Customer Reviews

Aunt Dimity's Death

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first in the delightful Aunt Dimity series and the reader's introduction to series heroine Lori Shepherd. Most of life's major crises have hit poor Lori---a divorce, the death of her beloved mother, and the dissolution of her job. If ever a heroine was down-on-her-luck, Lori is. But all that is about to change when she learns of the death of Aunt Dimity.

Lori is stunned, not because Dimity is dead but because Lori never knew she existed. To her, Dimity was a lively character in the stories her mother told her. But when Lori is summoned to the reading of Dimity's will, her whole life begins to change. A trip to England, a charming travelling companion, an elderly man with a dark secret, helpful neighbors, and an ivy-covered cottage with a garden of lilacs are all in Lori's future.

If you like to suspend reality, you will be delighted to meet Dimity's ghost, read along with Lori in the amazing blue journal, and you may even want a stuffed pink Reginald of your own.

Words like delighful, charming, and cozy may seem trite and overused but are the only way to describe this story about a lovable ghost and the young woman whose life she changes.

Cherish the Aunt Dimity series for its simple sweetness and nostalgic way of weaving the characters together into the adventures and the life (er, afterlife) of the ghost of Aunt Dimity. The first in this series sets off to explain much of the main character's life before encountering Dimity and the evolution of her character as she gets to know herself and her mother's friendship with theDimity. I don't want to give anything away, but if you liked Nancy Drew as a child, you might want to give this series a try as a grown-up.

This is what you need when the noir world of Kinsey Milhone is weighing you down and you've read one too many quick come-backs in the Janet Evanovich books. Poor (and I do mean poor) Lori, cruelly dumped by her ex, has landed in Boston in reduced circumstances. Depressed by her mother's death and a string of soul-numbing temp jobs, she's astounded to learn a storybook character her mother created was indeed an actual person. Lori's circumstances begin to change. She moves briefly into a lush and lovely mansion and from there into a lilac-sheltered cottage in the Cotswolds. All is idyllic, but there are (natch) mysteries she has to solve - who was Aunt Dimity? Why was she wandering the London Zoo one miserable afternoon during the Blitz? And who is haunting her cottage?
Put a kettle on. Bake a batch of oatmeal cookies - recipe's on the back page. This book is a balm for a rattled and weary soul.

One damp and dreary day, I decided to try a book by an as yet unread author, Nancy Atherton. And oh joy, oh joy, it was a real delight. Words like cozy, charming and delightful come to mind easily. It was the perfect book for a rainy Fall afternoon. I only got up from my chair once to get a cup of tea and stir the fire. Yes, it is that kind of book. It has all of the elements, likeable characters, an English cottage, a benevolent ghost, the much loved English mystery...sort of...and a touch of romance. All I can say is that I promptly ordered every book in the series and am looking forward to my next day off and that next cup of tea and roaring fire, with a stack of these "Aunt Dimity" books beside my chair.

I've just finished reading the first 10 "Aunt Dimity" mysteries, and I have a few points you may want to know if you're going to read this series. (No plot spoilers here.)

(1) If at all possible, you should read the books in order. There are many characters who change in a lot of ways.

(2) The author writes very well. There are a few plot gaps and inconsistencies here and there, but she makes up for them by being an outstanding story-teller.

(3) These are true cozies. There is little or no overt sex or violence. In fact, most of the mysteries aren't about murders at all. Instead, they're about interesting puzzles, like where certain jewels may be hidden, why someone acted in a certain way many years ago, etc.

(4) The author doesn't seem to have made up her mind if she wanted to write mystery novels or romance novels. Most of the books are really combinations of both genres.

(5) Finally, that leads to the one point that may put off a lot of readers. In a normal romance novel, the heroine is unmarried. Here, however, the heroine is married and the mother of young children. But that doesn't stop her from meeting a different good-looking man in each book, and becoming strongly attracted to him, both physically and emotionally.

This heroine has a serious problem with monogamy, at least her own. In fact, as one reader commented here on one of the books, maybe the best thing her long-suffering husband can do after the first few books is to take the children back to America and file for divorce!

This book unlike many beginning books for Authors is riveting right from the start. The storyline weaves a colorful and engrossing mystery of personality and characterization. Unlike many mysteries this Author doesn't often use a dead body as motivation for her mysteries. The mystery is often about someone's life and the choices they make. I like that rather then only focus on a murder the Author finds life and secrets just as intriquing. Those who love a good murder might mistakenly pass this one up. The secret to this Authors sucess is in the telling of the story. As you read the book you grow to care about these people you are reading about, their concerns become your concerns; their curiousness about something mysterious becomes your curiousness. It's like seeing people argue on the street. You know you shouldn't listen in but you do it anyhow, because there is something so drawing about watching details unfold through dialog and learning perhaps more then you wish to know about anothers life. This is the key to Athertons appeal for me. In the end I find the living mystery she presents just as much fun as a whodunit. The first book is the thread that binds the second book and so on throughout the series. To miss the first book in the series is to be confused. It's a must for anyone who wants to understands the dynamics of her characters to read the 1st book. Anyone who doesn't is missing out on the whole core story.

The story is a nicely balanced blend of three genres: mystery, romance, and ghost story. Those readers who
are repelled or reluctant to read a "typical" romance,
mystery or ghost tale should give this book a chance.
The author has avoided syrupy sentimentality, the ghost is so tame, you can read this
story out loud on Halloween night to a party of eight-year
olds without raising anyone's heartbeat. The cover of this book shows a pink stuffed
bunny and the spirit of stuffed rabbit accompanies
you throughout the book. No matter what the
circumstances, there is never any doubt that in the
end everything will be put right; there is just enough
of a "mystery" to keep your interest.

However, the prose is graceful and pulls you along even
as the plot unfolds exactly as expected. The characters
are charming and I truely wished to be invited to tea at
Aunt Dimity's cottage. The lawyers are so compassionate
and quirkly charming that even I could not mind marrying
one. The english countryside is described so gloriously
that a sedate bibliophile is tempted to go take a walk
preferably in an english garden. This is a book that I
tuck by my bed to sooth myself to self to sleep. I look
forward to reading the further adventures of Aunt Dimity
and Lori.

P.S. As a lagniappe, there is a very nice cookie
recipe included in the back. Bake the cookies, pour
yourself a nice glass of milk and read. It doesn't
get much better than this.

Squatting comfortably on the boundary between the mystery and the ghost story (I mean the ghost story proper, like A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and not the ghost-horror story), Nancy Atherton's "Aunt Dimity" series is designed to make readers feel just plain _good_ - the way, say, a movie like _It's A Wonderful Life_ does Somehow, all the best comparisons for this series are to Christmas stories - though only one of them is actually a Christmas story.

But they _are_ the best comparisons. Like Dickens's, the plot of AUNT DIMITY'S DEATH is driven by a mysterious supernatural force seeking to do the protagonist an unasked-for good; like the Capra/Stewart epic, its heart is a character you can't help liking and rooting for.

Read this one. It isn't the absolute best of the series, but it's definitely the best place to begin, and if you don't like it, you won't like any of the sequels.

What a fun, wonderful book! Althought this was Atherton's first book in the Dimity series I suggest reading Aunt Dimity and the Duke first. The characters are warm and inviting and while this isn't the kind of book that surprises you at the end it is a wonderful trip to getting there.

If you read this one you'll want to read them all.

I'd read AUNT DIMITY'S DEATH once before and found it enchanting. I liked the fact that Lori's Prince Charming isn't storybook handsome. I've loved ghost stories since I was a child, so the supernatural element didn't bother me. My second reading was even more special. I saw my mother only twice a week. I knew she wasn't well, but she didn't tell me she had heart trouble. I said goodbye to her one night before I went home. The next morning my sister called me to tell me she'd died in her sleep. 2 1/2 months later it was the annual Friends of the Tucson-Pima Library used book sale. Saturday was my only chance to go, but I woke up not wanting to bother. The sale had always been a gala day for my mother and me. I couldn't bear the thought of going without her. When I'm feeling really sad or sick, I like to reread a gentle or funny book to help me cope. I'm glad I chose AUNT DIMITY'S DEATH. As Lori learns how Aunt Dimity managed to go on with her life after a devastating blow, I started to feel a little better. By the time I was finished, I no longer felt like greying out in my bed. I drove to the sale. It was hard whenever I spotted a book I knew Mom would have wanted, but I had a nice time. This is a dear book if your life is going well, but I recommend it as a comfort if you've lost someone whom you loved.