What do you think?
Rate this book
Aunt Dimity Mystery #9
Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
Lori Shepherd and the phantom Aunt Dimity have become one of the mystery genre’s most celebrated detective duos. Watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom , coming in July 2018 from Viking!
In their latest adventure, a pleasant woodland stroll through the English countryside is rudely cut short by the blizzard of the century, forcing Lori to take shelter in Ladythorne Abbey—an old pile still haunted by the presence of the madwoman whose prison it once was. But the abbey’s greatest secret is the priceless jewel it conceals somewhere within its cloisters—an heirloom that hides a treacherous past that Lori’s fellow guests can’t wait to get their hands on. Only Aunt Dimity’s indispensable wisdom can help Lori unravel a mystery that is considerably thicker than the accumulating snow in this page-turning treat.
In their latest adventure, a pleasant woodland stroll through the English countryside is rudely cut short by the blizzard of the century, forcing Lori to take shelter in Ladythorne Abbey—an old pile still haunted by the presence of the madwoman whose prison it once was. But the abbey’s greatest secret is the priceless jewel it conceals somewhere within its cloisters—an heirloom that hides a treacherous past that Lori’s fellow guests can’t wait to get their hands on. Only Aunt Dimity’s indispensable wisdom can help Lori unravel a mystery that is considerably thicker than the accumulating snow in this page-turning treat.
257 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
136 people are currently reading
999 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Atherton
62 books1,183 followersNancy Atherton is not a white-haired Englishwoman with a softly wrinkled face, a wry smile, and wise gray eyes, nor does she live in a thatched cottage behind a babbling brook in a tranquil, rural corner of the Cotswolds.
She has never taken tea with a vicar (although she drank an Orange Squash with one once) and she doesn't plan to continue writing after her allotted time on earth (though such plans are, as well all know, subject to change without notice).
If you prefer to envision her as an Englishwoman, she urges you to cling to your illusions at all costs -- she treasures carefully nurtured illusions. She also urges you to read no further.
Because the truth is that Nancy Atherton is a dark-haired American with a generally unwrinkled face, a beaming smile, and hazel eyes, who lives in a plain house in Colorado Springs. She comes from a large, gregarious family (five brothers and two sisters!) and enjoys socializing as much as she enjoys solitude.
So if you are looking for her at a convention, don't look for a stately grande dame in a flowery dress. Look for a woman in jeans and sneakers who's bounding around like a hyperactive gerbil.
That'll be her. And she'd love to meet you.
Japanese: ナンシー アサートン
She has never taken tea with a vicar (although she drank an Orange Squash with one once) and she doesn't plan to continue writing after her allotted time on earth (though such plans are, as well all know, subject to change without notice).
If you prefer to envision her as an Englishwoman, she urges you to cling to your illusions at all costs -- she treasures carefully nurtured illusions. She also urges you to read no further.
Because the truth is that Nancy Atherton is a dark-haired American with a generally unwrinkled face, a beaming smile, and hazel eyes, who lives in a plain house in Colorado Springs. She comes from a large, gregarious family (five brothers and two sisters!) and enjoys socializing as much as she enjoys solitude.
So if you are looking for her at a convention, don't look for a stately grande dame in a flowery dress. Look for a woman in jeans and sneakers who's bounding around like a hyperactive gerbil.
That'll be her. And she'd love to meet you.
Japanese: ナンシー アサートン
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
February 13, 2022
This is a cozy mystery, and this is the 9th book is the Aunt Dimity series. I have not read the other books in this series. This is a very well written cozy mystery. The mystery was not to find a killer like a lot of cozy mystery is. It was just the right book to rain on a cold rainy day. I loved it so much.
September 11, 2021
4.5 stars
January 1, 2018
This mystery pursues one thread, with evocative suspense, goals, and uncertainty. Lori needs to know who her fellow “Snowbound” houseguests are, which expands into a tricky physical search. Seeking answers and something tactilely hidden are the best parts. Chapters tend to be decorative until a mystery's mission gets going. Nancy Atherton's build-up and in-betweens delight me: the language, humour, and personal perspective of a protagonist I like. She could read the evening news and that would almost be enough. If the plot is stirring too, it makes a hit. I enjoyed the whole excursion and the crux yielded depth and quality.
I gave three stars to a profound, masterfully-layered saga about ghosts and a WWI train station. It sequences exquisitely-woven history. However the introduction and initial protagonist did not engage me. Literature with a far more complex background received a lower grade, than Nancy's single-direction mystery. It feels askew to give this five stars by contrast but tone, the focal point, and approach are apparently what engage us. In Nancy's straightforward thread, an opposite motive than what we were interpreting pops out. Her back story and motive generate a lot of emotion. The sensitivity, compassion, themes of fairness, loneliness, and parents being human are profound. This novel, despite its humorous sequences, is less light than it seems.
As a prairie Canadian presently writing in -30C, on New Year's Eve: I argue that blizzards succeed amply observable warning signs. However, that snow can fill a landscape in a flash is no joke. It is fun to share a winter landscape with which I wholly relate. My sole criticism is to hope plots cease deferring to WWII. Certainly for my generation and by 2004 publishing time, relating to that topic has petered-out. I have had my fill of Dimity knowing everyone too.
I gave three stars to a profound, masterfully-layered saga about ghosts and a WWI train station. It sequences exquisitely-woven history. However the introduction and initial protagonist did not engage me. Literature with a far more complex background received a lower grade, than Nancy's single-direction mystery. It feels askew to give this five stars by contrast but tone, the focal point, and approach are apparently what engage us. In Nancy's straightforward thread, an opposite motive than what we were interpreting pops out. Her back story and motive generate a lot of emotion. The sensitivity, compassion, themes of fairness, loneliness, and parents being human are profound. This novel, despite its humorous sequences, is less light than it seems.
As a prairie Canadian presently writing in -30C, on New Year's Eve: I argue that blizzards succeed amply observable warning signs. However, that snow can fill a landscape in a flash is no joke. It is fun to share a winter landscape with which I wholly relate. My sole criticism is to hope plots cease deferring to WWII. Certainly for my generation and by 2004 publishing time, relating to that topic has petered-out. I have had my fill of Dimity knowing everyone too.
February 7, 2017
Touches so many emotions! Aunt Dimity Snowbound# 9 by Nancy Atherton touched so many of my emotions. I am so glad that I decided to read some of the earlier books in this series. I am happy that I have more! In this book, Lori Shepherd gets caught in unforecasted blizzard while she is taking a day hike in a very isolated spot in The Cotswolds. She lands at Ladythorne Abbey with two other Americans. On her husband's advice, Lori takes Reginald and Aunt Dimity on her hike for company, and Aunt Dimity 's knowledge of England during WWII comes in very handy for Lori as she learns about Ladythorne Abbey and its previous owners, the DeClerkes. It snows for a few days in true blizzard style, but luckily, the new owner, a client of Lori's lawyer husband, has prepared her new home for guests with extra clothes, redone bedrooms, and even a family well stocked larder, but as Lori starts to think "How odd for three Americans to arrive at isolated Ladythorne Abbey at the same time - blizzard and all!" This presents a puzzle to Lori which will use her and especially Aunt Dimity's detective skills. This puzzle is what got to me emotionally! Great addition! Very well done!
December 29, 2022
Enjoyed this one more than some of the previous installments. Getting snowed in at a mysterious old mansion without electricity, but with a mystery to solve, doesn't sound half bad.
April 26, 2023
When Emma suggests Lori take a walk to clear her head from post-Christmas fatigue, Lori packs a day pack including Dimity and Reg, and sets off for a nice hike. She isn't prepared for the blizzard that pops up out of nowhere or being snowbound in creepy Ladythorne Manor with an eccentric caretaker who threatens Lori and her fellow American travelers with a shotgun merely because they're "Yanks." Lori quickly suspects one of her snowbound housemates is up to no good and determined to catch her in the act. Calls to Bill, chats with Aunt Dimity and handsome stranger bring her back to reality but she still has her suspicions. Is her intuition right or is Wendy simply an ultra prepared backpacker?
This isn't much of a mystery. Lori's mystery is cleared up pretty quickly and then it turns into a kind of reverse mystery. That part was more fun and interesting than the first part. This novel is padded with descriptions of every room in the manor house and repeated details we didn't necessarily need to know. At one point, a room that has no relevance to the story because it's too recent, is described in minute detail. One sentence telling us what it is would have been sufficient. On the plus side, I was happy Aunt Dimity has more to say in this novel than the previous few. She sheds light on the background of the previous home owner and shares more of her own personal history which I liked. There's also yet another story from WWII to learn too.
Another book, another adventure for Lori and another handsome stranger for her to flirt with. This time she is certain he's coming on to her and she knows she must resist. She's still incredibly judgmental and thinks she knows it all. Lori also feels that being the mother of twins has prepared her for anything. Yet, she leaves those same twins home with their nanny while she goes off on adventures! Lori does seem to feel an attraction to wounded men though this one is less wounded that most of the others and he does seem to be into her at one point. Lori just isn't the most likable character. She's so judgmental and smug about it even though she's always wrong. It takes Bill, Aunt Dimity and the other traveler to make her see the rational side of the situation.
Jamie seems like a perfectly nice guy until he does seem to come on to Lori. She was sending him mixed messages so I don't know what he thought. At first she thinks she feels motherly towards him in spite of being the same age but then her "natural impulses" take over. I like Jamie but I don't trust him. What are the odds of three random Americans finding themselves snowbound in the same place at the same time? Jamie tells Lori his mother was English and his father was a G.I.. Jamie was educated at Oxford so I suspect he may have ties to Ladythorne Abbey that could make him a suspect in... something? Wendy seems suspicious to Lori because she's the opposite of Lori. Wendy is prepared for anything, efficient, practical and not prone to imaginative musings, bizarre attractions to strange men or anything else Lori does. Wendy comes across as smug, yes, but Lori is suspicious even before she gets to know Wendy.
Catchpole, the caretaker, is quite eccentric. When we first meet Catchpole, he seems crazed and jumpy. Lori is the only one who takes time to get to know him and learn what makes him tick. He's unusual but not in a bad way. He has old-fashioned ideas about his position and acts like the deferential servant when he speaks of his late employer, Miss Lucasta DeClerke. Miss DeClerke was from a new monied family dating back to the Victorian era. They saw more than their fair share of tragedies and Lucasta was the last one left. She had a tragic life but no more than many other women of her generation. Lori is always judgmental of those with mental illness and Lucasta is no exception. The tragedies of her past made her angry, bitter and perhaps paranoid in old age. During the war, she claimed something precious to her went missing and an American G.I. stole it. The Army refused to do anything about it especially because she refused them to search her private property. I don't blame the Army for avoiding drama or Lucasta for being angry but what she did was not any more right than what may have been done to her. It sounds like all her losses made her mentally unstable even as a young woman and it got worse as she grew older. That's very sad.
The actual story of what happened was shocking. I didn't expect that and I didn't like it. I don't think it's plausible for one thing and if it is, the people showed no remorse until they were shamed into it later. What they did wasn't right, even in war time. Everyone's reaction was surprising. I also found it surprising that Catchpole didn't know what had happened and didn't seem to want to know. No one clued him in either. That seems a little weird.
I missed Finch and the villagers. I prefer the same cast of quirky characters and a nice English village to some of Lori's wild adventures.
I didn't try the apricot compote but it got a thumb's up from those that did.
This isn't much of a mystery. Lori's mystery is cleared up pretty quickly and then it turns into a kind of reverse mystery. That part was more fun and interesting than the first part. This novel is padded with descriptions of every room in the manor house and repeated details we didn't necessarily need to know. At one point, a room that has no relevance to the story because it's too recent, is described in minute detail. One sentence telling us what it is would have been sufficient. On the plus side, I was happy Aunt Dimity has more to say in this novel than the previous few. She sheds light on the background of the previous home owner and shares more of her own personal history which I liked. There's also yet another story from WWII to learn too.
Another book, another adventure for Lori and another handsome stranger for her to flirt with. This time she is certain he's coming on to her and she knows she must resist. She's still incredibly judgmental and thinks she knows it all. Lori also feels that being the mother of twins has prepared her for anything. Yet, she leaves those same twins home with their nanny while she goes off on adventures! Lori does seem to feel an attraction to wounded men though this one is less wounded that most of the others and he does seem to be into her at one point. Lori just isn't the most likable character. She's so judgmental and smug about it even though she's always wrong. It takes Bill, Aunt Dimity and the other traveler to make her see the rational side of the situation.
Jamie seems like a perfectly nice guy until he does seem to come on to Lori. She was sending him mixed messages so I don't know what he thought. At first she thinks she feels motherly towards him in spite of being the same age but then her "natural impulses" take over. I like Jamie but I don't trust him. What are the odds of three random Americans finding themselves snowbound in the same place at the same time? Jamie tells Lori his mother was English and his father was a G.I.. Jamie was educated at Oxford so I suspect he may have ties to Ladythorne Abbey that could make him a suspect in... something? Wendy seems suspicious to Lori because she's the opposite of Lori. Wendy is prepared for anything, efficient, practical and not prone to imaginative musings, bizarre attractions to strange men or anything else Lori does. Wendy comes across as smug, yes, but Lori is suspicious even before she gets to know Wendy.
Catchpole, the caretaker, is quite eccentric. When we first meet Catchpole, he seems crazed and jumpy. Lori is the only one who takes time to get to know him and learn what makes him tick. He's unusual but not in a bad way. He has old-fashioned ideas about his position and acts like the deferential servant when he speaks of his late employer, Miss Lucasta DeClerke. Miss DeClerke was from a new monied family dating back to the Victorian era. They saw more than their fair share of tragedies and Lucasta was the last one left. She had a tragic life but no more than many other women of her generation. Lori is always judgmental of those with mental illness and Lucasta is no exception. The tragedies of her past made her angry, bitter and perhaps paranoid in old age. During the war, she claimed something precious to her went missing and an American G.I. stole it. The Army refused to do anything about it especially because she refused them to search her private property. I don't blame the Army for avoiding drama or Lucasta for being angry but what she did was not any more right than what may have been done to her. It sounds like all her losses made her mentally unstable even as a young woman and it got worse as she grew older. That's very sad.
The actual story of what happened was shocking. I didn't expect that and I didn't like it. I don't think it's plausible for one thing and if it is, the people showed no remorse until they were shamed into it later. What they did wasn't right, even in war time. Everyone's reaction was surprising. I also found it surprising that Catchpole didn't know what had happened and didn't seem to want to know. No one clued him in either. That seems a little weird.
I missed Finch and the villagers. I prefer the same cast of quirky characters and a nice English village to some of Lori's wild adventures.
I didn't try the apricot compote but it got a thumb's up from those that did.
September 29, 2020
Going to donate the series. I've reread them and only really like the first couple.
Why does Lori always have a physical attraction to someone other than her husband, even if she doesn't act on it, although she thinks about it, a lot?
Why does she never learn to not jump to assumptions based on a small, initial knowledge of the situation? She is always wrong but does not stop.
Even the mystery in this one is unbelievable.
Why does Lori always have a physical attraction to someone other than her husband, even if she doesn't act on it, although she thinks about it, a lot?
Why does she never learn to not jump to assumptions based on a small, initial knowledge of the situation? She is always wrong but does not stop.
Even the mystery in this one is unbelievable.
December 12, 2012
I am enjoying this series immensely. There are poignant insights into the imperfection or weaknesses of human nature without being preachy. Our heroine, Lori, seems very flawed as well, always being tempted by one fellow or another even though she is happily married; among her other minor failings. But there is always love and compassion as well as showing the better side of people. Not to mention a fun read, which these are.
September 2, 2019
Another fun Aunt Dimity mystery! What I like most about these is that they are historically interesting and don't always involve a murder, which so many mysteries are centered around. The premises of each book in the series is much more convoluted and intriguing that, someone was murdered and we have to find out who did it. Also Reginald and Dimity are always charming!
Read
February 5, 2025A new series for me, which I began kind of in the middle because I was in the mood for a good winter blizzard cozy mystery. This is unique in that it involves a "ghost" who communicates by writing in a journal, and a mystery without a murder.I really enjoyed the characters, the cleverness of everyone, and all the new-to-me British words and phrases in the story. There was lots of snow, enough to snow 3 strangers in together for days...plenty of snacking , snooping, and even some flirting. A very worthwhile read.
September 14, 2020
Challenges: RRRCs November 2019 (belated) - Marooned without a Compass Day/stranded/snowed in/lost (6); RRRCs Stacking the Series 2020 - Aunt Dimity Mysteries/Book 9. Atherton has done it again. Four people, a renovated estate, the snowstorm of the decade. A satisfying conclusion to a long-reaching misdeed; forgiveness and closure set the road to healing in this mystery of isolation. Friends are made and madness is transcended. Peace is found in the silence of the snow.
April 8, 2023
1.5 Stars
September 28, 2019
.
This series offers cozy mysteries with amusing and quirky characters, in the life of Lori and her Aunt Dimity. Each one has been a fun and entertaining read to be sure.
It is appreciated that each book is able to stand on its own and usually concludes with an HEA.
This series offers cozy mysteries with amusing and quirky characters, in the life of Lori and her Aunt Dimity. Each one has been a fun and entertaining read to be sure.
It is appreciated that each book is able to stand on its own and usually concludes with an HEA.
June 17, 2020
Sarah, Village patron, June 2020, 4 stars
This was a little different than her other Aunt Dimity books but it was still a cozy mystery. Lori the main character finds herself in a different situation after taking a wrong turn on a day hike.
This was a little different than her other Aunt Dimity books but it was still a cozy mystery. Lori the main character finds herself in a different situation after taking a wrong turn on a day hike.
October 13, 2021
This was fun and sweet. The twist was not what I thought and it ended nicely with a recipe. While I thought the ending was a bit too sugary, it ultimately served the purpose of the story. I think I’ll remember this title. Now, on to the next in the series!
February 14, 2015
I see there's quite a long series of AD books. Hm. Having read the first 2, I came across this one out of sync and thought...well...nine of these, eh? Ah well, sleepless night, anything goes...
It's OK, I guess. Snowed into a decayed stately home with two strangers (Americans, of course!) whose motivations she suspects, Lori is marooned there for a week after going on what should have been an afternoon's hiking. Except, yeah--she took along the diary and her stuffed bunny Reginald. Of course she did--?
Nothing against Reginald, I have a sweet little stuffed critter of my own who is rather vintage herself, but no way would I stuff her in a backpack and carry her off to somewhere she might get damaged or lost. And why does Lori's husband insist she take the diary on an afternoon hike? Does he know something? And is it Aunt Dimity who conjures up the freak snowstorm herself? If she has that kind of "power", how is it she doesn't know that the owner of the house (someone she knew) died some years ago?
Oh, and that house. Yeah, they have to make do with fires and oil lamps due to the storm, but (coinkidink again!) since said stately home is being refurbished by a wealthy celeb, there just happen to be all kinds of clothing and fancy tinned foodstuffs etc. all over the place. Do movie stars really stock their homes with clothes for both sexes in all sizes? Really? Particularly in a home that isn't finished yet and isn't their main residence? I guess when reading the AD saga, one really should leave one's brain in park and just...yeah. But I was right. The "talking to the diary" thing is pretty silly out of the context of the first novel.
Maybe if I'd read some of the previous books I wouldn't have found this one quite so glurgy. Or maybe it's the mixture of family values with a touch of the paranormals that I didn't quite enjoy. Nothing against family values, but why stretch quite so hard?
The recipe in the back...yup. I was right. Usually the recourse of a "cosy mystery" author who knows their books will have limited appeal. So will the recipe.
It's OK, I guess. Snowed into a decayed stately home with two strangers (Americans, of course!) whose motivations she suspects, Lori is marooned there for a week after going on what should have been an afternoon's hiking. Except, yeah--she took along the diary and her stuffed bunny Reginald. Of course she did--?
Nothing against Reginald, I have a sweet little stuffed critter of my own who is rather vintage herself, but no way would I stuff her in a backpack and carry her off to somewhere she might get damaged or lost. And why does Lori's husband insist she take the diary on an afternoon hike? Does he know something? And is it Aunt Dimity who conjures up the freak snowstorm herself? If she has that kind of "power", how is it she doesn't know that the owner of the house (someone she knew) died some years ago?
Oh, and that house. Yeah, they have to make do with fires and oil lamps due to the storm, but (coinkidink again!) since said stately home is being refurbished by a wealthy celeb, there just happen to be all kinds of clothing and fancy tinned foodstuffs etc. all over the place. Do movie stars really stock their homes with clothes for both sexes in all sizes? Really? Particularly in a home that isn't finished yet and isn't their main residence? I guess when reading the AD saga, one really should leave one's brain in park and just...yeah. But I was right. The "talking to the diary" thing is pretty silly out of the context of the first novel.
Maybe if I'd read some of the previous books I wouldn't have found this one quite so glurgy. Or maybe it's the mixture of family values with a touch of the paranormals that I didn't quite enjoy. Nothing against family values, but why stretch quite so hard?
The recipe in the back...yup. I was right. Usually the recourse of a "cosy mystery" author who knows their books will have limited appeal. So will the recipe.
January 27, 2016
This is better than the last one, but not as good as the first one I read....
This Lori, chick...just goes on & on & on & on....Chattering & Chattering incessantly to herself, Aunt Dimity & others, like Chip & Dale in an argument.....Until I thought my brain would explode.
As for Aunt Dimity, she's just some moralistic "proper" old lady ghost, who only offers platitudes & moral compass...but no insights or clues, as one would think a ghost might.
Ok: in this installment at the urging of a friend & neighbor, Lori goes for a hike in the woods so that she may shake the post-holiday blues, but of course she takes a wrong turn and ends up in a supposedly abandoned manor.... There she comes upon a snarky & secretive young woman, and the stereotypical young dark, tall, handsome & loin stirring young man..... They find themselves snowed in during the worst blizzard known to that area! yadda yadda yadda....
The history of the manor is revealed, an old crime is brought to light...and the two "thieves", really are not who they seem to be.
These stories could be so very much more interesting, if only Atherton would develop the ghost..... Aunt Dimity seems to always take the far back seat to Lori & her freaky pink stuffed bunny Reg
This Lori, chick...just goes on & on & on & on....Chattering & Chattering incessantly to herself, Aunt Dimity & others, like Chip & Dale in an argument.....Until I thought my brain would explode.
As for Aunt Dimity, she's just some moralistic "proper" old lady ghost, who only offers platitudes & moral compass...but no insights or clues, as one would think a ghost might.
Ok: in this installment at the urging of a friend & neighbor, Lori goes for a hike in the woods so that she may shake the post-holiday blues, but of course she takes a wrong turn and ends up in a supposedly abandoned manor.... There she comes upon a snarky & secretive young woman, and the stereotypical young dark, tall, handsome & loin stirring young man..... They find themselves snowed in during the worst blizzard known to that area! yadda yadda yadda....
The history of the manor is revealed, an old crime is brought to light...and the two "thieves", really are not who they seem to be.
These stories could be so very much more interesting, if only Atherton would develop the ghost..... Aunt Dimity seems to always take the far back seat to Lori & her freaky pink stuffed bunny Reg
June 13, 2013
Three and a half stars. Despite the rather twee cover I somehow brought this novel home from the library. I sat on the coffee table for a while as I read The Light Between Oceans Usually after reading a really good book that emotionally grabs me, I often find it hard to settle to another. But Aunt Dimity was different and quirky enough to fit the bill of interesting me. I had not read any Aunt Dimity books before. Aunt Dimity is a phantom detective who speaks to Lori through writing in the pages of a journal. Okay I warned you it was quirky.
What was meant to be a pleasant one day hike ends being so much more as Lori, thanks to a freak blizzard and snow storm finds herself along with two other hikers stranded in Ladythorne Abbey with a gun wielding caretaker. Of course Jamie and Wendy, the other two stranded hikers, are not at all what they seem, Loris discovers.
Though Lori is an American, this is a cosy English mystery and a light, fun read. A good bit of entertainment and Aunt Dimity manages to talk a lot of sense.
What was meant to be a pleasant one day hike ends being so much more as Lori, thanks to a freak blizzard and snow storm finds herself along with two other hikers stranded in Ladythorne Abbey with a gun wielding caretaker. Of course Jamie and Wendy, the other two stranded hikers, are not at all what they seem, Loris discovers.
Though Lori is an American, this is a cosy English mystery and a light, fun read. A good bit of entertainment and Aunt Dimity manages to talk a lot of sense.
January 25, 2014
I loved loved loved this Aunt Dimity mystery.
Lori is out for a walk and a surprise blizzard forces her to seek shelter in an old mansion where she meets two other walkers who are also stranded. The three strangers, along with the mansion's caretaker have a wonderful adventure and form friendships that will last a lifetime as they piece together a century old mystery over steaming hot mugs of hot chocolate in front of warm fires talking by candle light into the wee hours of the morning.
I really wanted to jump into this book and live this story out with the characters!
Perhaps I loved this cozy book so much because Lori was snowbound in a beautiful old Victorian mansion and as I read the book I was convalescing during the bitter cold snowy weather we are currently having so it was the perfect read for me :-)
Lori is out for a walk and a surprise blizzard forces her to seek shelter in an old mansion where she meets two other walkers who are also stranded. The three strangers, along with the mansion's caretaker have a wonderful adventure and form friendships that will last a lifetime as they piece together a century old mystery over steaming hot mugs of hot chocolate in front of warm fires talking by candle light into the wee hours of the morning.
I really wanted to jump into this book and live this story out with the characters!
Perhaps I loved this cozy book so much because Lori was snowbound in a beautiful old Victorian mansion and as I read the book I was convalescing during the bitter cold snowy weather we are currently having so it was the perfect read for me :-)
May 12, 2018
Lori decided to take a hike after a whirlwind of Christmas festivities. She brings along her trusty journal to talk to Aunt Dimity and Rex her bunny rabbit. During the walk, she missed the turnoff and ends up stuck in a blizzard, where she stumbles across Ladythorne.
Two others are also snowbound there as well. Why would one of them be traveling with a crow bar? Who is walking around in the house at night? Lori is very suspicious of one of her fellow travelers.
The caretaker tells Lori that the house was previously used as a soldier's hospital during the war but something bad happened that drove the owner insane. Did someone steal the jewels that the young lady had? Were they still on the property and her fellow travelers have come to steal them?
Read and find out - a very enjoyable short cozy...
Two others are also snowbound there as well. Why would one of them be traveling with a crow bar? Who is walking around in the house at night? Lori is very suspicious of one of her fellow travelers.
The caretaker tells Lori that the house was previously used as a soldier's hospital during the war but something bad happened that drove the owner insane. Did someone steal the jewels that the young lady had? Were they still on the property and her fellow travelers have come to steal them?
Read and find out - a very enjoyable short cozy...
September 10, 2021
A charming book about a past that includes WWII and stolen jewelry and a woman who could not come to terms with losing everything of value in her life. Although the mystery and its resolution are good, the book leaves you with a slight feeling of dissatisfaction, mainly in that the mystery's resolution came too late to help Lucasta. It is hard to picture a young girl full of life and mischief turn into an old woman who is bitter and hateful. I kept wishing for a Reginald in her life, but of course the timing is all wrong, since Reginald came from Dimity and Lucasta was no longer a child by the time she met Dimity.
May 29, 2017
I really enjoyed this installment of the Aunt Dimity series. Christmas has been extremely stressful so Lori's friend suggests a walk in the woods to refresh her. Lori sets out the next day for a 6 hour hike which turns into a couple of days when a sudden snow storm blankets the English countryside. Lori seeks shelter in an old Abbey along with its caretaker and two other stranded backpackers. As they get to know each other, Lori senses something is not right so she sets off to figure out what it is. Of course, Aunt Dimity is along for the ride and keeps Lori from jumping to the wrong conclusions - or at least tries to.
July 24, 2014
Only Lori could go for a day hike in excellent weather and end up snowbound in a strange place - with 2 more Americans, no less (recall that they're in England!) Good think Bill thought to remind her to take Aunt Dimity along as a hiking companion - and Reginald always goes along, of course, peeking out of the top of her daypack.
February 8, 2024
An unbelievable story, though well told. Cringy dialogue. And I can’t be the only one who doesn’t find the married mother’s repeated flirtation with adultery neither charming nor funny. I’ve read a few of these but I believe this will be the last. I’m tired of being irritated with the main character.
December 16, 2012
Always fun to get lost in an Aunt Dimity mystery! This time Lori goes out for a hike and ends up snowbound in a manor home with two other hikers and the old caretaker. A really good story involving the manor's past and how it connects them all. These books are always a joy to read!
February 11, 2017
One of the best of these. A true mystery with a reason behind it. Good characters and Lori gets to be a proper sleuth. Wish she'd give up the flirting. It doesn't go anywhere.
September 6, 2025
Aunt Dimity: Snowbound by Nancy Atherton is the ninth book in the Aunt Dimity mystery series set in contemporary England. Lori Shepherd is understandably feeling burnt out; she had thrown herself enthusiastically into any and every Christmas holiday celebration. Now the February blues are taking their toll. Her best friend suggests a solitary 9-mile hike. Prepares Lori with picnic lunch, map, day pack.
To me, a hike was a chance to release the mind and engage the senses. I loved to ramble aimlessly, savoring whatever surprises nature had in store for me along the way. Emma, on the other hand, belonged to the map-and-compass crowd. To Emma, hiking was an intellectual activity, a mission to be accomplished, a puzzle to be solved.
"There's only one turning, and," she sailed on, blithely uttering the curse that had doomed travelers for centuries, "you can't miss it."
Of course, Lori misses the turn. Then a completely unexpected blizzard starts. Lori stumbles across Ladythorne Abbey. She isn't the only hiker taking refuge there; Wendy and Jamie are sheltering there too. The suspicious caretaker Catchpole believes they're all "Yank thieves". He's biased by an event in the past, when American soldiers recuperating at Ladythorne Abbey during WWII stole the Peacock parure, a priceless family heirloom set of diamonds: tiara, bracelet, earrings, necklace.
Lori is unbelievably naive in this story. She completely trusts Jamie, distrusts Wendy. It's irritating to read how she foolishly ignores obvious clues, and worse, is physically attracted to Jamie. Then the plot turns even less believable. She teams up with them on their quest, occasionally consulting Aunt Dimity (of course she brought the blue notebook and Reginald on the hike). The blizzard lasts enough days for all three to be plausibly snowbound while they search the property. Given the plot twist, of course the ending is over-the-top sappy.
Wisdom from Aunt Dimity, repeated by Lori to comfort her newfound friends: Old sins cast long shadows.
Aunt Dimity repeats to Lori (early on and at the end): You were caught in a storm that wasn't forecast, placed on a path you'd no intention of taking, and led to a house you never knew existed. Do you truly believe you came here by chance?
I can relate to Lori's reaction to Catchpole delivering an early breakfast in bed: Catchpole was clearly one of those hideous morning people who not only rise with the sun and plow the south forty before noon, but who look down upon anyone who doesn't. But since he was an egocentric, insensitive morning person, he was impervious to the tidal waves of hostility rolling toward him from the bed.
A recipe is included: Catchpole's Apricot Compote. Jamie says "It's as easy as pie--much easier, in fact, because it doesn't require a crust."
I liked the first 8 books; have the 10th already checked out from the library: Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin. Hope Lori returns to intelligent sleuthing, paying attention to clues, enjoying her cottage, husband and twin sons.
To me, a hike was a chance to release the mind and engage the senses. I loved to ramble aimlessly, savoring whatever surprises nature had in store for me along the way. Emma, on the other hand, belonged to the map-and-compass crowd. To Emma, hiking was an intellectual activity, a mission to be accomplished, a puzzle to be solved.
"There's only one turning, and," she sailed on, blithely uttering the curse that had doomed travelers for centuries, "you can't miss it."
Of course, Lori misses the turn. Then a completely unexpected blizzard starts. Lori stumbles across Ladythorne Abbey. She isn't the only hiker taking refuge there; Wendy and Jamie are sheltering there too. The suspicious caretaker Catchpole believes they're all "Yank thieves". He's biased by an event in the past, when American soldiers recuperating at Ladythorne Abbey during WWII stole the Peacock parure, a priceless family heirloom set of diamonds: tiara, bracelet, earrings, necklace.
Lori is unbelievably naive in this story. She completely trusts Jamie, distrusts Wendy. It's irritating to read how she foolishly ignores obvious clues, and worse, is physically attracted to Jamie. Then the plot turns even less believable. She teams up with them on their quest, occasionally consulting Aunt Dimity (of course she brought the blue notebook and Reginald on the hike). The blizzard lasts enough days for all three to be plausibly snowbound while they search the property. Given the plot twist, of course the ending is over-the-top sappy.
Wisdom from Aunt Dimity, repeated by Lori to comfort her newfound friends: Old sins cast long shadows.
Aunt Dimity repeats to Lori (early on and at the end): You were caught in a storm that wasn't forecast, placed on a path you'd no intention of taking, and led to a house you never knew existed. Do you truly believe you came here by chance?
I can relate to Lori's reaction to Catchpole delivering an early breakfast in bed: Catchpole was clearly one of those hideous morning people who not only rise with the sun and plow the south forty before noon, but who look down upon anyone who doesn't. But since he was an egocentric, insensitive morning person, he was impervious to the tidal waves of hostility rolling toward him from the bed.
A recipe is included: Catchpole's Apricot Compote. Jamie says "It's as easy as pie--much easier, in fact, because it doesn't require a crust."
I liked the first 8 books; have the 10th already checked out from the library: Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin. Hope Lori returns to intelligent sleuthing, paying attention to clues, enjoying her cottage, husband and twin sons.
June 25, 2023
(3.75 rounded to 4.0)
Number 9 in the popular series finds us back with the inhabitants of Rose Cottage. I have committed to reading this full cozy mystery series. The books follow an American heiress to an inheritance of a furnished cottage and a financial windfall from a close friend of her mother’s, Aunt Dimity. The cottage, however, comes with Aunt Dimity’s ghost. The series recently published the 25th title in the series.
Lori Shepherd is under a lot of pressure as the mother of four year old twin boys, not to mention her husband and her father-in-law. Her husband recommends that she take a couple of days at an estate with a major book sale to relax. She takes him up on his offer and sets off in her Range Rover to the estate. However, the weather turns nasty and she is stranded at a private home until she can continue. There are two other travelers stranded with her and the elderly caretaker of the Estate. The house was used in WWII as a hospital for recovering troops and a valuable jewelry set disappeared. The mystery is to work with the other two travelers to find the missing jewelry so that the Estate will be complete. One of the other travelers is a handsome American which revives a previous plot element of Lori flirting with a relationship with someone other than her husband.
I enjoy these characters especially when I need a change of pace from some heavier reading.This one was no exception. I was disappointed that the author went back to a “will she or won’t she?” scenario. There were a couple in which this was minimized and it was a pleasure to have more mystery and less potential romance for a change. Recommend to readers of cozy mysteries, paranormal mystery-thriller and British mystery.
Number 9 in the popular series finds us back with the inhabitants of Rose Cottage. I have committed to reading this full cozy mystery series. The books follow an American heiress to an inheritance of a furnished cottage and a financial windfall from a close friend of her mother’s, Aunt Dimity. The cottage, however, comes with Aunt Dimity’s ghost. The series recently published the 25th title in the series.
Lori Shepherd is under a lot of pressure as the mother of four year old twin boys, not to mention her husband and her father-in-law. Her husband recommends that she take a couple of days at an estate with a major book sale to relax. She takes him up on his offer and sets off in her Range Rover to the estate. However, the weather turns nasty and she is stranded at a private home until she can continue. There are two other travelers stranded with her and the elderly caretaker of the Estate. The house was used in WWII as a hospital for recovering troops and a valuable jewelry set disappeared. The mystery is to work with the other two travelers to find the missing jewelry so that the Estate will be complete. One of the other travelers is a handsome American which revives a previous plot element of Lori flirting with a relationship with someone other than her husband.
I enjoy these characters especially when I need a change of pace from some heavier reading.This one was no exception. I was disappointed that the author went back to a “will she or won’t she?” scenario. There were a couple in which this was minimized and it was a pleasure to have more mystery and less potential romance for a change. Recommend to readers of cozy mysteries, paranormal mystery-thriller and British mystery.
March 17, 2019
Love the Aunt Dimity books. A light read to be sure, with a main character at the naive end of the criminal scale rather than the stereotypical sharp-witted sleuth.
I’m trying to figure out what I love about these books. I think it’s a good escape for me. Lori, the main character, has more money than she knows how to spend, a fairytale cottage, a husband who adores her and arranges his work life around meeting her whims, perfectly-behaved children, and a supportive best friend next-door who will drop everything including her own family and career in order to help Lori whenever she needs it. Oh yes, on top of everything else she has supernatural help. Lori’s primary challenge in life is finding interesting ways to fill her time when her perfect life begins to bore her.
In short, it’s about an adult woman’s life as I imagined it would be when I was a child. It’s so nice to know one woman got that life, even if she is a fictional character.
I’m trying to figure out what I love about these books. I think it’s a good escape for me. Lori, the main character, has more money than she knows how to spend, a fairytale cottage, a husband who adores her and arranges his work life around meeting her whims, perfectly-behaved children, and a supportive best friend next-door who will drop everything including her own family and career in order to help Lori whenever she needs it. Oh yes, on top of everything else she has supernatural help. Lori’s primary challenge in life is finding interesting ways to fill her time when her perfect life begins to bore her.
In short, it’s about an adult woman’s life as I imagined it would be when I was a child. It’s so nice to know one woman got that life, even if she is a fictional character.
April 30, 2021
I was reading some reviews on other books, doing research to decide if I wanted to order a book and a review caught my eye and gave me pause. The writer lamented that some reviewers used hundreds of words to skewer and lambast books that just gave some pleasure and comfort. The Aunt Dimity books have given me much pleasure and comfort during the pandemic. In this outing, Lori gets caught in a freak snowstorm, while hiking and has to take shelter at Ladythorne Abbey. Joined by two other American hikers, Wendy Walker and Jaime Macrae , they soon learn the sad, creepy story of the late Lucasta DeClerk, the former owner of the abbey, from the caretaker Catchpool. Old sins cast long shadows and Lori and Aunt Dimity try to lay some ghosts to rest. Perfect book for a rainy night with a hot cup of Earl Gray.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews