Aunt Dimity's Good Deed (Nancy Atherton)

Summary:
Lori Shepherd is back Boston in the third installment of the Aunt Dimity sagas. She's gone and gotten married, though her new hubby turns out to be a Class A workaholic. Two years of marriage have brought Lori little more than anxiety and annoying in-laws. She plans a trip for the two of them to visit Dimity's- and now her- cottage in England, as a second honeymoon. Only hubby the lawyer is too busy working on a case to leave. He promises to finish soon, and then head to England to meet Lori, and sends his father to keep her company in the meantime. How wonderful. But two days into the trip, Lori's father-in-law goes missing, and she spends the next few days running around the English countryside trying to find him.

Thoughts:
Wonderful, again. Atherton's got a fabulous way of telling her stories. Lori is a bit of an idiot some times, and you wonder how she misses some obvious things. What are you going to do. The writing is awesome, so I'll forgive Lori being slightly dense. I'll definitely continue with this series. Atherton is great.

30 down, 20 to go!

Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Yes. Atherton's awesome.

Aunt Dimity and the Duke (Nancy Atherton)

Summary:
Emma is a gardener extraordinaire. She leaves her home in the States to explore gardens in England after her long-term boyfriend not only leaves her, but goes and gets married. Emma stumbles upon friends of Aunt Dimity, and gets sent to see the gardens at a private manor. At the same time, Derek, a widower with two very precocious children, is asked to help at the same manor, fixing a beautiful stained glass window.

The two of them stumble upon a mystery and work together to discover the real truth.

Thoughts:
Just as good as Aunt Dimity's Death. Aunt Dimity only makes a brief appearance in a flashback/memory. It seems like Dimity only shows herself through others' love for her. They are fun and intriguing books. The writing is great as well. I'll be continuing down the line through Dimity's other adventures.

Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery, romance
Grade: A
Would I Recommend?: Absolutely.

20 down, 30 to go!

Aunt Dimity's Death (Nancy Atherton)

Summary:
The book opens with Lori Shepherd, a broke woman still mourning her mother's death several years prior, gets a phone call asking her to go to Willis & Willis, a law firm. When she reaches Willis & Willis, she finds out that the heroine to her favorite stories from her childhood, Aunt Dimity, was not just a character from her single mother's imagination, but actually a live human being, and in fact, her mother's best friend and pen pal for forty-plus years. What follows is a heart-warming trek through her mother's and Dimity's past, filled with despair, romance, and an appearance (of sorts) of ghostly Aunt Dimity herself.

Thoughts:
What a beautifully told, and fun story this was.

Ms. Atherton's writing made me not want to put down the book, ever. Even when I was falling asleep because it was 2am, and I was going to be woken up at 7, I couldn't leave Lori and Dimity alone. Sure, I wanted to smack Lori around a few times for her obliviousness. Sure, I figured out how some of the romancey stuff was going to turn out. But Dimity's whole mysterious story kept me guessing.

I highly recommend this one. It's a great story that had me giggling at some bits, and on the edge of my seat for others. And an added bonus is that there are thirteen other Dimity stories for me to sink my teeth into! I'll be quite busy this year, I think.

4 down, 46 to go!


Pages: 244
Genre: Mystery with a dash of fantasy and a hint of romance.
Grade: A+
Would I Read Again?: Absolutely, and I'll be reading more in the future.