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Aunt Dimity Mystery #14
Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon
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 of chivalry lives again at the Renaissance fair. Wizards, wenches, magicians, and minstrels cajole the fairgoers while lords quaff, jesters joke, and knights battle in the joust arena. But Lori discovers that it's not all pageantry and play.
A sinister figure is stalking the angel-voiced madrigal singer. A jealous rival has sabotaged the Dragon Knight's weapons. And an evil assassin is trying to murder Good King Wilfred. With Aunt Dimity's otherworldly guidance, Lori races to save her dear village and risks her neck to keep the medieval revelry from ending in tragedy.
"Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon" is another gem in Atherton's perennially beloved cozy series, sure to enchant her many loyal fans and attract new ones.
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 of chivalry lives again at the Renaissance fair. Wizards, wenches, magicians, and minstrels cajole the fairgoers while lords quaff, jesters joke, and knights battle in the joust arena. But Lori discovers that it's not all pageantry and play.
A sinister figure is stalking the angel-voiced madrigal singer. A jealous rival has sabotaged the Dragon Knight's weapons. And an evil assassin is trying to murder Good King Wilfred. With Aunt Dimity's otherworldly guidance, Lori races to save her dear village and risks her neck to keep the medieval revelry from ending in tragedy.
"Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon" is another gem in Atherton's perennially beloved cozy series, sure to enchant her many loyal fans and attract new ones.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published February 11, 2009
139 people are currently reading
1060 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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July 17, 2010
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.
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.
February 10, 2016
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 "mystery" element is just really badly done. lori sees something suspicious and immediately jumps to the most obvious conclusion, pursues said conclusion with tenacity but without actual investigation and is chagrined when the culprit turns out to be, rather than the obvious red herring, the other obvious character. d-u-m-b. and that ghostly voice of aunt dimity assisting? not especially helpful. the entire time she "spoke" i kept hearing the voice of the ship in futurama, in that episode where she falls in love with bender ... overall, it just seems like the most superficial and inept mystery i've read in a while. and yet, i am not completely dismissing it because a) i was compelled to finish it, despite all the obvious angles b) the set-up and premise is so promising c) the town meetings and such reminded me why cozies can sometimes be fun and/or "the gilmore girls" and d) seriously, that's some pretty cover art.
December 10, 2020
Disappointingly, no dragons were harmed throughout the book.
mutters to self, clickbait.
As always, staring perfect Lori with her adorably well-behaved twins and her handsome, rich husband. This time, the "twist" is that she's not going to over-imagine a crazy adventure for her to investigate. I'm sure you know where this is going.
Opposed to the somewhat fun investigations that we are normally subject to, this time we are forced to read as Lori's imagination runs away, followed by her trying to ground herself in reality. There's (as always) a mysterious hot stranger who may or may not be the bad guy and so many misunderstandings (on Lori's behalf) that the novel just drags.
The first few were fun and unique but now these novels have become too samey...too cookie cuttery. Plus, Lori is such a perfect Mary Sue that I cannot stand another book of her.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
mutters to self, clickbait.
As always, staring perfect Lori with her adorably well-behaved twins and her handsome, rich husband. This time, the "twist" is that she's not going to over-imagine a crazy adventure for her to investigate. I'm sure you know where this is going.
Opposed to the somewhat fun investigations that we are normally subject to, this time we are forced to read as Lori's imagination runs away, followed by her trying to ground herself in reality. There's (as always) a mysterious hot stranger who may or may not be the bad guy and so many misunderstandings (on Lori's behalf) that the novel just drags.
The first few were fun and unique but now these novels have become too samey...too cookie cuttery. Plus, Lori is such a perfect Mary Sue that I cannot stand another book of her.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
February 26, 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 remarks? This lively bunch is entertaining from beginning to end.
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 remarks? This lively bunch is entertaining from beginning to end.
September 26, 2023
Summer is approaching and Peggy Taxman is gearing up to dictate the usual slate of activities in Finch when King Wilfred's Faire, an American style Renaissance Faire, arrives in the village. The residents of Finch are excited and eager for something new. Even Peggy comes around when she's reminded of the extra revenue tourists will bring to her Emporium. Lori can't wait to don her new costume and immerse herself in a romanticized, fantasy version of the Renaissance. The twins are eager to participate with their ponies and even Bill is excited to attend but NOT in costume, thank you. Unfortunately, the Faire doesn't quite go as planned. When Lori witnesses "accidents" occurring around good King Wilfred and a love triangle between a handyman, a madrigal singer and the king, she's worried someone is out to commit regicide! Leaving the twins in Bill's capable hands, Lori sets out to snoop around and learn the scoop. The faire is just like Finch, a village with gossips. How hard can it be to find evidence of wrongdoing? Can Lori save the king?
Previously I have enjoyed the stories set in Finch the most but this time I just didn't love the story. I guess the Ren Faire setting didn't really do anything for me. Aunt Dimity's participation is minimal and mostly recap and pointing out Lori's character flaws. I did appreciate how the author had a plausible explanation for the American style Ren Faire which is decidedly UN-English. They do love their historical reenactments but they like to stick to the books while Americans are more into fantasy cosplay. Reading about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the faire does not make me want to join my family at the real life Ren Faire this weekend! Some of the content in the story is not fit for young ears. Fortunately Will and Rob don't understand what they're hearing! I also really liked the message at the end of the book. It's a good one and an important lesson.
Lori has matured a bit. She understands she tends to jump to conclusions and after the embarrassment of the vampire incident, she's determined not to let her imagination run away with her. Therefore, I assume she's barking up the wrong tree with her worries! She's less of a helicopter mother but still worries about everything but then forgets about her boys in pursuit of her goal. I wonder how she will cope without a nanny? Her adventures will have to be limited to school hours or when Bill is home! Good thing Lori has Aunt Dimity to talk to. Aunt Dimity's good sense will keep Lori from doing anything too crazy. It was a lot of fun to see Bill in the story. Who knew he was sexy? I really liked his character story arc in this one. It was different and fun. Still, I think Lori doesn't appreciate Bill enough and she doesn't seem to know him very well. She underestimates him all the time. Hopefully he'll be home more often so they can work on their relationship!
Will and Rob, now 6, are still horse mad. They're off-the-wall excited about working as pages in the faire. They will ride their ponies in the King's procession and help the knights during the jousting tournament. The twins get to be a part of the crew, with Bill along for the fun, and participate in all the activities even after hours. Even Emma is charmed by the magic of the faire and becomes a part of it too. Lilian Bunting knows the history of the real Renaissance and is eager to compare the faux Renaissance, complete with costume! I feel sorry for Sally Pyne who has to make everyone else's costume or help them learn to sew. She doesn't have time for her own costume and she's the one who would really have fun with it. Peggy Taxman is still a bully but she's the one who has made Finch what it is and the predictability of the usual activities would be missed if she didn't do it. I think the neighbors would miss the social interaction. Any chance to gossip is a good one! I wouldn't put it past Peggy to try to sabotage the Faire though, especially after the first day. Yet the sabotage seems to happen before the Faire opens so it can't be Peggy. What about Jasper though? Once he realized Peggy was leaving him alone in the Emporium, maybe he realized the extra income wasn't worth the extra work? Maybe Peggy ordered him to sabotage the Faire?
Mr. Horace Malvern is a local farmer and neighbor who owns the field where the Ren Faire will be held. His nephew, Calvin Malvern, is the one responsible for the Faire. Calvin has been written off as an idle dreamer without any common sense but he made his way to America, worked in Ren faires all over the States and had the vision to bring the fun to Britain. He's bankrolling and producing the whole affair. I think it's a good idea and he has more business sense than everyone thinks he does. Calvin is a nice guy but maybe he does have his head in the clouds too much. Perhaps, too, the success of the Faire and his role as King has gone to his head and he's abusing his privilege taking advantage of his performers, especially the women? I really like Calvin and I don't think he's such a bad guy. If women choose to throw themselves at him and ignore all common sense, I don't see how he is too blame. In his role as King Wilfred he has to be charming to everyone. It's all an act. I CAN see Calvin blurring the lines between reality and fantasy though and forgetting who he really is in the process.
His uncle doesn't seem to be very keen on this faire idea and while Mr. Malvern claims he has a soft spot for his nephew, I wonder if that extends to the faire? Perhaps Mr. Malvern has had enough disruption to his cows and the quiet village life. Perhaps he's trying to ruin the faire so Calvin will move in with him and settle down for a change.
Rowan Grove, aka Jinks the Jester is Lori's new male friend/flirt. He's funny, charming and silly. Jinks doesn't seem to take anything seriously. Lori thinks she can make use of her new friend to gather information about the inner workings of the faire. Jinks seems to dismiss her concerns so maybe she is imagining things. Jinks is a little too friendly and I'm not sure Bill would be so comfortable with Lori going on a picnic alone with Jinks! His story arc was quite surprising and handled sensitively. The king has a faithful steward, Lord Belvedere, who is always on hand to help when mishaps happen. I'm not sure he's totally trustworthy though. Maybe he's created problems to make himself more important? Or it could be Sir James. Sir James is also on hand to rescue the king when accidents happen. Could there be a rivalry for the crown? Maybe they just want to scare King Wilfred and not kill him? There are two knights dueling for the jousting championship. Will and Rob serve as pages to the white knight, Sir Peregrine the Pure. He doesn't have much of a personality, just the white knight popular with the noble ladies. His rival, Sir Jacques de Poitiers, the Dragon Knight, is more popular with the wenches who cheer him on to cheat to win! He is what you would expect. Brusque, rude, arrogant, popular with women who don't meet the standards of behavior for Finch and a disgusting turd.
Little Mirabel, the madrigal singer, is young. She's only 20 and her brain hasn't fully developed common sense yet. Of course she's caught up in the romantic atmosphere of the fair and crushing hard on a bad boy. Lori understands how Mirabel hasn't yet learned that the quiet, steady men are the most faithful. Lori knows Mirabel has to learn that lesson the hard way but it's hard for her to watch. I think Mirabel will learn her lesson sooner than later. However, Edmond Deland, a handyman at the fair, doesn't see it that way. He's in love with Mirabel and can't seem to accept his love is unrequited. He's not feeling the spirit of the faire, preferring to wear jeans and a tie-dye t-shirt. Why is he there? Is he stalking Mirabel? Creepy! He may not be as innocent as he appears and Lori suspects Edmond is trying to bump off his rival! Like that is going to win Mirabel's affection! Good grief! His actions later in the book won't endear her to him either. She should ditch all men to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Having fun performing at the Ren Faire is a good summer job for now.
There are some new villagers in Finch! Crabtree Cottage is now occupied by Grant Tavistock and Charles Bellingham, a friendly pair of art appraisers who don't know yet what they're in for when Peggy Taxman is involved! They and some of the other villagers are hosting some of the faire performers. The mime is staying with Grant and Charles and no one knows what this man is thinking or doing because he stays in character the whole time! Sally Pyne is hosting the wizard, an eccentric older man who enjoys performing yoga in his underwear on the village green. Now he sounds charming and I want him to stay LOL! Why are these people staying in the village when the performers are supposed to stay in the caravan campground? While their hosts don't seem to find that suspicious, I do.
I was happy to revisit Finch and the locals but I want more of them next time!
Content:
crude language
"free love" mentioned
minor violence
Trigger warning:
Previously I have enjoyed the stories set in Finch the most but this time I just didn't love the story. I guess the Ren Faire setting didn't really do anything for me. Aunt Dimity's participation is minimal and mostly recap and pointing out Lori's character flaws. I did appreciate how the author had a plausible explanation for the American style Ren Faire which is decidedly UN-English. They do love their historical reenactments but they like to stick to the books while Americans are more into fantasy cosplay. Reading about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the faire does not make me want to join my family at the real life Ren Faire this weekend! Some of the content in the story is not fit for young ears. Fortunately Will and Rob don't understand what they're hearing! I also really liked the message at the end of the book. It's a good one and an important lesson.
Lori has matured a bit. She understands she tends to jump to conclusions and after the embarrassment of the vampire incident, she's determined not to let her imagination run away with her. Therefore, I assume she's barking up the wrong tree with her worries! She's less of a helicopter mother but still worries about everything but then forgets about her boys in pursuit of her goal. I wonder how she will cope without a nanny? Her adventures will have to be limited to school hours or when Bill is home! Good thing Lori has Aunt Dimity to talk to. Aunt Dimity's good sense will keep Lori from doing anything too crazy. It was a lot of fun to see Bill in the story. Who knew he was sexy? I really liked his character story arc in this one. It was different and fun. Still, I think Lori doesn't appreciate Bill enough and she doesn't seem to know him very well. She underestimates him all the time. Hopefully he'll be home more often so they can work on their relationship!
Will and Rob, now 6, are still horse mad. They're off-the-wall excited about working as pages in the faire. They will ride their ponies in the King's procession and help the knights during the jousting tournament. The twins get to be a part of the crew, with Bill along for the fun, and participate in all the activities even after hours. Even Emma is charmed by the magic of the faire and becomes a part of it too. Lilian Bunting knows the history of the real Renaissance and is eager to compare the faux Renaissance, complete with costume! I feel sorry for Sally Pyne who has to make everyone else's costume or help them learn to sew. She doesn't have time for her own costume and she's the one who would really have fun with it. Peggy Taxman is still a bully but she's the one who has made Finch what it is and the predictability of the usual activities would be missed if she didn't do it. I think the neighbors would miss the social interaction. Any chance to gossip is a good one! I wouldn't put it past Peggy to try to sabotage the Faire though, especially after the first day. Yet the sabotage seems to happen before the Faire opens so it can't be Peggy. What about Jasper though? Once he realized Peggy was leaving him alone in the Emporium, maybe he realized the extra income wasn't worth the extra work? Maybe Peggy ordered him to sabotage the Faire?
Mr. Horace Malvern is a local farmer and neighbor who owns the field where the Ren Faire will be held. His nephew, Calvin Malvern, is the one responsible for the Faire. Calvin has been written off as an idle dreamer without any common sense but he made his way to America, worked in Ren faires all over the States and had the vision to bring the fun to Britain. He's bankrolling and producing the whole affair. I think it's a good idea and he has more business sense than everyone thinks he does. Calvin is a nice guy but maybe he does have his head in the clouds too much. Perhaps, too, the success of the Faire and his role as King has gone to his head and he's abusing his privilege taking advantage of his performers, especially the women? I really like Calvin and I don't think he's such a bad guy. If women choose to throw themselves at him and ignore all common sense, I don't see how he is too blame. In his role as King Wilfred he has to be charming to everyone. It's all an act. I CAN see Calvin blurring the lines between reality and fantasy though and forgetting who he really is in the process.
His uncle doesn't seem to be very keen on this faire idea and while Mr. Malvern claims he has a soft spot for his nephew, I wonder if that extends to the faire? Perhaps Mr. Malvern has had enough disruption to his cows and the quiet village life. Perhaps he's trying to ruin the faire so Calvin will move in with him and settle down for a change.
Rowan Grove, aka Jinks the Jester is Lori's new male friend/flirt. He's funny, charming and silly. Jinks doesn't seem to take anything seriously. Lori thinks she can make use of her new friend to gather information about the inner workings of the faire. Jinks seems to dismiss her concerns so maybe she is imagining things. Jinks is a little too friendly and I'm not sure Bill would be so comfortable with Lori going on a picnic alone with Jinks! His story arc was quite surprising and handled sensitively. The king has a faithful steward, Lord Belvedere, who is always on hand to help when mishaps happen. I'm not sure he's totally trustworthy though. Maybe he's created problems to make himself more important? Or it could be Sir James. Sir James is also on hand to rescue the king when accidents happen. Could there be a rivalry for the crown? Maybe they just want to scare King Wilfred and not kill him? There are two knights dueling for the jousting championship. Will and Rob serve as pages to the white knight, Sir Peregrine the Pure. He doesn't have much of a personality, just the white knight popular with the noble ladies. His rival, Sir Jacques de Poitiers, the Dragon Knight, is more popular with the wenches who cheer him on to cheat to win! He is what you would expect. Brusque, rude, arrogant, popular with women who don't meet the standards of behavior for Finch and a disgusting turd.
Little Mirabel, the madrigal singer, is young. She's only 20 and her brain hasn't fully developed common sense yet. Of course she's caught up in the romantic atmosphere of the fair and crushing hard on a bad boy. Lori understands how Mirabel hasn't yet learned that the quiet, steady men are the most faithful. Lori knows Mirabel has to learn that lesson the hard way but it's hard for her to watch. I think Mirabel will learn her lesson sooner than later. However, Edmond Deland, a handyman at the fair, doesn't see it that way. He's in love with Mirabel and can't seem to accept his love is unrequited. He's not feeling the spirit of the faire, preferring to wear jeans and a tie-dye t-shirt. Why is he there? Is he stalking Mirabel? Creepy! He may not be as innocent as he appears and Lori suspects Edmond is trying to bump off his rival! Like that is going to win Mirabel's affection! Good grief! His actions later in the book won't endear her to him either. She should ditch all men to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Having fun performing at the Ren Faire is a good summer job for now.
There are some new villagers in Finch! Crabtree Cottage is now occupied by Grant Tavistock and Charles Bellingham, a friendly pair of art appraisers who don't know yet what they're in for when Peggy Taxman is involved! They and some of the other villagers are hosting some of the faire performers. The mime is staying with Grant and Charles and no one knows what this man is thinking or doing because he stays in character the whole time! Sally Pyne is hosting the wizard, an eccentric older man who enjoys performing yoga in his underwear on the village green. Now he sounds charming and I want him to stay LOL! Why are these people staying in the village when the performers are supposed to stay in the caravan campground? While their hosts don't seem to find that suspicious, I do.
I was happy to revisit Finch and the locals but I want more of them next time!
Content:
crude language
"free love" mentioned
minor violence
Trigger warning:
May 19, 2011
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 Bill try to pick between a Range Rover and a Mercedes. Bill reminds us several times that he attended a fancy prep school. Lori wears a green sundress with sandals. Her supply of adverbs is inexhaustible. Every night, Lori lights a fire in the fireplace and communes with the dead--at first I thought this was a metaphor. In asides, we are assured that Lori cooks and cleans and that Bill usually works out-of-town, which I hardly buy, because anytime someone needs to pick up the twins or cook a roast, it's poor, beleaguered Bill. This affords Lori plenty of time to run amok in town, "solving mysteries," OK.
- What mystery?
- How many times can you reference vampires in a single, not-vampire-related novel, really?
- And "quaffing"? Are we really so in love with the word "quaffing"?
- Whenever a character cracks wise, all the characters spend several more sentences chuckling over the joke one of them just made.
- Most of the plot is Lori repeating the book's plot to any hostage who will listen to her repeat everything the reader just read.
- But, but! Lori never gets to wear a wimple!
I can understand the wish-fulfillment thing--like Anne of Green Gables, but for adults!--and I can appreciate wanting to spend a little while in a world where money isn't a problem, where hubby is perfect, and even heroic, and where all the cars are paid for by an anonymous Pet Dead Person benefactor. Which is why I will probably try a different Aunt Dimity book: I'm weak.
- 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 Bill try to pick between a Range Rover and a Mercedes. Bill reminds us several times that he attended a fancy prep school. Lori wears a green sundress with sandals. Her supply of adverbs is inexhaustible. Every night, Lori lights a fire in the fireplace and communes with the dead--at first I thought this was a metaphor. In asides, we are assured that Lori cooks and cleans and that Bill usually works out-of-town, which I hardly buy, because anytime someone needs to pick up the twins or cook a roast, it's poor, beleaguered Bill. This affords Lori plenty of time to run amok in town, "solving mysteries," OK.
- What mystery?
- How many times can you reference vampires in a single, not-vampire-related novel, really?
- And "quaffing"? Are we really so in love with the word "quaffing"?
- Whenever a character cracks wise, all the characters spend several more sentences chuckling over the joke one of them just made.
- Most of the plot is Lori repeating the book's plot to any hostage who will listen to her repeat everything the reader just read.
- But, but! Lori never gets to wear a wimple!
I can understand the wish-fulfillment thing--like Anne of Green Gables, but for adults!--and I can appreciate wanting to spend a little while in a world where money isn't a problem, where hubby is perfect, and even heroic, and where all the cars are paid for by an anonymous Pet Dead Person benefactor. Which is why I will probably try a different Aunt Dimity book: I'm weak.
September 16, 2013
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.
January 20, 2012
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."
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."
March 19, 2009
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 fantazise about. It was getting old, But Like I said, I liked the first few books in the series and this one.
August 19, 2017
.
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. This one lacked a little entertainment, compared to the previous books in the series.
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. This one lacked a little entertainment, compared to the previous books in the series.
It is appreciated that each book is able to stand on its own and usually concludes with an HEA.
September 21, 2009
I just love the Aunt Dimity books. They're the kind of mysteries you read without getting all stressed out.
March 12, 2009
Does anyone else ever find Lori really annoying?
December 23, 2024
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 Aunt Dimity, at least not as much as I enjoy. I had the feeling Atherton enjoyed all she learned about Ren Fairs, that she couldn't leave out all the "facts" so sometimes it lacked the "story-telling" atmosphere I enjoy. And this is a teeny quibble--Anneliese's wedding has been and gone and we didn't get much of it (Nancy--please don't cheat me of Kit & Nell's nuptials!!!!!)
The plus: A lot more Bill! I really liked him in the first book, but since then he's often on the periphery, dashing off to a legal crisis or the guy reining in Lori's imagination...this time, Bill was very much part of the story and I appreciated that a lot! So all in all, a fun read...will be back to visit again!
The drawbacks: not a lot of Aunt Dimity, at least not as much as I enjoy. I had the feeling Atherton enjoyed all she learned about Ren Fairs, that she couldn't leave out all the "facts" so sometimes it lacked the "story-telling" atmosphere I enjoy. And this is a teeny quibble--Anneliese's wedding has been and gone and we didn't get much of it (Nancy--please don't cheat me of Kit & Nell's nuptials!!!!!)
The plus: A lot more Bill! I really liked him in the first book, but since then he's often on the periphery, dashing off to a legal crisis or the guy reining in Lori's imagination...this time, Bill was very much part of the story and I appreciated that a lot! So all in all, a fun read...will be back to visit again!
June 3, 2015
I do enjoy Ms. Atherton’s imagination and creativity; she’s never at a loss for new situations to put her characters in. This chapter of the Aunt Dimity series follows the usual pattern – except our heroine wasn’t ever in any real danger and wasn’t rescued. There were a couple of new things this time around – our heroine’s husband is more involved in the story and there’s a new couple in the village – and they’re gay. A very non-event – which was nice. For some reason, I figured out the culprit early one – however, I did enjoy finding out how everything wrapped up in the end.
May 30, 2016
The American Ren Fest comes to the English village of Finch in this latest Aunt Dimity installment, which doesn't disappoint.
I love this passage (name omitted to avoid even a semblance of spoiling):
Unlike most people, [Name] is at peace with himself. When his dream proved to be more than he could handle, he didn't become discouraged. He simply recognized his limitations and decided to live happily within them. I have no doubt that he'll make an exemplary caterpillar. Butterfly wings can be awfully hard to manage.
I love this passage (name omitted to avoid even a semblance of spoiling):
Unlike most people, [Name] is at peace with himself. When his dream proved to be more than he could handle, he didn't become discouraged. He simply recognized his limitations and decided to live happily within them. I have no doubt that he'll make an exemplary caterpillar. Butterfly wings can be awfully hard to manage.
September 18, 2018
I hadn't read any of this series before and I did rather know what I would get from the "paranormal detective" logo on the cover, but self erasing diary entries from a deceased former resident? Never mind, the story would have worked without the blue leather journal and the pink stuffed rabbit.
The story centers around an English village where a native son has returned to stage a Renaissance Faire complete with pseudo medieval entertainers and vendors, a daily joust, and ruling over it all that merry monarch Good King Wilfred.
Somehow there are always accidents happening around King Wilfred: the parapet over the entrance gate collapses, almost throwing the king onto the pavement below and the rope holding the quintain's counterweight breaks, throwing the sandbag onto the royal viewing gallery. The incidents mount up and Lori (our heroine) is sure that there is a revenge plot going on to kill the "king" or at least to force him to give up the leading role in the fair.
The story is fun, but I really wish MS Atherton had looked up the word wimple before she started writing, since the real thing certainly doesn't involve wispy silk floating from conical head gear but could be seen on any portrait of a Roman Catholic nun up to the 1950s.
I enjoyed the boys and their ponies and the sensible information about the costs involved in mounting events like this fair, as well as the number of regulations with which you have to comply. It was a light hearted story and fun for a quiet day.
The story centers around an English village where a native son has returned to stage a Renaissance Faire complete with pseudo medieval entertainers and vendors, a daily joust, and ruling over it all that merry monarch Good King Wilfred.
Somehow there are always accidents happening around King Wilfred: the parapet over the entrance gate collapses, almost throwing the king onto the pavement below and the rope holding the quintain's counterweight breaks, throwing the sandbag onto the royal viewing gallery. The incidents mount up and Lori (our heroine) is sure that there is a revenge plot going on to kill the "king" or at least to force him to give up the leading role in the fair.
The story is fun, but I really wish MS Atherton had looked up the word wimple before she started writing, since the real thing certainly doesn't involve wispy silk floating from conical head gear but could be seen on any portrait of a Roman Catholic nun up to the 1950s.
I enjoyed the boys and their ponies and the sensible information about the costs involved in mounting events like this fair, as well as the number of regulations with which you have to comply. It was a light hearted story and fun for a quiet day.
October 20, 2023
Fun and kind, as usual for this series. Lori is sure that one of the lowest people in the renaissance fair is the baddie trying to kill off the king of the fair. Is she right? Read and find out! Both Aunt Dimity and Bill play a bigger role in this book, to my pleasure, as do the 6 year old twins. I really enjoy this lovely series!
September 4, 2021
This installation of the Aunt Dimity series brings a tale of knights and jousts and maidens and all things medieval. In the midst of the festivities Lori decides that someone is trying their best to kill the "king" and make it look like an accident. Has her imagination run wild again, or is it imperative that a saboteur be identified and stopped before he or she succeeds? Another fun and crazy tale of the adventures of Lori Shepherd and her wild imagination and impulsive nature.
July 21, 2017
As always, a highly enjoyable treat.
October 29, 2021
A Renaissance fair comes to Finch! This time, the mystery revolves around what appears to be repeated attempts at murder of Good King Wilfred of the fair. Number 14 in the Aunt Dimity series finds Lori Shepard doing her usual sleuthing with the help of Aunt Dimity, her mother's deceased best friend, who communicates to Lori via a blue journal.
Most of the action is in the here and now, the only paranormal activity being the conversations between Lori and Dimity. What's not to like?
Most of the action is in the here and now, the only paranormal activity being the conversations between Lori and Dimity. What's not to like?
August 8, 2015
I grabbed this because I like a good (or, for that matter, bad) cozy on a lazy rainy day, and since I was going to spend a week at a medieval re-enactment, a "cozier than thou cozy" about a renaissance fest seemed like the perfect thing to bring for a rained-out afternoon.
And that is when I read it! I liked it okay - the portrayal of the re-enactors was much better than I was expecting, the scene-setting was fun, the mystery plot didn't drag too badly - but then I got to the bit where the protagonist is sexually assaulted, and I had to put the book down and go out into the rain for a bit.
It's not even that it's badly done - her reaction, and the town's, is believable, especially the way she has an emotional breakdown, assumes it's due to being "childishly emotional" rather than "having just had to physically defend myself from sexual assault", and then decides to spend the next week worrying about her husband's reaction to the assault rather than her own, decides it was all because she wore a low-cut top, and agrees with everyone else in town that the apparently serial rapist is just a bit of a merry womanizer.
Like I said, totally 100% believable, but not at ALL what I find "cozy". (I was also less than comforted by the fact that she blames herself for the actual bad guy [not the rapist]'s mental breakdown, because she didn't realize he was flirting with her and therefore it was clearly all her fault he thought he was a failure and decided to attempt murder??)
It's kind of depressing when a book that is clearly about a woman, by a woman, and for women doesn't seem to have actually made up its mind on the question of whether women are people.
The cover's great, though. I agree with the other reviewers on that.
And that is when I read it! I liked it okay - the portrayal of the re-enactors was much better than I was expecting, the scene-setting was fun, the mystery plot didn't drag too badly - but then I got to the bit where the protagonist is sexually assaulted, and I had to put the book down and go out into the rain for a bit.
It's not even that it's badly done - her reaction, and the town's, is believable, especially the way she has an emotional breakdown, assumes it's due to being "childishly emotional" rather than "having just had to physically defend myself from sexual assault", and then decides to spend the next week worrying about her husband's reaction to the assault rather than her own, decides it was all because she wore a low-cut top, and agrees with everyone else in town that the apparently serial rapist is just a bit of a merry womanizer.
Like I said, totally 100% believable, but not at ALL what I find "cozy". (I was also less than comforted by the fact that she blames herself for the actual bad guy [not the rapist]'s mental breakdown, because she didn't realize he was flirting with her and therefore it was clearly all her fault he thought he was a failure and decided to attempt murder??)
It's kind of depressing when a book that is clearly about a woman, by a woman, and for women doesn't seem to have actually made up its mind on the question of whether women are people.
The cover's great, though. I agree with the other reviewers on that.
March 30, 2023
Yet another re-read - probably for the fourth or fifth time. The Aunt Dimity books are eminently re-readable. Lori is jumping to conclusions again - one of her more tiresome attributes. But the story takes place during a Renaissance Faire being held near Finch, and the descriptions are great. 'King' Wilfred is the fair's manager with a host of entertainers. When a group of out-of-towners trashes the town after quaffing too much at the fair, Wilfred sends his minions to clean up, thus earning the townspeople's gratitude, and changing their attitudes toward the fair. Lori and Bill finally don their costumes, and the twins are riding their ponies in the parade and acting as page boys. A couple of suspicious accidents occur, and Lori becomes convinced that someone is trying to kill King Wilfred, but as usual she aims her suspicions at all the wrong people, and nearly gets in trouble herself. Eventually, of course, all ends reasonably happily, with Aunt Dimity's help.
Sept 2020 - reading yet again....
March2023 - another reread
Sept 2020 - reading yet again....
March2023 - another reread
January 26, 2014
I enjoy the little romance in these books and the Renaissance Fair theme was terrific and well described. It made you want to go to one. Bill is the surprise here. I really enjoyed the scene where Lori doesn't recognize her own husband because she is checking out everything but his face. Wow! Rob and Will are here but not so much in evidence. Ms. Atherton has a knack for creating characters that the reader loves to like. Peggy Taxman even comes out well. My heart sank at the culmination of the plot, and I was very happy that Calvin was the man he was. Everyone ends up happy, which is the way I like it. Great book!
August 1, 2010
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
June 16, 2023
Nice light read for a long flight. I grew up near the nation's second largest Ren faire (the one hinted at in the book) and I must say, I sympathize more with the villagers of Finch than the players, because Ren faires are hell on local traffic, for weeks. I enjoyed Bill and the boys being more involved in this one, but I wish Atherton would free Lori from the tropes she keeps mentioning even when not returning to them.
June 22, 2010
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.
June 29, 2012
well I never thought that I would ever give just 1 star to an Aunt Dimity book, but this one really disapointed me. It felt as if the auther had a writers block or simply got tired of her own characters and only wrote to meet a puplisher's deadline. If I would not have already purchased the next two in line, this one , for me, would have marked the end of a once beloved series
April 23, 2017
These are getting better and better. I liked the addition of the Ren faire as it added a whole new group of people to get into trouble in Finch. Enjoyable and entertaining.
December 8, 2017
Got about 50% through and virtually nothing had happened plot-wise. Bummer!
January 22, 2023
A nice visit with my favorite Cotswold village. I finally found out when Charles and Grant moved in to the neighborhood.
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