Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed By Nancy Atherton

Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed

By Nancy Atherton

The other day I was running a craft program and we got chatting about books, as will happen at a library program.  We got on to cozy mysteries and I was reminded of one of my favorite long running and light hearted mystery series – Aunt Dimity.

Now, the main character is not named Aunt Dimity but actually Lori.  Lori’s mother used to tell her stories about “Aunt Dimity” when she was a little girl.  Lori always assumed that this was a fictional character that her mother had made up.  Then, one day, Lori receives a letter that she has been left a house and money in England by none other than Aunt Dimity.

Along with the bequest comes a journal which can allow the ghostly Aunt Dimity to communicate with Lori in writing, which appears on the page in answer to Lori’s questions.

Lori is a very friendly and down to Earth narrator, having been divorced once and seeming well on her way to divorce with her second husband, Bill, a nice enough man but a born into a lawyer family and a workaholic.  “… months flew by in which a dent in Bill’s pillow was the only sign I had that he’d been to bed at all…”

Now, Bill is trying to take a load off his older father’s shoulders and so when Lori plans a vacation for them to the cottage she inherited and a particularly important mediation comes up, Bill must stay behind while Lori heads off for vacation with her father-in-law.

Once in England, Lori heads to her neighbor, Emma, for a sympathetic ear and to work out her frustrations in her friends’ garden.  “That’s the third time you’ve blown a great tragic sigh all over my radishes.  They’re beginning to droop, poor things.”

(Gentle humor is a hallmark of this series.)

Unfortunately, Lori’s father-in-law disappears one day leaving only a short note.  Fortunately, Aunt Dimity manages to leave a slightly longer note telling Lori where they are going.  William has left, perhaps not realizing he is taking the journal and Lori’s pink flannel bunny, Reginald, with him. 

If you are looking for a humorous and gentle series to enjoy, you are in luck.  There are now 18 books in this series.  I highly suggest you give them a try.  You can also check out the website at http://www.aunt-dimity.com/index.htm with information about the author, the series and some lovely recipes.

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 (2001)
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)
14. Introducing Aunt Dimity, Paranormal Detective (2009)*
15. Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (2009)
16. Aunt Dimity Down Under (2010)
17. Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree (2011)
18. Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (2012)