"When I learned of Aunt Dimity's death, I was stunned. Not because she was dead, but because I had never known she'd been alive."
Review: I have a small collection of what I like to call my "Penny Mysteries" which this book would easily fall into. It's my assortment of Mass Paperback books that usually are under 300 pages in length and have titles that are distinctive to the subject matter at hand. Some of them might deal with a main character who works at a restaurant/diner or some sort of book shop or button shop. Or some have catchy "murder titles" that will include some sort of pastry word or other identifier to let you know what the mystery is about. In the case of Nancy Atherton, all her books begin with "Aunt Dimity..." and follow with the subject matter. I must always begin a series from the beginning even if it might not matter one way or another. I'm just unique that way.
Aunt Dimity is, as you may have guessed it, an Aunt. And without skipping down to the bottom to read the summary (I put it last for a reason by the way) I can tell you that the series involves our main character, Lori, receiving communications from her dead Aunt Dimity. It is through these communications that she solves mysteries in each book. Quite interesting wouldn't you agree? Well, I suppose you'd have to have an open mind about ghosts and their ability to communicate to us from the other world. In the case of this first book, Aunt Dimity communicates to her niece by making words appear on a notebook that is only visible to her (and the son of the law firm of Willis & Willis).
The mystery isn't exactly as riveting as an Agatha Christie book, but as openers for a long line of books to come, it surely does lay a pretty good foundation. I took a liking to Lori straight away. She is a homely girl who never really had much in terms of possessions so when she finds out this Aunt Dimity actually exists and has included her in her will, it comes as quite a shock to her. See, to Lori, Aunt Dimity was always a main character in a long series of children's stories her mother used to tell her. How was she supposed to know that the person was real and the stories were real to some degree as well?
If you're looking for a quick read this is definitely a great book for that! I look forward to reading the next book in this series; Aunt Dimity & The Duke.
Summary: ...Until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a
reading of the woman's will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about
to inherit a sizable estate--if she can discover the secret hidden in a
treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What
begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery--and a ghost story--in an
improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity's indomitable spirit leads Lori
on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can
conquer all.
Aunt Dimity's Death
by Nancy Atherton
256 pages
Penguin Books, 1993
mystery / fiction
Read in 3 days
Rating: ★★★★
To learn more about Aunt Dimity, visit her website here.
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