Book Review - Aunt Dimity & the Family Tree by Nancy Atherton

Some people really like cozy, extremely light-weight books. They like some quirky characters and a nice, sleepy English village.

If you're that type of reader, then you'll love the Aunt Dimity series.

After last year's atrocious Aunt Dimity Down Under, this year's Dimity book is a breath of fresh air.

Aunt Dimity & the Family Tree is so much better, though I'm not sure if it's because the previous one was so terrible or if it's because it's actually not that bad. Either way, I really enjoyed this, at least as much as I can enjoy this type of book.

From my review on Curled Up With a Good Book:

"The most eligible bachelor in the sleepy English village of Finch, William Willis Sr, happens to also be the father-in-law of one Lori Shepherd. Recently returned from New Zealand, she is helping her father-in-law renovate and move in to one of the more storied (yet rundown) estates in the village. No end of elderly widows and spinsters would gladly help him as well (it sounds life-shortening to be a man in Finch). Part of the renovations includes restoring a soot-covered painting that looks to be a family tree of some sort. What secrets about the estate might it contain? The matter becomes even more intriguing when the piece is stolen from the local art restorer's house. With William and his newly hired staff, Declan and Deirdre Donovan, fending off the widows, it falls to Lori to figure out what's going on."

The conceit of the series is that Aunt Dimity is an old family friend of Lori's mother. She died a while back, leaving her estate in Finch to Lori, even though Lori had never met her. But Dimity's a lively dead person, communicating with Lori through ghostly writing in a particular diary, and Lori always spends at least a few minutes every night filling Dimity in on what's going on.

This is a very pleasant book, though if you like any sort of real conflict, then you'll have to look elsewhere.

Check out my review for more.