enjoy catching up with Lori, her family, Aunt Dimity, and the residents of Finch. They will also enjoy the nicely described New Zealand setting, the hopeful ending, and the fairy tale wedding that closes the book, but there is very little mystery here. More of a gentle read than a crime novel. --Sue O'Brien

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Viking; 1st edition (February 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067002144X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670021444
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mystery?, October 10, 2010

By 

Red Rabbit (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aunt Dimity Down Under (Paranormal Detective) (Hardcover)

Call me old fashioned, but I'm of the opinion that a book classified as a "mystery" should, oh I don't know, have a mystery as an intergral part of the plot. Given that Atherton is a "cozy" mystery writer I don't expect a huge body count and gruesome bloody scenes, nor do I expect a twisted, convoluted plot that keeps me guessing until the very end... but I do expect for there to at least BE a murder to solve. From what I can tell, this book is nothing more than a way for the author to write off a trip to New Zealand as a business tax expense.

Is it sad when the stuffed rabbit side-kick of the protagonist actually has more of a personality than the protagonist herself?

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another charming entry in the series, February 18, 2010

By 

M. Oldham - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aunt Dimity Down Under (Paranormal Detective) (Hardcover)

There's a wedding and a funeral, but before those can happen Lori must go to New Zealand. She's on the trail of family for the Pym sisters and ends up traveling across the country to find who she's looking for. Amusingly, it's during the time that the Lord of the Rings movies were being filmed that the book is set so there's a bit of that included in this novel as well. Plus, there's very little Peggy (I really don't like that character!) This is another solid entry in the life of Lori Shepherd that I thoroughly enjoyed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lori looks for a Kiwi, October 29, 2010

By 

Jeanne Tassotto (Trapped in the Midwest) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aunt Dimity Down Under (Paranormal Detective) (Hardcover)

Lori and the rest of the village are all frantically getting ready for THE wedding, Chris and Nell are finally tying the knot, all the arrangements have been made and then everything came to a halt. The much loved Pym sisters were ill, probably dying. The charming, eccentric twins were by far the oldest members of the village, no one could remember a time without them, not even the long deceased Aunt Dimity. The twins had a last wish, to be reunited with their long lost older brother Aubrey who had been sent away in disgrace decades before. They asked Lori to locate him, not realizing that he had traveled, not to the a different village, but to the other side of the world. In short order Lori was sent off to New Zealand where an old school friend of Bill's joined her in search of the long missing family black sheep.

Now if you have no idea who any of these people are that is because this is the fifteenth in a series of cozy mysteries featuring young mother Lori, her family and friends and her Aunt Dimity, the long deceased friend of Lori's mother. This series is quite heavy on the 'cozy' and light on the 'mystery', particularly in this entry. This latest adventure is not so much a 'who done it' but a 'where is and can we find them in time'. A task that would have been made much simpler if anyone had just done an internet search and made a few phone calls. Still fans if the series will not want to miss this opportunity to catch up with old friends and those cozy enthusiasts who are unfamiliar to this series will want to begin at the beginning, AUNT DIMITY'S DEATH and proceed in order to this one.