Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I began reading the Aunt Dimity books by accident. They are wonderful - I've read each of them in approximately 2 nights. I find myself being part of these books - very relaxed - sipping tea! I do not want to part with these stories - I could read them over and over. Perfect books to take your mind away and get caught up in an almost soap opera like story line - where you want to know everything about everyone. I certainly hope that this author writes for a long, long time!!!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I began reading the Aunt Dimity books by accident. They are wonderful - I've read each of them in approximately 2 nights. I find myself being part of these books - very relaxed - sipping tea! I do not want to part with these stories - I could read them over and over. Perfect books to take your mind away and get caught up in an almost soap opera like story line - where you want to know everything about everyone. I certainly hope that this author writes for a long, long time!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I just found these books and I really enjoyed them. I do think that Aunt Dimity and the Duke should be first in the series, because I was looking for Lori Shepherd when I got to the 2nd in the series, but then she and Bill were back in 3 and 4 and all was right with the world. So I recommend reading them 2, 1, 3 and then 4 and hopefully twenty or thirty more before the series is done.Most of my friends won't enjoy the supernatural element supplied by Dear Aunt Dimity, Reginald, and all of the wonderful characters, but they don't know what they are missing. I recommend these for a rainy day curled up on the couch with a cup of tea, an afghan and a cat or two purring away. Get the whole series and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I read the two previous Aunt Dimitys and enjoyed them thoroughly, but this will be my last. Although the writing is good, Lori and Bill are delightful characters, and the setting is lovely, the Aunt Dimity trick is just too silly after awhile. To have the very real world portrayed so effectively and then to have a "beyond the grave" element come in just when its needed destroys the progress of the story.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: I thought that this was a fabulous book. I really enjoyed the way the author wove the story, I think she did a great job. This was the first book I read in the series, and I plan to read all of the other books that she has written about Dimity.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD FUN AND GOOD READING
Review: Imagine a contemporary mystery sans bodies, blood or bludgeoning with a sleuthing heroine who is not a former forensic expert and you're getting close to Aunt Dimity Digs In, the fourth in a series of gentle, pleasant mysteries replete with quaint cottages, pots of tea, and a cast of eccentrics. Lori Shepard lives in a cozy English country cottage with her lawyer husband and infant twin sons. Worn to a frazzle by the babies' demands, she is rescued by the unexpected appearance of an expert nanny, Francesca Sciaparelli - think a statuesque, voluptuous Mary Poppins. But Lori's new found moments of relaxation are cut short by a cry for help from the local vicar. He fears an outbreak of civil war in the village of Finch due to a rancorous dispute involving the use of the schoolhouse. Peggy Kitchen, self-crowned queen of Finch, wants the building for her vaunted Harvest Festival but it has been assigned to a visiting archaeologist, Dr. Adam Culver, as headquarters for his dig. Although it seems that any combat in a place as benign as Finch would be waged with popcorn, Lori promises the worried vicar that she will try to find a copy of a pamphlet stolen from his desk. It seems that this mysterious document would prove there is no reason to dig near Finch and solve the squabble. Obviously, the thief entered through never-locked French doors, but who could have taken the pamphlet? With the aid of the late Aunt Dimity, who communicates with Lori by writing in a magic blue notebook, the mystery is eventually solved. But what a rare time is had along the way as Lori meets a witch who lives near the vicarage, and assists her followers via email. She swears she saw two other witches worshiping the moon the night the pamphlet was stolen. The local pub owners, logical suspects since a famous dig might put Finch on the map and bring them additional revenue, are convinced that the figures seen that night were actually aliens. Along the way romance blossoms between the comely, capable Francesca and Dr. Culver. What does it matter if Lori needs a little hocus-pocus from dear departed Aunt Dimity to bring the lovers together and peace to Finch? All's fair in love and war. Aunt Dimity Digs In is good fun and good reading, best done with lemon bars and piping hot tea at the ready.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD FUN AND GOOD READING
Review: Imagine a contemporary mystery sans bodies, blood or bludgeoning with a sleuthing heroine who is not a former forensic expert and you're getting close to Aunt Dimity Digs In, the fourth in a series of gentle, pleasant mysteries replete with quaint cottages, pots of tea, and a cast of eccentrics. Lori Shepard lives in a cozy English country cottage with her lawyer husband and infant twin sons. Worn to a frazzle by the babies' demands, she is rescued by the unexpected appearance of an expert nanny, Francesca Sciaparelli - think a statuesque, voluptuous Mary Poppins. But Lori's new found moments of relaxation are cut short by a cry for help from the local vicar. He fears an outbreak of civil war in the village of Finch due to a rancorous dispute involving the use of the schoolhouse. Peggy Kitchen, self-crowned queen of Finch, wants the building for her vaunted Harvest Festival but it has been assigned to a visiting archaeologist, Dr. Adam Culver, as headquarters for his dig. Although it seems that any combat in a place as benign as Finch would be waged with popcorn, Lori promises the worried vicar that she will try to find a copy of a pamphlet stolen from his desk. It seems that this mysterious document would prove there is no reason to dig near Finch and solve the squabble. Obviously, the thief entered through never-locked French doors, but who could have taken the pamphlet? With the aid of the late Aunt Dimity, who communicates with Lori by writing in a magic blue notebook, the mystery is eventually solved. But what a rare time is had along the way as Lori meets a witch who lives near the vicarage, and assists her followers via email. She swears she saw two other witches worshiping the moon the night the pamphlet was stolen. The local pub owners, logical suspects since a famous dig might put Finch on the map and bring them additional revenue, are convinced that the figures seen that night were actually aliens. Along the way romance blossoms between the comely, capable Francesca and Dr. Culver. What does it matter if Lori needs a little hocus-pocus from dear departed Aunt Dimity to bring the lovers together and peace to Finch? All's fair in love and war. Aunt Dimity Digs In is good fun and good reading, best done with lemon bars and piping hot tea at the ready.
Rating:
Summary: Mysteries Hitting Close to Home
Review: In this book of the Aunt Dimity series, Lori plays detective a little closer to home. Learning about some mysterious facts in the town's history, she involves herself in uncovering yet another secret in the English countryside. Like the others in the series, the pleasant life of Lori in Dimity's cottage is woven into the tale. And, of course, the ghost of Aunt Dimity is lurking around to help.
Rating:
Summary: Actual human/3D characters grow on you, and in themselves
Review: So call me cryptic. I think the feeling that remained with me after I finished this book last week was that Atherton's Dimity series shows us human nature--not pasteboard icons, for the most part--and honest characters. She does *not* rely on stereotypes, unless she's pitting them against each other to see what will happen. In most of her books in this series, I see actual character development and growth--characters learning from their mistakes and human failings. In many of the books, you see people who've been hurt in some way: some of them get stuck in a victim role, and wallow in their hate/fear, and others triumph over their pain, and choose to love and to live. Without being preachy, she quietly demonstrates that you don't have to wallow, but that you can choose to leave the past pain behind and make a new path. When you are caught in the grips of a major depression, it's a beacon, a demonstration that it can be done when the time is right. Enough of that. This was a ripping good read. I don't know where Ms. Atherton did her research on the plight of the Modern Mother in Western Civilization, but she sure has the isolation in a crowd aspect down right. I adored learning more about the village in this book; I can't speak for the archaeology, but the witch felt right (speaking from experience), and the idea that this was a traditional village of ... incomers hoping to find a home of their own, well, that was really sweet and unexpected. I had a lot of fun watching events play out, plots get more complicated and then resolved, and you really ought to stop reading this and order it. I continue to enjoy the way Aunt Dimity manages to communicate, and while I don't think I ever had a similar relationship with any of *my* stuffed animals (what few I had--I was an odd child), I see that relationship in my son and his toys/substitute siblings (his brother is a T. Rex, you know (and glad I am not to have carried THAT to term!)). I also enjoy the culinary overtones in the book. I look forward to the next one; and to being able to share impressions with other F2F friends who've read it.
Rating:
Summary: Please read this book on a rainy afternoon
Review: The beauty of the Dimity series is watching the characters development from book to book. Reading this books feels like a visit with your dearest friend that you only get to see once a year. You can pick right up where you left off without skipping a beat. If you read this one first the earlier books will loose a little something but please do read them all!
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