Aunt Dimity: Detective

Lori Shepherd returns from her trip to America to find that there has been a murder in her small English village. The victim Prunella Hooper rented a cottage on the town square while Lori was away and managed to learn secrets and start rumors about many of the villagers. Her demise is not mourned and the village is keeping mum. When the vicar's nephew comes for a visit and seems curious, he hooks up with Lori to see what they can discover. Slowly secrets start coming out. Good story about small town life and what happens when everyone gossips and watches their neighbors. Not thrilled about the 'wandering eye' sub-plot.

I can't decide if I deserve to be publicly flogged for picking up another of these stupid books or if I deserve pity and compassion for deciding to put it down after 72 pages...

As soon as I read the description, I groaned. Really? Another story in which the fabulously disgusting Lori almost but not quite leaves her husband and kids for some dude who is ironically but of-course-ly drooling over her. Yuck. So sick of her. Why do I read these????

Why did the author even give Lori a husband and kids? She never spends any time with them. I stopped at page 72 and then read the last few pages. Super boring storyline and I have a big issue with Lori's mentality that it's ok for her and her husband to have "wandering eyes"....somehow this makes show more their relationship "stronger"?? I once read that Atherton says she bases Lori on herself. Guess I'm sad for her then... I really gotta be done. Really. Must be. Can't take it anymore. Sad, too, because Atherton's stories are fun, well-written, spunky...just can't stand the character of Lori. Maybe we could write her out, hmmm? show less

You have to be a bit leery of a mystery with a ghost for a detective. I remember racking my brains throughout some mystery or other, trying to figure out who was pretending to be a ghost and committing all the murders, only to discover that it was in fact the ghost! Not quite fair - but as Asimov said about his Caves of Steel, a mystery writer can be unfair to the readers who are trying to solve the puzzle without having to resort to ghosts or robots; and if the writer plays fair she is welcome to her supernatural characters. This is the first of the Dimity series I've read, and I thought it was pretty good. The answer to the mystery is fairly believable, but the characters in the small village are lots of fun with their various show more pecadilloes and small weaknesses, although the book does feature the most obvious undercover detective I've run across since Sergeant Colon in Terry Pratchett's Maskerade. But I'm looking forward to more of Aunt Dimity as I happen to find the books. show less

Lori Shepard has returned to Finch after a visit to the States for the holidays. How surprised is she when, expecting the answer to her question, "What happened while I was away?" to be the usual, "Nothing much," she learns there's been a murder in Finch. The victim is a newcomer to town, Prunella "Pruneface" Hooper, and you will be hard-pressed to find a more meddlesome and vicious gossip. Who killed Pruneface? Nobody in town liked her, many even had a motive to kill her, and nearly everybody feels the town is better off without her. But Lori--even though the deceased took aim at her beloved Kit and hit him squarely in his reputation--can’t not know the truth. A few consultations with Aunt Dimity will point Lori in the right show more direction, and when she accepts the assistance of the vicar’s nephew Nicky Fox and his unexpectedly good interview skills, she’s off.

Cozy and delightful. show less

I applaud Nancy Atherton for giving her characters very human personalities, characteristics and attributes.

Nancy Atherton is the queen of the cozy mysteries. This is a fun and light series that keeps you guessing. And you always get a new recipe out of the deal! What an added surprise!

This book and the whole series, really, is just tepid. They are just a little "too" cozy and sweet for my taste,
plus I have gotten weary of Lori's "wandering eye" when it comes to dashing
strangers. Her husband needs to throttle her, I think. This barely gets a
1.