Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (An Aunt Dimity Mystery, #14)

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Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (An Aunt Dimity Mystery #14)

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 939 ratings · 118 reviews

Lori's peaceful English village is being overrun by a rowdy and mischievous Renaissance fair

Lori Shepherd loves living in the small English village of Finch, but as her eighth summer in the town approaches she finds herself wishing for something exciting to spice up her all-too-familiar routine. When King Wilfred's Faire opens nearby, Lori gets her wish and more. The age o...more

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published February 19th 2009 by Viking Adult (first published February 11th 2009)

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Apr 25, 2009 Jenn Estepp rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes

thirteenth and latest book in the aunt dimity series, and the first that i've read. i admit that i was seduced by the pretty cover art and the idea that, if i liked it, i'd have a whole new mystery series to go hunt down, as i sometimes like to do. alas, it's not going to happen. not only because the central premise - that our heroine lori is assisted in her investigations by a ghost that communicates with her via an old journal - seems patently ridiculous to me - but also because the whole "mys...more

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Jul 17, 2010 Raiveran Rabbit rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: avoid-reading

A Little Mary Sue for the Geriatric or Spoiled —

If you yearn for a story of a selfish and petulantly immature protagonist, this is the book for you. If you long to escape to a place so cookie-cutter unreal, every character seems like one unattractive trait with a paper mask affixed in lieu of a personality, this is the book for you. If you wish to let yourself go and delve into a world of the unbelievably dense and lobotomy-sportingly boring, this is quite so the book for you.

Welcome to the worl...more A Little Mary Sue for the Geriatric or Spoiled —

If you yearn for a story of a selfish and petulantly immature protagonist, this is the book for you. If you long to escape to a place so cookie-cutter unreal, every character seems like one unattractive trait with a paper mask affixed in lieu of a personality, this is the book for you. If you wish to let yourself go and delve into a world of the unbelievably dense and lobotomy-sportingly boring, this is quite so the book for you.

Welcome to the world of Lori Shepard, a spoiled, hypocritical, and frighteningly delusional child dressed up like a grown woman, complete with creepily-perfect husband, obnoxiously “adorable” sons, and a complement of shallow supporting characters in the guise of her “friends”, and yes she does use that word to describe them, in the bodies of the villagers she lives near. Gossip is the only thing of note these pathetically pointless personnages do, their other one or two points of note being mere window dressing. After a few pages of listening to their dialogue in your head, you’ll swiftly start to wonder why the author even bothered giving them any detail at all.

Speaking of the author, it would be useful to mention that the main character smacks so strongly of an author-insertion fantasy you can practically hear those smacks echoing across the English countryside the book is set in. Lori Shepard is a bored housewife with an almost ridiculously idyllic lifestyle, including expensive cars, perfect cottage, husband with jet-setting attourney lifestyle and of course her own independent wealth based on the inheritance of a woman who never even met her.

Because Lori was presumably never stopped from indulging in any whim or fantasy she felt like immersing her sense of reality in, as an adult she can’t turn it off, and indulges herself to the exclusion of anyone else whenever a cow farts the wrong way. Nancy Atherton, the actual author and not her horrifyingly shallow and psychotic insertion fantasy, has the boring and cut and paste British village as nothing more necessary than a backdrop to indulge Lori going off every few weeks or days, fabricating heinous and stupid mysteries and conspiracies over absolutely anything that she can lay her improbable little mind on. You will marvel at her gift for assuming 20 theories or “facts” when only one randomly spawning event occurs, and making assumptions that she immediately sees as true about anyone she drags into her author-insertion fantasy delusion psychosis, then passes it on in a manner the author tries and fails to cause to look quaint or harmless, but is actually quite rude and slanderous.

The best part is the misleading title of this pamphlet bound up like a book. You’d assume that “Aunt Dimity” is the main character, and therefore the main focus of the story. Not so! Like everything else in Lori’s world, which I’m thinking more and more is really a full-blown mental event had by a confused and lonely inpatient at a government facility and less anything that can be passed off as novella fiction, Aunt Dimity is the name of the woman who bequeathed her money and land to this twat, and said twat spends every bloody night talking to this dead stranger’s diary, and it writes back to her. As if you really needed confirmation about this woman’s mental state.

Aside from that and the feeling you get that the author is not only not British but has only seen the English countryside on BBC dramas and documentaries, the real slap comes when author-insertion girl starts displaying opinions of middle-class puritanism and catty disapproval more suited to an actual Brit circa 1945 than of any self-respecting sentient being of the 21st century. Seriously, this woman gets even more high-strung than usual (which is saying something, obviously,) when her sons start spouting meaningless knight vs. knave speak and when her husband sees someone's bum (for fuck’s sake) at the faire, yet her high pseudo-morals seem to be blindingly absent when she’s breaking into people’s abodes, lying, gossiping (which is a form of lying, for those of you who are confused,) making wild and unproven false accusations and allowing her choices to override good sense, reality, and good manners. Who the fuck is this woman, Sarah Palin? The worst part about that is that of course the asshole friends and perfect mannequin husband all coddle, indulge and support her mental retardation and selfish story-making, just as if she were a real adult. It pulls at understandable reality until it lets go with a cosmic twang.

I was upset enough about abiding my promise to read new things and having had to slog through the painfully empty dialogue and the equally painful thoughts of Lori before I found out there’s at least eleven more of these fucking books. Perhaps I’m simply not geriatric enough to appreciate the capricious suspicion vs. mystifying and groundless praise this woman vacillates between in regards to the cardboard cutouts that come across her path in the guise of people, (done with illogical and dizzying speed, to boot,) but I can’t imagine anyone who isn’t exactly the kind of shallow, blind, bigoted, gossiping hick featured in this book finding this a worthy read or even a pleasurable waste of their time.(less)

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Jan 20, 2012 Kyle rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There's cozy, and then there's Aunt Dimity.

I didn't exactly finish it, just skimmed the second half.* The heroine is... possibly suffering from a head injury of some kind? Or was lobotomized in a previous book in the series? And the resulting brain damage causes her to be unable to function at a normal adult level? That's the only explanation I can come up with for her behavior. And I'm actually *not* talking about how she communicates with a dead woman via an old journal; I actually felt bad f...more There's cozy, and then there's Aunt Dimity.

I didn't exactly finish it, just skimmed the second half.* The heroine is... possibly suffering from a head injury of some kind? Or was lobotomized in a previous book in the series? And the resulting brain damage causes her to be unable to function at a normal adult level? That's the only explanation I can come up with for her behavior. And I'm actually *not* talking about how she communicates with a dead woman via an old journal; I actually felt bad for Aunt Dimity (the aforementioned ghost), stuck with no one to talk to but the half-witted Lori.

And the Renaissance Faire that serves as the story's setting - oy. I guess it is just the least disappointing Faire in the history of forever? I don't have anything against Renaissance Faires, particularly, but I'm bewildered that NO ONE in the book seems to think that they're even a little bit dopey. Everyone in the so-sweet-it-hurts village of Finch has drunk the Ren Faire Kool-Aid. It's bizarre! Fortunately (?) in case the reader is unfamiliar with the concept of the Renaissance Faire, the secondary and tertiary characters are happy to give paragraph-long discourses on various topics relating to Medieval Times, the history of Renaissance festivals, and various other topics.

The village is so picture-perfect with almost-quirky characters (he wears red socks! she gardens! they're gay!) that is makes Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls TV show seem like an accurate representation of small-town life. And Lori's experience as an American ex-pat in England just did not ring true to me at all. The setting read like what it was: an American's fantasy of small-town English life.

The mystery is as low-stakes as a murder plot can be, and the solution is obvious to everyone except the sleuth, although the obviousness comes more from knowing how mystery novels are usually set up rather than from any actual internal logic.

Lastly, on an admittedly minor point that has minimal bearing on the plot of this particular book, how on earth could Lori's mother have served overseas in WWII if Lori is still "in her thirties" circa 2010? I know the series began in the 90s, when this would have been more plausible (and Lori was, presumably, around 30?), but maybe it's time to stop mentioning it in the books, which otherwise appear to be set in the present (albeit an unrecognizable, idealized present).

I almost want to read the first book in the series to see if they were always this bad, but I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to do it.

*I wish there was an "abandoned, never to be picked up again!" option along with "read," "to-read," and "currently-reading."(less)

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Mar 19, 2009 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

This was the latest in the Aunt Dimity series. I particularly liked it because it has a Renaissance Festival (which apparently is unusual for England but perfectly OK for Michigan??) This book seemed better than some of the past ones. The first one were ok, but then the main character seemed to have a problem with a wandering eye. She has this loveable hubby, cute nice twin boys, living in a quaint cottage in a quaint english village, but every book brought her a new strange young man to fantazi...more

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Apr 09, 2009 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

Bummer! I love the Aunt Dimity series and the last one was so good that I had huge hopes for this one. I never got engaged in the plot line. Shortly after the half way point, I ended up skimming the rest of the book.

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Mar 14, 2009 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Aunt Dimity aficionados; "cosy" mystery fans.

Shelves: mysteries

Yay! Aunt Dimity strikes again! I enjoyed this one altho' it has one or 2 drawbacks...and one significant plus, at least to my way of thinking! As usual, Lori has more of a puzzle to solve than sorting out the whys and wherefores of dead bodies. The invasion of Finch by a Renaissance Fair was a fun addition and with all the descriptions of costumes and settings, I almost wish it had come with pictures! I liked having a bit of the village/villagers back in the fray.

The drawbacks: not a lot of Au...more

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May 18, 2011 Jenn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, novels

In glossing over the other two-star reviews, I think I can see what happened:

- Most of us had not read any other Aunt Dimity books
- We all bought this one because we liked the cover

I actually don't read mystery novels at all--although I like the idea of them--so it's hard for a reader like me to pinpoint this book's failings. I mostly disliked the main character, Lori, a pretty housewife in her mid-30s who evidently does nothing but gossip and wring her hands. Every morning, she and her husband...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon is the fourteenth installment of Nancy Atherton's much loved Aunt Dimity cozy mystery series.

In this particular novel, a Rennaissance Fair lands itself in Finch -- coincidentally right in the backyard of our beloved protagonist Lori Shepherd. When it appears that murder is being attempted on "King Wilfred" because of the attention he bestows on a beautiful young singing maiden, Lori interferes in order to prevent those endangered from meeting their demise. As always,...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Aunt Dimity is my guilty pleasure. There is just something so fun and relaxing when I settle down and open one of Nancy Atherton's books. Her reoccurring characters make the visits to the small English village of Finch a much needed break to my hectic day.

Lori Sheppard's life has become boring and predictable. Her husband's life as an international estate planning attorney fills his days, her twin sons have their school and ponies to keep their interest but yet Lori has nothing but her day in a...more

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Aug 01, 2010 Erin Reilly-Sanders rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, adult, fiction

Having picked this one up based on its cover, a tastefully simple kelly green with a blocky design of a black dragon being stabbed by a white knight, I got the mediocre story I should have expected from a book in the middle of a pedestrian sort of English country mystery series. Not to say that it was bad, but mostly that as a newcomer to the Aunt Dimity books and all of the references to a previous unfortunate adventure with a vampire, I wasn

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Jun 28, 2010 Tobinsfavorite rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: cozy-mystery types; folks who want nice warm fluff

Recommended to Tobinsfavorite by: mom

This started as a 2-star book. It took over 100 pages to really grab my interest, and it's only about 230 pages long. My mother recommended Aunt Dimity cozy mysteries to me, and I believe she said she hadn't read this one, so maybe the others aren't such slow starters. (I'm going to read one more to find out.) Aunt Dimity herself isn't in the book for a while, and when she does first appear, she is very annoying and not very charming; however, she becomes less of the former and more of the latte...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Tori rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I wanted to like this book, I really did. I mean, Aunt Dimity! Renaissance Faire in Fitch! But, Ren FEST? You'd think, if that usage was truly all that common in America I'd have heard the term after attended them for 40 years or so and working at several! From Googling, I learn that the term is used (though not, perhaps, so commonly as Ren Faires) and it looks like that usage may be more common in the south or middle of the country. On the coasts I hear 'faire'.
Be that as it may, the real probl...more I wanted to like this book, I really did. I mean, Aunt Dimity! Renaissance Faire in Fitch! But, Ren FEST? You'd think, if that usage was truly all that common in America I'd have heard the term after attended them for 40 years or so and working at several! From Googling, I learn that the term is used (though not, perhaps, so commonly as Ren Faires) and it looks like that usage may be more common in the south or middle of the country. On the coasts I hear 'faire'.
Be that as it may, the real problem with this book is Lori. I am totally sick of the way she bumbles around with her "imagination" leading to situations so uncomfortable they make me squirm. I don't like feeling embarrassed, but that seems to be the point of these books lately; let Lori make a fool of herself for our entertainment. Ugh! Then I hated the way she was set up to wear a lovely costume, then Bill talks her out of it, while he gets to wear one after telling her he won't. What kind of marriage is that? The whole thing was disrespectful. Even Aunt Dimity got into it by praising Lori's 'wisdom' in choosing not to wear a costume the first day. I mean, the ENTIRE POINT of faires is going in costume!!! (All right, maybe that's not the entire point, but playing on people's fears of being different and spoiling everyone's fun is not wisdom in my mind.) Why not encourage Lori to indulge her imagination in a healthy, socially acceptable way by wearing a costume and participating in the faire instead of urging her to sneak around spying on people in a stupid manner? Anyway, too much of this book gave me an ucky feeling, and it was hard to make myself read more than a couple of pages at a time.
Worse, if you put the last two books together, instead of seeing Lori mature, Dimity and Bill seems to be actively working to hinder Lori from developing the ability to sift fact from fiction and act in a wise manner, ie, to grow up. Why else encourage her to chase vampires? Why else does Bill get to do the 'sensible' investigation while Lori goes about it all wrong? Why not teach her how to do it right when she starts suspecting a problem? The end didn't satisfy, either. It tries too hard to provide real danger and be cozy at the same time. I don't think I'll be continuing the series, which is too bad, as I loved some of the early books.(less)

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Apr 17, 2009 Cherrie Redd rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really like the Aunt Dimity series and I enjoyed reading this book, even though it seems to be getting away from the original premise of the whole paranormal detective aspect. This story is set at a Ren Faire and, I do have to admit the first about 50 pages are a little slow and will be if you don’t take a shine to Ren Faires necessarily. Without getting too detailed about the story, in a nutshell a Finch residence’s nephew returns to Finch to hold a Ren Faire with himself as the king. There a...more I really like the Aunt Dimity series and I enjoyed reading this book, even though it seems to be getting away from the original premise of the whole paranormal detective aspect. This story is set at a Ren Faire and, I do have to admit the first about 50 pages are a little slow and will be if you don’t take a shine to Ren Faires necessarily. Without getting too detailed about the story, in a nutshell a Finch residence’s nephew returns to Finch to hold a Ren Faire with himself as the king. There are several suspicious “accidents” that befall him and of course Lori is right in the center. Just from typical experience, I guessed the culprit fairly early on, but there really wasn’t anything in the story that allows you to be interactive in its solution, so it was just luck.

Like I said, I really enjoyed it, but I had to read it outside of the thought process I normally have in reading the Aunt Dimity books. Lori is really scatter brained here, a lot of focus is on town gossip, and it kind of seems like the author is grasping for a mystery storyline. I like the lightheartedness and I love the characters, which is what kept me reading. But the storyline was a bit weak and there was a love interest scenario that wrapped up way too quickly and almost seemed purposefully hurried that caused the spark of it to die out before I even realized that storyline had wrapped up. There was also a character thrown in at the end that should have played a more major part in the book, but was never mentioned prior to the last couple of chapter.

I am looking forward to her next book, whatever that may be, but I hope she comes up with something a little more adventurous. I truly hope it has to do with Kit and Nel’s wedding. I loved the Vampire storyline, but this one just doesn’t have as many satisfying twists, turns and outcomes. I really didn’t feel like any of the Ren Faire characters mattered to me so the resolution really wasn’t very climatic. Not her best, but still enjoyable.

(less)

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May 26, 2009 Laurel Bradshaw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: england, ghosts, cozy-mystery

This was the perfect escape after a very stressful six weeks. I didn't want anything with much of a plot. But like comfort food, the characters are familiar old friends. And I LOVE Ren. Fests. There was even a nice twist at the end, which I won't give away, except to say that Lori is NOT the one to solve the mystery...

From Amazon.com :
Lori’s peaceful English village is being overrun by a rowdy and mischievous Renaissance fair.

Lori Shepherd loves living in the small English village of Finch, but...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Confessionalpoetess rated it 2 of 5 stars

I hope Jenn Frank doesn't mind my quoting her review here:

In glossing over the other two-star reviews, I think I can see what happened:

- Most of us had not read any other Aunt Dimity books
- We all bought this one because we liked the cover

...check, and...check. I really wanted to like this book. I was looking forward to another mystery series I could get into, but I couldn't bring myself to like, or care about, the protagonist, Lori. Lori Shepard is an American living with her husband and twin...more I hope Jenn Frank doesn't mind my quoting her review here:

In glossing over the other two-star reviews, I think I can see what happened:

- Most of us had not read any other Aunt Dimity books
- We all bought this one because we liked the cover

...check, and...check. I really wanted to like this book. I was looking forward to another mystery series I could get into, but I couldn't bring myself to like, or care about, the protagonist, Lori. Lori Shepard is an American living with her husband and twin boys in a small town in England. There's a supernatural twist to the series: Lori communicates with Aunt Dimity, a friend of Lori's mother, who has long since passed away. They communicate through Dimity's old journal; Lori talks to the book and Dimity replies in old copperplate script. It makes me wonder which magic journal came first, Aunt Dimity's, or Tom Riddle's in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But I digress...

Lori has an ideal life: she and her husband have 3 cars between them, a nice cottage and a cushy lifestyle. Yet she comes across as petulant and immature. Lori is a bored housewife. Do you know what housewives do when they get bored? They meddle in matters best left to the police! The village is in a state of excitement over a Renaissance fair taking place. When the fair's "king" falls victim to a series of accidents, Lori's convinced someone is trying to kill him.

The setting and the characters seem too cliched for me. The sleepy little village is replete with bring-and-buy sales and tidy cottage competitions. Lori's husband Bill is rich. And good-looking. And he's a jet-setting lawyer. There's the town gossip, the new-age hippy herbalist, the bossy town maven, and members of the landed gentry/horsey set. The supernatural element sounded promising, but doesn't do much to further the plot. Dimity clearly tries to steer Lori down to earth, but stops short of being forthright, choosing instead to suggest and imply that Lori may not be acting with as much common sense as she should. Dimity does little more than dispense motherly advice.

I hate to say it, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. The resolution was disappointingly pedestrian, and spoiler:

(view spoiler)

(less)

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Jul 02, 2010 Mary Kennedy rated it 5 of 5 stars

AUNT DIMITY SLAYS THE DRAGON (Viking, Penguin, 2009) by Nancy Atherton. This is the fourteenth novel in the series, yet it is as fresh and entertaining as the first (which was listed as one of the Century’s 100 Favorite Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association)
In this enchanting book, Dimity Westwood communicates with mortals through the use of a journal. Of course, there is always an inherent challenge in creating a ghostly mystery: how does the sleuth bridge the gap betwee...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Katy-Del rated it 3 of 5 stars

What can I say, I like easy women mysteries and Lori Shepard reminds me of a house wife version of Stephanie Plum. She is constantly over hearing, and misinterpreting and sometimes there is danger and sometimes there is an over-active imagination. Considering what has transpired in some of the books, (ie being stalked, being almost blown up) I can't fault her for thinking the most dramatic thing about a situation.

And I love all books with Renn Faires. I traveled and worked at a couple about a d...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love the Aunt Dimity series! They are charming and fun and filled with delightfully quirky characters who do interesting and unexpected things. Add in a blue journal through which the dearly not-quite-departed Aunt Dimity communicates with Lori, and how can you not love the stories?!

The time around there isn't an actual murder, but there's lots of excitement as a Renassaince Faire comes the Finch. The fun and frivolity of the fair-people mixing with the Finch people provides lots of interestin...more

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Aug 20, 2009 George rated it 5 of 5 stars

Latest in the Aunt Dimity mystery series. Lori Shepard lives with her husband and family in the Cotswold village of Finch which becomes the site of a Renaissance festival for the summer. The village is caught up in the fair, but there are down sides as well, especially with a series of accidents seemingly directed at the person who runs the fair. Lori quickly finds herself investigating the events and trying to seek out who is responsible along with the help Aunt Dimity. As usual, Lori mixes som...more

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Mar 12, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Does anyone else ever find Lori really annoying?

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Sep 13, 2012 Jlnpeacock rated it 3 of 5 stars

When the series first started, I loved the idea of a sweet ghost helping to solve mysteries. The stories have been interesting and pleasant to read. I stopped with the series, though, when the heroine had too many semi-romantic encounters. She is happily married, but seems too interested in other men. I found this book contained less of that. I read it because it had information about Renaissance festivals, which was helpful since I have never been able to attend one. I also appreciated some of...more

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Feb 25, 2013 The Flooze rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, owned, vanquished_2013

Possibly the most amusing of the Dimity stories.

Finch is completely besieged by Ren Faire madness. The boys are cast as pages, the townspeople have mages and mimes and jugglers staying in their homes, and ample bosoms are threatening to heave right out of their newly-sewn corsets. Though the mystery involves several accidents that may actually be murder attempts, Atherton works in plenty of comedy. What would a festival in Finch be without the neighbours slinging juicy gossip and outrageous rem...more

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Apr 11, 2009 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nancy-atherton, read-in-2009

The Aunt Dimity series is always good for a cozy read. I generally love the characters and the drama is mild yet exciting.

The book is about Lori Shepherd who is bored with village life and the same old gossip from the same old villagers. A breath of fresh air arrives in the form of a neighbor’s nephew who is determined to host a renaissance festival in the forest near the village. Everything is running smoothly until the first day of the festivities when things literally start to fall apart. Is...more

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Mar 01, 2009 ஐ Briansgirl (Book Sale Queen)ஐ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, author-atherton-nancy, books-with-recipes, own, paranormal-supernatural

I have genuinely loved all the Aunt Dimity novels but this one is my least favorite. It ended alright and I never guessed who did it, but I found the first half of the book lacking. It never grabbed me the way the other stories did. I do have a fairly decent background in medieval re-enactments having participated in them for a decade. The way the author wrote about the renfair was accurate as to how the recreations are done. Perhaps that's why I found it more boring than her other mysteries. Al...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Sonja rated it 4 of 5 stars

The critics didn't care for this book, but I disagree. The critics fail to consider Aunt Dimity's audience. Aunt Dimity fans aren't looking for the next great thing in literature. We are looking for a story that is the cozy, comfortable equivalent of a literary feather pillow. If you love Aunt Dimity, then this is great. If you haven't read Aunt Dimity before now, do yourself a favor and read Aunt Dimity's Death before you read any other.

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Mar 08, 2011 Kimmie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read most of the books in the Aunt Dimity series. I have noticed in the last couple of books that Lori is a little too down on herself. It does get annoying.

I loved the setting of this book. The ren fair was a good choice. I kind of had to laugh because I've been to the Midieval Times here in the states so I could see all of this going on in my head.

The characters just didn't seem as strong as the characters in previous books. They all seemed a little wish-washy.

I was disappointed to say th...more

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Mar 26, 2009 Karmen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lori Shepard, an American, lives in a bucolic English town. The local pastime - gossiping. She communicates with Aunt Dimity, the donor of her house and fortune, but Aunt Dimity is dead. They speak through a journal.

The book is set against the background of a Renaissance fair. Repeated attempts are made on the "King".

It's a cute romp and ends with her husband solving the case.

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Aug 23, 2012 Scilla rated it 3 of 5 stars

King Wilford's Faire comes to Finch next door to Lori's house. There are magicians, dragons, jousters, wenches and a jester, with lots of entertainment. The twins ride in the King's procession each day. Then it appears that someone is trying to kill King Wilfred, the head of the faire and the nephew of the landowner. Lori begins sleuthing, and gets herself into trouble, actually chasing the wrong culprit.

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Jun 22, 2010 Lady L rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cozy-reads

I give up! I LOVED Aunt Dimity the Vampire Slayer for all its love story line, cozinnes and country food. And I loved Aunt Dimity: Snowbound. Once again for the same reasons above minus the love story. But Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon was soooo slow and so boring that half-way through the book, I gave up! Not for the first time Aunt Dimity readers.

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Feb 23, 2013 Nancy Ellis rated it 4 of 5 stars

I especially enjoyed this episode because it took place during a "Renaissance Festival" type of fair in Lori's village. Lots of descriptions of the different aspects of these fairs and the kinds of people who work with them and/or follow them. As always, Aunt Dimity does not disappoint. So much fun to read these books!

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About Nancy Atherton

Nancy 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 pla...more

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Books by Nancy Atherton

Aunt Dimity's Death (An Aunt Dimity Mystery, #1)

Aunt Dimity and the Duke (An Aunt Dimity Mystery #2)

Aunt Dimity's Good Deed (An Aunt Dimity Mystery, #3)

Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil (An Aunt Dimity Mystery, #6)

Aunt Dimity Digs In (An Aunt Dimity Mystery, #4)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3610998-aunt-dimity-slays-the-dragon?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347356881l/3610998.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3610998-aunt-dimity-slays-the-dragon?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon by Nancy Atherton[/url]

Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (An Aunt Dimity Mystery #14)

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