Aunt Dimity's Good Deed

Lori Shepherd has been married for two years to Bill Willis, the hard-working, kindly lawyer she first met in Aunt Dimity's Death, and she’s dissatisfied: dissatisfied with the way her workaholic husband neglects her, with her infertility, with her boring life.

Lori’s hoping that a second honeymoon will spice up her marriage; however, instead of heading to England with Bill, she’s forced to go with her father-in-law William when Bill has to stay behind for work. Once in the English countryside, William hares off without telling anyone, and Lori, accompanied by the young daughter of a friend, heads out to track the wayward William Willis down. In the process and with the help of the ghost of Aunt Dimity, Lori meets the English show more branch of the Willis family and rights a 300-year-old injustice.

Lori’s always had a propensity to whine, but she really way to the tendency in Aunt Dimity’s Death. I very nearly abandoned this mystery because of my annoyance at her. “Grow up!” I wanted to yell at her. “Considering your Cinderella story, you don’t have a right to gripe!” Goodness! Lori met the man of her dreams and has risen to a privileged life due to paranormal intervention, and she thinks it’s not enough? She’s a frigging idiot! Sure, Aunt Dimity encourages Lori to keep on wishing, but Lori really does take things too far.

As in Aunt Dimity’s Death, Lori stupidly creates some of her own problems because she jumps to conclusions and then silently stews about them rather than communicate — you know, as adults do. It’s pretty sad when 12-year-old Nell Harris, Lori’s companion on the journey, is more mature than the alleged adult.

By Chapter 16, readers will know one of the denouements of the novel; it’s obvious enough that tween Nell has noticed. But Lori won’t realize it until the final chapter. Talk about obtuse! Two-thirds of the way through Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed, Lori comes to her senses, and that and the interesting mystery saves this novel from failure. From then on, the novel morphs into something quite charming, and I was engrossed until the last page. Still, the whiny middle really detracted from enjoying the novel, and it wasn't nearly as fun as the first two books in the series.

The synopsis of the fourth book of the series, Aunt Dimity Digs In, makes it sound as if Lori won’t be such a wet blanket. Good thing, too, as I don’t think I’m up to another whine-a-thon. show less

Of the four Aunt Dimity books I've read, this was definitely my least favorite. The plot and "big surprise" at the end were both predictable from almost the very beginning. But more than that, there was some things that really irritated me about the author's take on certain things.

#1: Nell. Nell is a 12 year old friend of the family. We learn about her in book two when we're introduced to the unimaginable character of 5 year old Nell. At 12, she's even more unbelievable. I'm a mother of 9. I've known a LOT of 12 year old kids. None of them think, react, or reason the way Nell does. At times, she's more mature than I am. By no stretch of the imagination can her character possibly be believable and that makes every encounter with her show more extremely irritating.

#2: Lori. Newly married Lori can't seem to see that her husband's "workaholic" behaviour is for her. Because that's what guys who are supporting their families on one income do---they work hard. Further, it's extremely hypocritical, immature, and self-centered of her to be galavanting all over England and making out with other guys while reaming out her hard-working husband at every opportunity. If this author is trying to endear me to her characters, she's doing a sucky job of it.

#3: Stuffed Animals. What is it with the stuffed animals? Why does adult Lori feel the need to take her stuffed rabbit everywhere? Why, if super-mature Nell is so much more enlightened than the rest of the cast of characters, does she still carry her bear everywhere, dress him up, and talk to him as if he were human? Why do the other adults indulge this by talking to her through the bear? Then there's the English nobleman...with a stuffed giraffe. PLEASE.

I disliked this book so much that if I hadn't already read bad reviews on the first few books in the series by people who said the later ones get way better, I'd probably abandon the series right here. I do have books 4-6 sitting here from the library but I have something else to read first for a review. I'm almost welcoming the break. show less

Not my favorite Dimity mystery. The tone is a little bleak as Lori is mired in self-pity for the first half of the book. But, still enjoyable.

Good deed, indeed. This installment was enjoyable only for my love of the characters and the charm of making one believe again in childhood things. Things just got a little too goody-goody this time, even for a cozy. Regardless for my love of Nancy Drew, I don't like to see such fluff in an adult mystery. It reminds me of ND hunting down a clock.
No dead bodies this round, just Lori on a ridiculous quest to hunt down her father in law via a long chase. Next time call ahead, Lori, and save a good deal of trouble.

After two years of marriage Lori Shepherd finds she has a workaholic husband who seems to have lost interest. When she plans a second honeymoon to her inherited cottage in England he backs out for work and her father-in-law accompanies her instead. So Lori is feeling a little down where suddenly her father-in-law goes missing and leaves a cryptic note saying he's connecting with his English cousins to trace the history of an old feud. Aunt Dimity's ghost urges Lori to stop him because what he finds could change everyone's life. Nice cozy.

I didn't like this one at all. The protagonist is a brainless twit, there isn't really a mystery, and it was so slight I wonder why the author even bothered. The only good thing about this book was the butterscotch brownie recipe at the end, which I made this evening, and they turned out pretty well.

The story was predictable and the main character was irritating. I think I'm glad I began with the later books in the series. The author has mellowed the character later on and made her far more likeable. At this stage she's still forgetting she's married as soon as she meets an attractive man.