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Aunt Dimity Mystery #2
Aunt Dimity and the Duke
The beloved Aunt Dimity returns in this delightful follow-up to the book that launched the Aunt Dimity series. Watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, coming in July 2018 from Viking!Emma Porter is forty, fat, frumpy, and a passionate amateur gardener. When her longtime lover dumps her for a younger woman, Emma escapes the cloying sympathy of family and friends by setting out on a summer-long driving tour of England's glorious gardens. A Dimity-contrived coincidence brings her to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion in Cornwall, where she finds a duke in search of a missing lantern with extraordinary powers. Suspecting there's more than one mystery to be solved at Penford Hall, Emma accepts the duke's invitation to stay on and restore the once glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. The dark rumors surrounding a rock star and the near-death of the duke's beautiful cousin confirm Emma's suspicions, and set her--with Aunt Dimity's ghostly guidance--on the path to Penford Hall's secrets and the pleasure of unexpected love.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1994
379 people are currently reading
1508 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 524 reviews
July 20, 2013
I have to say that I'm still fairly pleased with the Aunt Dimity series so far, even though the series as a whole fairly surprises me so far. Granted I'm only two books in, but Atherton has broken quite a bit of the regular norms of mystery writing as a whole.
First off, there is no whodunit mystery here. Not really. Just like the first book, this is ultimately about people discovering themselves and each other. It's these interactions that make the discoveries and daily actions so much sweeter. The mysteries are just sort of a little side bonus and aren't really that much of a driving focus of the work.
Secondly, Atherton breaks another rule by swapping out the characters almost entirely. Dimity plays a very small role, as do the fabulous Pym sisters, but other than that the cast here is entirely new. There's the potential for them to come back in a further book, but ultimately we have a new set to focus on. They're actually quite a nice set of characters. I liked Emma well enough, but much like the first book the side characters are the ones that really steal the show.
The other thing I noticed was that you didn't have to have read the previous book to enjoy this one. You'll be a little lost if you aren't aware that Dimity is a ghost, but since she's such a minor character here you won't be too left out. Of course another thing I noticed was that despite this having been written in the 90s, this book aged fairly well overall.
Overall I think I'm going to like this series. They're not your typical mysteries, but that's OK. Sometimes it's good to have something that is outside the norm. I still think that people who predominantly or only read the more hard-core mysteries might find this a little too fluffy for their reading purposes, but for the most part most readers will enjoy this.
EDIT:
I realized belatedly that this book actually goes back into the past of Emma and Derek, who were very much in the first book. I just saw them as different characters since it was set so long before the events of book one and because I suppose this shows that Atherton can take characters you're already familiar with and make them seem like new people in their own right.
First off, there is no whodunit mystery here. Not really. Just like the first book, this is ultimately about people discovering themselves and each other. It's these interactions that make the discoveries and daily actions so much sweeter. The mysteries are just sort of a little side bonus and aren't really that much of a driving focus of the work.
Secondly, Atherton breaks another rule by swapping out the characters almost entirely. Dimity plays a very small role, as do the fabulous Pym sisters, but other than that the cast here is entirely new. There's the potential for them to come back in a further book, but ultimately we have a new set to focus on. They're actually quite a nice set of characters. I liked Emma well enough, but much like the first book the side characters are the ones that really steal the show.
The other thing I noticed was that you didn't have to have read the previous book to enjoy this one. You'll be a little lost if you aren't aware that Dimity is a ghost, but since she's such a minor character here you won't be too left out. Of course another thing I noticed was that despite this having been written in the 90s, this book aged fairly well overall.
Overall I think I'm going to like this series. They're not your typical mysteries, but that's OK. Sometimes it's good to have something that is outside the norm. I still think that people who predominantly or only read the more hard-core mysteries might find this a little too fluffy for their reading purposes, but for the most part most readers will enjoy this.
EDIT:
I realized belatedly that this book actually goes back into the past of Emma and Derek, who were very much in the first book. I just saw them as different characters since it was set so long before the events of book one and because I suppose this shows that Atherton can take characters you're already familiar with and make them seem like new people in their own right.
August 30, 2018
Aunt Dimity works her magic behind the scenes. A 40ish year old American woman embarks on a tour of the gardens in England. But she finds two little old ladies who are twins and finish each others sentences. They are sitting on a bench in the middle of a maze. Sounds like a Stephen King novel, but in this one the twins aren’t creepy. Apparently Aunt Dimity sent them to meet our American lass and send her to repair the gardens of a Duke.
More mystery and romance. Lovely story! 😊💕📖
More mystery and romance. Lovely story! 😊💕📖
July 7, 2019
This satisfying read offers a tidy blend of paranormal, romance, and mystery elements. I liked the nifty twist that I didn't see coming. The descriptions of the floral landscapes are detailed and evocative. If you're a gardener or landscaper, you'll appreciate them. I'd consider reading more titles in the series.
November 11, 2018
Emma ist gerade frisch getrennt und reist nach Südengland, um sich eine Auszeit zu nehmen. Sie liebt Gärten und möchte sich in Cornwall einige besonders schöne Gartenlandschaften ansehen. Sie landet in Penford Hall, einem alten Schloss in Cornwall. Dort wird sie kurzerhand als Gärtnerin eingestellt. Ein Missverständnis, denkt Emma, doch Tante Dimity hatte ihre Hände im Spiel. Und dann ist Emma auch schon mittendrin in einem alten Geheimnis um eine verschwundene Zauberlaterne...
Mein Leseeindruck:
Ein ganz wunderbares Buch! Ich habe mich total hineinfallen lassen können in diese zauberhafte und rätselhafte Geschichte, die eine unvergleichliche Wohlfühlatmosphäre aufbaut.
Und obwohl die Geschichte einfach schön ist, ist sie zugleich auch mysteriös und spannend, wenn auch auf eine ruhige Art.
Mir hat es unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht, dieses Buch zu lesen und Emma in Cornwall zu begleiten. Alle Figuren habe ich direkt ins Herz schließen können; man muss sich hier einfach wohlfühlen.
Ich freue mich sehr, dass ich noch einige Tante-Dimity-Bücher vor mir habe!
Mein Leseeindruck:
Ein ganz wunderbares Buch! Ich habe mich total hineinfallen lassen können in diese zauberhafte und rätselhafte Geschichte, die eine unvergleichliche Wohlfühlatmosphäre aufbaut.
Und obwohl die Geschichte einfach schön ist, ist sie zugleich auch mysteriös und spannend, wenn auch auf eine ruhige Art.
Mir hat es unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht, dieses Buch zu lesen und Emma in Cornwall zu begleiten. Alle Figuren habe ich direkt ins Herz schließen können; man muss sich hier einfach wohlfühlen.
Ich freue mich sehr, dass ich noch einige Tante-Dimity-Bücher vor mir habe!
February 14, 2024
* I write seriously, with effort and look forward to comments as the reward, please and thank-you. *
Nancy Atherton débuted in 1993 and by the beauty of used books, I recently discovered "Aunt Dimity's Death". I’m in love with Nancy's originality, impeccable writing, and series that resembles nothing else! Thirty year-old Lori was financially low and her mother had died. When a lawyer's letter came about a Dimity Woodcock's death, she was astonished that fairytales she grew up with, were about her mother's real friend in wartime England. Assisted by the lawyer's son Bill, there's a mission to fulfill at Dimity's cottage. Wonderful neighbours in Finch, warn that it is haunted.
Books are too often undercut with the claim "It wasn’t what I thought". One should base reviews on whatever a title turned out to be! In novel #2 "Aunt Dimity And The Duke", we’re shown a cast elsewhere in England, which must take place about 8 years earlier, while Dimity Woodcock is alive. She is scarcely incorporated except as a caring figure who knew duke Grayson's Grandma. The sole familiar figures are the Pym sisters but you’re drawn into such an ingenious concept with superb characterization; you dig right in. It isn't a leap to consider we influence other people. Not since David Eddings have I seen another author unfurl an offbeat story so well.
American computer analyst, Emma is free of a stagnant, heavy metal boyfriend and tours England. At Penford Hall where a disreputable musician died, she’s hired to restore the garden of Grayson's Grandma in time for a festival. A myth is supposed to re-materialize at 100-year intervals. Englishman Derek is hired to locate the legend's artifact. If I’m correct, it occurred to me early on that Emma & Derek become Lori’s neighbours in Finch! This author isn't conjuring angles willy nilly. She’s the best of the best and her books are unforgettable.
Nancy Atherton débuted in 1993 and by the beauty of used books, I recently discovered "Aunt Dimity's Death". I’m in love with Nancy's originality, impeccable writing, and series that resembles nothing else! Thirty year-old Lori was financially low and her mother had died. When a lawyer's letter came about a Dimity Woodcock's death, she was astonished that fairytales she grew up with, were about her mother's real friend in wartime England. Assisted by the lawyer's son Bill, there's a mission to fulfill at Dimity's cottage. Wonderful neighbours in Finch, warn that it is haunted.
Books are too often undercut with the claim "It wasn’t what I thought". One should base reviews on whatever a title turned out to be! In novel #2 "Aunt Dimity And The Duke", we’re shown a cast elsewhere in England, which must take place about 8 years earlier, while Dimity Woodcock is alive. She is scarcely incorporated except as a caring figure who knew duke Grayson's Grandma. The sole familiar figures are the Pym sisters but you’re drawn into such an ingenious concept with superb characterization; you dig right in. It isn't a leap to consider we influence other people. Not since David Eddings have I seen another author unfurl an offbeat story so well.
American computer analyst, Emma is free of a stagnant, heavy metal boyfriend and tours England. At Penford Hall where a disreputable musician died, she’s hired to restore the garden of Grayson's Grandma in time for a festival. A myth is supposed to re-materialize at 100-year intervals. Englishman Derek is hired to locate the legend's artifact. If I’m correct, it occurred to me early on that Emma & Derek become Lori’s neighbours in Finch! This author isn't conjuring angles willy nilly. She’s the best of the best and her books are unforgettable.
February 2, 2017
I enjoyed this. I was a bit all over the map today, and I just wanted a nice story. This satisfied.
So, here is the thing with this series, I read it, and I recognize it's issues, but somehow the books manage to work in spite of their issues.
This book is another spectacular case of insta-love, which it tries to justify through "Dimity knows all, and has vague supernatural powers," BUT. BUT. It's one heck of a case of instalove. Also, I am not sure that Nancy Atherton can write children, at least not consistently. There were two, Peter and Nell. I thought Peter was well drawn in the first half, and Nell in the second. But sometimes I was side-eyeing them.
I really enjoyed the gardening motif that ran through this. Also, the Pym sisters, and their unorthodox approach to job interviewing were a joy - we shall just sit here in the centre of a maze of a random garden, and interrogate those fellow-gardeners who manage to find us! I also generally enjoyed the Duke (Grayson) and his household. Also, I am a sucker for a secret passage. And Emma and Derek do work, they do. Even if somehow things feel a bit cliched at times with the set-up. Oh, and Syd turned out to be a joy. He started out as stereotypical American manager, but somehow became wise sage/seriously awesome dispenser of advice.
Anyway, towards the end of this, there were times when I was laughing aloud, which I needed today.
The thing is, you could sit down and pick holes in this, but somehow, someway, like Duke Grayson, it sails through on its charm. It just does. Even thought he flaws are apparent, at its core, it's an enjoyable read. This was what I wanted to read today. So there.
So, here is the thing with this series, I read it, and I recognize it's issues, but somehow the books manage to work in spite of their issues.
This book is another spectacular case of insta-love, which it tries to justify through "Dimity knows all, and has vague supernatural powers," BUT. BUT. It's one heck of a case of instalove. Also, I am not sure that Nancy Atherton can write children, at least not consistently. There were two, Peter and Nell. I thought Peter was well drawn in the first half, and Nell in the second. But sometimes I was side-eyeing them.
I really enjoyed the gardening motif that ran through this. Also, the Pym sisters, and their unorthodox approach to job interviewing were a joy - we shall just sit here in the centre of a maze of a random garden, and interrogate those fellow-gardeners who manage to find us! I also generally enjoyed the Duke (Grayson) and his household. Also, I am a sucker for a secret passage. And Emma and Derek do work, they do. Even if somehow things feel a bit cliched at times with the set-up. Oh, and Syd turned out to be a joy. He started out as stereotypical American manager, but somehow became wise sage/seriously awesome dispenser of advice.
Anyway, towards the end of this, there were times when I was laughing aloud, which I needed today.
The thing is, you could sit down and pick holes in this, but somehow, someway, like Duke Grayson, it sails through on its charm. It just does. Even thought he flaws are apparent, at its core, it's an enjoyable read. This was what I wanted to read today. So there.
September 8, 2013
2.5 really. I found this book appealing but annoying with annoyance winning in the end. Everybody is so NICE. Everything is so NICE. And then we all sit down to eat scrumptious free food while wearing scrumptious free clothes and chit chat a bit...and then get up and all act nicely again. Even the nasty people are nice.
It's a 4layer cream puff drizzled with chocolate and a hot cup of tea in a scented garden. It is a book for reading when life is grey and you just want some comforting, undemanding, warm niceness around you, even if it's dumb. Sadly I made the mistake of reading it on a warm summers day ...and just felt annoyed instead.
It's a 4layer cream puff drizzled with chocolate and a hot cup of tea in a scented garden. It is a book for reading when life is grey and you just want some comforting, undemanding, warm niceness around you, even if it's dumb. Sadly I made the mistake of reading it on a warm summers day ...and just felt annoyed instead.
November 14, 2019
This was mainly just a romance.... very little mystery
October 6, 2013
I liked the first half of this book but then it just got too confusing and started rambling. Aunt Dimity appears once for a short conversation in the prologue and her name comes up once or twice but other than that she's not in this one. And what happened to Lori? She never makes an appearance nor is she mentioned so I'm not sure how this book actually connects to the series. This is more a romance than anything else. I've only read three books in this series but this is my least favorite. I will continue the series but I probably won't read another for a while.
January 12, 2022
Ich mag die Geschichten bisher.
Auch wenn mir der Anfang hier etwas schwerer fiel, weil die Geschichte nichts mit den Personen aus dem Vorgänger Band zu tun hatte.
Auch wenn mir der Anfang hier etwas schwerer fiel, weil die Geschichte nichts mit den Personen aus dem Vorgänger Band zu tun hatte.
September 28, 2022
At 40, Emma has a successful job in computers in Boston, Massachusetts, her own apartment and an independent life. So when her longtime partner, Richard, dumps her to marry a much younger woman, she isn't anywhere near as upset as her mother. Emma is content to go on her English garden tour vacation solo thank you very much. While touring a hedge maze, she discovers a pair of elderly twins knitting in the center. After striking up a conversation, they direct her to visit Penford Hall, home of their friend, Grayson Alexander, the Duke of Penford. At Penford Hall, Emma is caught up in a whirlwind of assumptions she doesn't quite understand. It seems she's expected to restore the chapel garden at Penford Hall by the August fete. While restoring the garden is no easy task, Emma becomes intrigued by the lives of her new friends and housemates, especially the handsome heritage restoration specialist, Derek and his two children. Derek is on hand supposedly to restore the ruin of a castle yet the castle seems fine and to repair a stained glass window depicting a local legend. It seems he's really there to search out a mythical lantern that will save the Penford estate and the family. The press are after Grayson to spill about the mysterious death of rock star Lex Rex at the Penford estate. The vultures are circling and Grayson's cousin Susanna means to cause trouble. Meanwhile, his 10 year-old-son Peter is mother to little Nell, Derek's 5 year-old-daughter. Derek is still mourning the loss of his wife and has thrown himself into his work. Peter knows what the restoration of the lady in the window will mean and it's about time for heis so tired. Can Emma help solve the mystery of the missing lantern and solve everyone's problems?
This isn't your average cozy mystery. It's more of a romance with mystery than the other way around. This story is a prequel to Aunt Dimity's Death and shows how Emma and Derek Harris became a couple. Then in Chapter 9, it becomes more of a mystery and I got really caught up in that. I never guessed any of the reveals. I was quite shocked and had to keep reading. I felt let down when all was revealed, fully expecting MORE to the story. With an hour left on the audiobook, I thought surely there was one more twist to come. The rest of the book wraps up the "cozy" plot. There's a very slight (maybe) paranormal element to the story and normally I don't like that sort of thing but it felt right for Cornwall and by the end, I liked the way it was handled. A few of the references date the story slightly, like mainframe computers, and a mention of being a post-war refugee but they're barely noticable.
The audiobook narrator is dreadful and no one in my book club who listened to the book liked her. She's American and really doesn't know how to do different English accents. Her prim and proper accent is OK but she uses the same voice and accent for more than one character and I got confused. The rest of the accents range from Yorkshire to Cockney but not Cornish! The staff are supposed to be from the village and some of the named minor characters clearly come from old Cornish families. The story did give me the feel of being written by an American with superficial knowledge of British culture and the narrator's lack of accuracy added to that. It makes some sense though because the main character is American so if she were to narrate her own story, it might sound like this.
I loved Emma and Derek when we first met in ADD. They seemed like such a lovely couple and a great little family with two wonderful kids they love very much. I was surprised when I read the description of this book but releaved that it tells Emma and Derek's backstory. Aunt Dimity is still alive but in the background. She's in the prologue and then mentioned a few times. At this point, Emma doesn't know who Aunt Dimity is and is very confused when everyone keeps mentioning her. Aunt Dimity works her magic behind-the-scenes to get the Pym sisters to meet Emma and send Emma to Penford. I think Aunt Dimity sent Derek there as well. Matchmaking?
I appreciate Emma being an older and more frumpy character but not that her longtime partner left her to marry a younger woman. I do like how pragmatic she is about it and how indpeendent she has been. She doesn't NEED a man. She doesn't WANT to fall in love and get married. She's content with her career. That's a refreshingly different plot trope. I also liked watching Emma fall in love with the children. Peter and Nell are precocious moppets of the sort I normally can't stand but I have an affinity for Nell because her teddy, Bertie (gifted to her by Aunt Dimity, of course), is very real to her. He sees all and knows all and Nell speaks for Bertie. Peter is an old soul for 10. He's overburdened by missing his mother, school work, housework and caring for his little sister. He's taken on all the adult responsibilities and now his dad wants Peter to go to boarding school. Peter is tired but worried about who will do the work if he goes away and how will he fit in when he hasn't had the childhood other boys have? Emma's heart goes out to these charming children and she falls in love with them. Even though she claims she fell in love with Derek at first sight, I think it's a very Sound of Music plot trope where she loves the children, the children scheme and eventually the adults fall in love.
Derek is a good guy, he's just lost in his own concerns. He's busy trying to earn an independent living and not have to rely on his father, an Earl, for help and that keeps Derek busy but away from home. Thus Derek is ignorant of what is happening or not happening in his own household. He trusts his instincts and his children to know if anything was wrong. Big mistake. He doesn't actually talk to the kids and find out how they're doing. It, of course, takes Emma to make him see what's been going on. ("Love them, captain, love them all!") Their romance is a kind of slow burn. Non romance readers will see this as instalove but it isn't really, at least not compared to romance novels. Emma and Derek work together to solve the mystery of Penford and get to know each other better that way. She knows him a little better than he knows her because of her friendship with the children. Maybe a little more getting to know one another before the epilogue would have been nice. Hopefully that happened off page.
There are a ton of secondary characters. I'm working from memory so I don't know if I'll remember them all. Grayson seems nice. He was a lonely little boy who loved his grandmother and when she died, his world fell apart. He knew Aunt Dimity and she cared for him. I trust her yet I'm not sure I fully trust Grayson. He's kind, friendly and welcoming to strangers yet he can be a bit arrogant and cold at times. Maybe even clueless. One thing is for certain-he LOVES his birthright and would do anything to protect it. Did he orchestrate the death of Lex Rex? Did he steal Lex Rex's money to repair his crumbling estate? His cousin, Susannah Ashley-Woods, aka Asher's English Rose, a famous model, is staying at Penford. She's a mean girl type determined to put Emma down at every opportunity. Grayson does nothing to check his cousin's behavior or threaten to kick her out. I think Susannah wants to marry Grayson but sees Emma as a potential threat. I think she's the type to see all women as threats, especially as she's aging. She brings along her manager, Sid, from Brooklyn, with a dreadful stereotypical accent (I'm not even sure that's a Brooklyn accent?). Sid is a funny guy. He sees all, is very wise and probably a potential murderer. I don't trust him at all. He seems kind of shady to me. What's he doing there if his client is only visiting her cousin? Doesn't he have other clients? Is he trying to get in good with her so she'll keep him around?
The staff include the tart-tongued Nanny Cole, voiced in a faux Cockney accent. She's always yelling at everyone and is tough as old boots. Once I got to know her, I saw she means well but I don't really like her much. She's terrifying. I think she may have something to do with the big event that happens in Chapter 9. Nanny Cole is the resident seamstress who magically whips up the perfect clothes for everyone that just so happen to fit perfectly. LOL! Her daughter, Kate, is Grayson's PR agent, more or less. She deals with all the problems that arise from the death of Lex Rex in a boating accent on the estate. Even though Grayson wasn't there at the time, the press still think he is guilty of murder. Kate is harried and long suffering. She has a tough job and on top of that, has to live in this castle with her mother. Mattie, a maid, worships Susanna and is eager to gossip about celebrities and what happened when Lex Rex died, even though she didn't come to work there until later.
There a bunch of other staff I can't keep straight. There's Newland, Bantry and Gash. Bantry, the gardener is affable and happy to let Emma redo the chapel garden. He was browbeaten by the Pym sisters I guess and didn't get a choice in the matter. I find him rather suspicious though. He seems to have been in the right place at the right time to perhaps attempt murder. Or at least his tools are. Gash, the mechanic, is fun and friendly. Yet, he's a mechanic. Does he do boats as well as cars? Could he have had a hand in Lex Rex's death? Newland is the gate keeper, very taciturn and doesn't involve himself in the goings-on in the Hall. There's also Madama, the silent cook who dishes up the most deletcable meals.
This is a charming series for readers of escapist literature. Don't think too hard about it and it's not all that memorable but enjoyable while it lasts. I look forward to next month's read.
This isn't your average cozy mystery. It's more of a romance with mystery than the other way around. This story is a prequel to Aunt Dimity's Death and shows how Emma and Derek Harris became a couple. Then in Chapter 9, it becomes more of a mystery and I got really caught up in that. I never guessed any of the reveals. I was quite shocked and had to keep reading. I felt let down when all was revealed, fully expecting MORE to the story. With an hour left on the audiobook, I thought surely there was one more twist to come. The rest of the book wraps up the "cozy" plot. There's a very slight (maybe) paranormal element to the story and normally I don't like that sort of thing but it felt right for Cornwall and by the end, I liked the way it was handled. A few of the references date the story slightly, like mainframe computers, and a mention of being a post-war refugee but they're barely noticable.
The audiobook narrator is dreadful and no one in my book club who listened to the book liked her. She's American and really doesn't know how to do different English accents. Her prim and proper accent is OK but she uses the same voice and accent for more than one character and I got confused. The rest of the accents range from Yorkshire to Cockney but not Cornish! The staff are supposed to be from the village and some of the named minor characters clearly come from old Cornish families. The story did give me the feel of being written by an American with superficial knowledge of British culture and the narrator's lack of accuracy added to that. It makes some sense though because the main character is American so if she were to narrate her own story, it might sound like this.
I loved Emma and Derek when we first met in ADD. They seemed like such a lovely couple and a great little family with two wonderful kids they love very much. I was surprised when I read the description of this book but releaved that it tells Emma and Derek's backstory. Aunt Dimity is still alive but in the background. She's in the prologue and then mentioned a few times. At this point, Emma doesn't know who Aunt Dimity is and is very confused when everyone keeps mentioning her. Aunt Dimity works her magic behind-the-scenes to get the Pym sisters to meet Emma and send Emma to Penford. I think Aunt Dimity sent Derek there as well. Matchmaking?
I appreciate Emma being an older and more frumpy character but not that her longtime partner left her to marry a younger woman. I do like how pragmatic she is about it and how indpeendent she has been. She doesn't NEED a man. She doesn't WANT to fall in love and get married. She's content with her career. That's a refreshingly different plot trope. I also liked watching Emma fall in love with the children. Peter and Nell are precocious moppets of the sort I normally can't stand but I have an affinity for Nell because her teddy, Bertie (gifted to her by Aunt Dimity, of course), is very real to her. He sees all and knows all and Nell speaks for Bertie. Peter is an old soul for 10. He's overburdened by missing his mother, school work, housework and caring for his little sister. He's taken on all the adult responsibilities and now his dad wants Peter to go to boarding school. Peter is tired but worried about who will do the work if he goes away and how will he fit in when he hasn't had the childhood other boys have? Emma's heart goes out to these charming children and she falls in love with them. Even though she claims she fell in love with Derek at first sight, I think it's a very Sound of Music plot trope where she loves the children, the children scheme and eventually the adults fall in love.
Derek is a good guy, he's just lost in his own concerns. He's busy trying to earn an independent living and not have to rely on his father, an Earl, for help and that keeps Derek busy but away from home. Thus Derek is ignorant of what is happening or not happening in his own household. He trusts his instincts and his children to know if anything was wrong. Big mistake. He doesn't actually talk to the kids and find out how they're doing. It, of course, takes Emma to make him see what's been going on. ("Love them, captain, love them all!") Their romance is a kind of slow burn. Non romance readers will see this as instalove but it isn't really, at least not compared to romance novels. Emma and Derek work together to solve the mystery of Penford and get to know each other better that way. She knows him a little better than he knows her because of her friendship with the children. Maybe a little more getting to know one another before the epilogue would have been nice. Hopefully that happened off page.
There are a ton of secondary characters. I'm working from memory so I don't know if I'll remember them all. Grayson seems nice. He was a lonely little boy who loved his grandmother and when she died, his world fell apart. He knew Aunt Dimity and she cared for him. I trust her yet I'm not sure I fully trust Grayson. He's kind, friendly and welcoming to strangers yet he can be a bit arrogant and cold at times. Maybe even clueless. One thing is for certain-he LOVES his birthright and would do anything to protect it. Did he orchestrate the death of Lex Rex? Did he steal Lex Rex's money to repair his crumbling estate? His cousin, Susannah Ashley-Woods, aka Asher's English Rose, a famous model, is staying at Penford. She's a mean girl type determined to put Emma down at every opportunity. Grayson does nothing to check his cousin's behavior or threaten to kick her out. I think Susannah wants to marry Grayson but sees Emma as a potential threat. I think she's the type to see all women as threats, especially as she's aging. She brings along her manager, Sid, from Brooklyn, with a dreadful stereotypical accent (I'm not even sure that's a Brooklyn accent?). Sid is a funny guy. He sees all, is very wise and probably a potential murderer. I don't trust him at all. He seems kind of shady to me. What's he doing there if his client is only visiting her cousin? Doesn't he have other clients? Is he trying to get in good with her so she'll keep him around?
The staff include the tart-tongued Nanny Cole, voiced in a faux Cockney accent. She's always yelling at everyone and is tough as old boots. Once I got to know her, I saw she means well but I don't really like her much. She's terrifying. I think she may have something to do with the big event that happens in Chapter 9. Nanny Cole is the resident seamstress who magically whips up the perfect clothes for everyone that just so happen to fit perfectly. LOL! Her daughter, Kate, is Grayson's PR agent, more or less. She deals with all the problems that arise from the death of Lex Rex in a boating accent on the estate. Even though Grayson wasn't there at the time, the press still think he is guilty of murder. Kate is harried and long suffering. She has a tough job and on top of that, has to live in this castle with her mother. Mattie, a maid, worships Susanna and is eager to gossip about celebrities and what happened when Lex Rex died, even though she didn't come to work there until later.
There a bunch of other staff I can't keep straight. There's Newland, Bantry and Gash. Bantry, the gardener is affable and happy to let Emma redo the chapel garden. He was browbeaten by the Pym sisters I guess and didn't get a choice in the matter. I find him rather suspicious though. He seems to have been in the right place at the right time to perhaps attempt murder. Or at least his tools are. Gash, the mechanic, is fun and friendly. Yet, he's a mechanic. Does he do boats as well as cars? Could he have had a hand in Lex Rex's death? Newland is the gate keeper, very taciturn and doesn't involve himself in the goings-on in the Hall. There's also Madama, the silent cook who dishes up the most deletcable meals.
This is a charming series for readers of escapist literature. Don't think too hard about it and it's not all that memorable but enjoyable while it lasts. I look forward to next month's read.
June 5, 2010
The second book in the Aunt Dimity series, however in this book Aunt Dimity seemed to be more of an afterthought than a key figure. If I hadn't read the first book, I'd have no idea who Aunt Dimity was. Even having read the first one, I wasn't sure exactly how she fit into this story. I think I liked the first book better. I'm starting the third one in the series and have found connections to the first book and it's characters, which I like.
This book was a fun quick read, but I felt that sometimes things happened too quickly without adequate development.
Whoops! I am farther into the third book and now realize that the second book is about some characters from the first book, however the second book actually took place prior to the first book. So if your memory isn't good and you don't read them one right after the other, you could get confused, the way I did.
This book was a fun quick read, but I felt that sometimes things happened too quickly without adequate development.
Whoops! I am farther into the third book and now realize that the second book is about some characters from the first book, however the second book actually took place prior to the first book. So if your memory isn't good and you don't read them one right after the other, you could get confused, the way I did.
October 1, 2018
It wasn't awful, but it wasn't very good either. Aunt Dimity gets referred to a lot but is mostly off stage with no explanation of who she is. It seemed a very labor intensive way of setting up neighbors for Lori and family who know of Aunt Dimity. The romance was pretty forced. Jilted American independent woman...computer expert and garden lover....Emma goes to England to look at gardens, gets sent by twin Pym sisters to a specific location where she finds mysteries and of course, love. If I had read the description first, I doubt I'd have wasted my money buying it. Well, I'll donate to the library and get a tax write off. I'm still willing to keep going on this series since I know there were many I loved but I will be pretty reluctant to buy more of the series.
August 7, 2021
Wie ein gemütlicher Spaziergang in einem englischen Garten, einfach zum Wohlfühlen.
May 23, 2022
Pleasantly surprised even though sometimes the characters can be rather pig-headed/dense. Really enjoyed it.
March 11, 2019
I enjoyed this book, even though it was off to a bit of a slow start. I hadn't realized that each book in the series featured new characters, so at first I was a tad confused about how everyone fit. However, once Emma arrived at Penford Hall it really picked up. The descriptions are so beautifully written and now I wish I could visit the grounds and gardens (Especially the ruins) of the Hall. The characters were interesting and I was excited to follow the daily living in an old home like this. I have to say, the mystery was pretty light - there wasn't a lot of typical "investigating". BUT there were many secrets to be discovered and when the largest one was revealed and laid out for Emma - wow I was blown away. What a creative piece of the story and at that point I could not put it down. I wish we saw more of Aunt Dimity in this one, though the casual mentions of her did add to her mystique. I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so I really enjoyed how this was put together and I can't wait to read more in this series.
March 21, 2020
Very sweet! Okay, maybe it's closer to 3 and a half stars. It was pretty light and silly, but it was also well-written enough to make me forgive that silliness, and at the moment I'm definitely looking for "light and silly." I do want to read the first Aunt Dimity book, but it didn't make a huge amount of difference that I was jumping right into this one. The characters were all appealing, the setting was lovely, and the mystery was ... mystery-ish. This was one of those books where even the "bad" characters turn out to be more "misunderstood and needing to spend more time Out in Nature and Connecting with their True Selves." At a moment when things can feel pretty pessimistic, I am absolutely fine with an entertaining book that thinks the best of everyone.
July 29, 2017
An extremely clever and intricate Aunt Dimity mystery. The cast of characters is big, but they all fit beautifully into the story. Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Duke is a well written cozy mystery with a bit of the supernatural.
September 19, 2017
Es war in Ordnung und leicht zu lesen aber wirklich überzeugend war es nicht. Alles zu weit hergeholt und das mit Emma und Derek ging mir echt viel zu schnell und war nicht gerade realistisch in meinen Augen. Lediglich Nell konnte mich begeistern. Kann man lesen, kann man aber auch lassen.
July 20, 2021
Another very cute light mystery, really not much mystery but a figuring out of a few things, both mysteries and love life.
Easy, sweet, silly "mysteries" that end nicely. this one seems a prequel story (at least in timeline) to book 1.
Easy, sweet, silly "mysteries" that end nicely. this one seems a prequel story (at least in timeline) to book 1.
June 20, 2022
The second book of Aunt Dimity Mystery is quite disappointing. This has a cast of all new characters except Dimity, who is only referred to at times. The characters are very uninteresting. I enjoyed the first book but this was just meh.
April 10, 2020
This is a good solid cozy type mystery that is not syrupy or formulaic. (Well the romance is but not the mystery element.) There is also a paranormal element, but it is so unobtrusive, that I was able to pass its appearance off as mere coincidence.
There are some passages which brought me out of the story because of its dated times . For example: The protagonist remarks to herself that it is odd that household staff would be carrying tetherless telephones, affordable only by the rich. (The book was written in 1994, the year that digital cordless phones were introduced.)
On reflection it was amusing to consider how advanced our technology has become in just these couple of decades. AND of course, how outdated we will be in just 20 ourselves.
A step above the usual cozy, I thoroughly enjoyed Aunt Dimity and the Duke, the denouement never to have been deduced by any reader.
There are some passages which brought me out of the story because of its dated times . For example: The protagonist remarks to herself that it is odd that household staff would be carrying tetherless telephones, affordable only by the rich. (The book was written in 1994, the year that digital cordless phones were introduced.)
On reflection it was amusing to consider how advanced our technology has become in just these couple of decades. AND of course, how outdated we will be in just 20 ourselves.
A step above the usual cozy, I thoroughly enjoyed Aunt Dimity and the Duke, the denouement never to have been deduced by any reader.
September 10, 2010
Another quaint mystery by Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity has a way of tying a good yarn up in a nice neat magical bow! I can't believe it took me until the Epilogue to recall who Derek and Emma were. This endeared the series to me even more as I reflected back on the part those characters played in the first novel, which actually takes place after "Aunt Dimity and the Duke". I will definitely continue to read more of the series.
This book made me long for the days when I would sit on the floor in the hall outside my son and daughter's bedrooms while reading "chapter books" to them as a nightly bedtime story! I beleive Aunt Dimity would have been a perfect choice for reading!
This book made me long for the days when I would sit on the floor in the hall outside my son and daughter's bedrooms while reading "chapter books" to them as a nightly bedtime story! I beleive Aunt Dimity would have been a perfect choice for reading!
September 22, 2017
Oh, 1994, your requirement that I suspend my disbelief to about the height of a high wire was worth it. Atherton's Dimity books are the coziest of cozies, and this one is very pleasant, including castle ruins, gardens, not-so-young lovers, secret passages, and intricate and mostly pointless plot elements. I seem to have read two books in a month where unqualified tourists are drafted to design ancient gardens and have the freedom to postpone all sorts of responsibilities in order to stay in luxury with wealthy homeowners. Why has this never happened in my life?
May 18, 2025
This is the 2nd in the series, although it really is out of the timeline of the others. It's a good way to start the series as Aunt Dimity is almost a bit player. In my mind the first 2 books of the series are the best. The later books stay with one main character and sometime I don't like her much. I've always enjoyed the touch of magic in this series, like the characters (more in the early books) and the underlying premise of all the stories.
One of my all-time favorite reads.
One of my all-time favorite reads.
June 6, 2022
A delightful installment in the Aunt Dimity series. Cozy, atmospheric, and predictable in the very best way. The "supernatural" part of the story was even less a part of #2 than #1 and I look forward to continuing to pick these up for light reads.
January 24, 2009
Nice and light read about a mystery in the English countryside with a 39 year old spinsterish heroine and likeable characters. A perfect book in between when I don´t want to overuse my brain for a while...
August 19, 2017
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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.
February 14, 2017
Aunt Dimity is a nice light read with a touch of magic stirred in. These books make me smile.
January 24, 2019
This is the second book in the series but is a sort of prequel about some of the characters in book 1. An enjoyable read but I didn’t like it as much as the first one.
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