Thursday, January 28, 2010

Nancy Atherton - Aunt Dimity series

This series needs to be read in order. I was given one of the books in the middle of the series to read first and while I really liked the story and the writing I couldn't relate to what was going on and I couldn't figure out why our heroine, Lori Shepherd, was turning to a journal and it was writing to her instead of her writing in it. Then I bought the first book in the series and after just a couple of chapters was online ordering the rest in the series so I wouldn't have to wait for the next one to arrive once I finished the first one.

Lori is a lonely, and broke, divorcee when she recieves a letter telling her that a relative in England who she thought was simply a story book figure in stories told by her late mother, has died and left her a cottage in the Cotswolds in England and a large amount of money. There are stipulations of course, but Lori meets the challenge. Aunt Dimity is still wandering the rooms of her cottage and Lori soon discovers is in contact with her through a journal she finds in the cottage's library. Of course there is romance involved and Lori marries the also US born executor of Dimity's estate. They decide to settle in the delightful cottage in England rather than live in the States. The first few books give us more of an insight into who Aunt Dimity really was.

I love all the characters in the village, including the 90 something twins who finish each other's sentences. While most of the stories take place in or near the Cotswolds, there are also journeys to Oxford, Scotland, the midwest and now even Australia.

If you are looking for a ghastly ghost story, realism, life struggles, don't bother reading this series. If you are looking for a cozy mystery you can curl up with on the couch under a quilt for an afternoon and get lost in then you can't do much better than this series. I'm looking forward to reading the next two installments.

# 1 Aunt Dimity's Death (©1992)
# 2 Aunt Dimity and the Duke (©1994)
# 3 Aunt Dimity's Good Deed (©1996)
# 4 Aunt Dimity Digs In (©1998)
# 5 Aunt Dimity's Christmas (©1999)
# 6 Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil (©2000)
# 7 Aunt Dimity: Detective (©2002)
# 8 Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday (©2003)
# 9 Aunt Dimity: Snowbound (©2004)
# 10 Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin (©2005)
# 11 Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea (©2006)
# 12 Aunt Dimity Goes West (©2007)
# 13 Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter (©2008)

Next on my list are:
# 14 Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (©2009)
# 15 Aunt Dimity Down Under (©2010)

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