Book Review - Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity's Death
Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: 1992
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy
Aunt Dimity has died. Lori Shepherd never knew that Aunt Dimity was real. She always assumed that she was a fictional character her mother made up for Lori's bedtime stories. Lori has been struggling since her mother's death, and now this news has rather rattled her. She shows up at the home of the lawyers Dimity has hired, Willis and Willis. The younger Willis, Bill, is overzealous and beyond excited to see Lori, his father is far more circumspect. They instantly insist that she stay with them as she begins the journey that Dimity Westwood has laid out for her. And an undertaking it will be. Dimity has requested that Lori travel to England and take up residence in her cottage and go through all her papers and edit them with the intention being the publication of The Aunt Dimity Stories. She has a month, and Bill is tagging along. When Lori enters the cottage, it's as if the house has been waiting for her. In fact, strange things are going on in this house. Aunt Dimity's neighbors, Derek and Emma, don't bring it up themselves, seeing as that would be rude, but when asked directly if Aunt Dimity might be haunting her previous house, they both concur that that is the conclusion they have also reached. It's little things, like doors slamming and Lori being able to succeed at cooking anything when before she could barely manage toast. As time goes on, she is daunted by the enormity of what she must do but also by the fact that there is a definite secret that Aunt Dimity was holding onto. Lori's mother also sensed it. Perhaps Dimity can not rest until that secret is revealed?
Anyone who is a mystery reader has heard of Nancy Atherton. She's a staple of the cozy mystery genre. Having never read the series the thing that really struck me was that for a "Paranormal Detective" she's a pretty lame entity writing just one or two lines in a book and then fixing Lori's stuffed bunny and helping her become a magically good cook. Hell, if that's what it takes I could be a "Paranormal Detective!" I make a mean cookie and have an ever expanding baking repertoire, so can I get hooked up with some crime solving ghost or does this mean I have to become a ghost? Because I was really kind of expecting something more in the vein of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) wherein half the crime solving duo is a ghost. That might be what it evolves into but so far I'd say Aunt Dimity's just a very intuitive woman who is matchmaking beyond the grave. Speaking of the matchmaking. Lori really is a dumb, oblivious girl. Firstly, she really has done nothing with her life and the only thing really special about her is that her mother's best friend was Aunt Dimity. Because of this tenuous connection she gets everything she could hope for just because she remembers some stories she was told as a child? Hell, I want someone to show up and give me a cottage and a husband just for being able to sing the nonsense song "Lou the Gnu" that my dad made up! She never grasps the answers right in front of her. Likewise her ignorance of the fact that Dimity wasn't just helping her, but helping others, made me want to smack her over the head and say, hey, dumbo, Bill was handpicked and groomed by Dimity to be your husband, wake up and smell the coffee! So, I have to say, I can't stand Lori and therefore if she doesn't mature, me and this series will have a very short time together.
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