Nancy Atherton is the author of the cozy mystery series Aunt Dimity. The series is set in the English village of Finch in the Cotswolds. It features a cast of eccentric characters. Lori is miserable with her life until she receives a letter from a prestigious law firm. Willis and Willis inform her that her Aunt Dimity has passed away. To receive an inheritance, Lori learns that she must complete a task at Dimity’s country cottage. The adventures begin when Lori and her stuffed rabbit discover a journal left by Aunt Dimity. This endearing series demonstrates that not all mysteries are about murders.
The series currently consists of 24 books. It is better to read the books in order as there are frequent references to events from earlier books.
Aunt Dimity’s Death, unlike other traditional mysteries, includes a supernatural element. Aunt Dimity’s spirit manifests itself in Lori’s journal while she is at the cottage. Lori soon discovered that there is a deeper secret that involves her interest. She makes her way through England with Bill in search of answers, meeting intriguing characters connected to Dimity’s past. Lori’s journey to discover Dimity’s mystery is the focus of the novel. The focus is also set on a growing relationship, somber spirits, and detailed World War II knowledge.
Nancy Atherton devotes the majority of her time to portraying the settings in her novel. She goes into great detail about the English countryside.
Aunt Dimity Books in order
- Aunt Dimity’s Death (1993)
- Aunt Dimity and the Duke (1995)
- Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed (1998)
- Aunt Dimity Digs In (1999)
- Aunt Dimity’s Christmas (2000)
- Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil (2001)
- Aunt Dimity: Detective (2003)
- Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday (2004)
- Aunt Dimity: Snowbound (2004)
- Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin (2006)
- Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea (2007)
- Aunt Dimity Goes West (2008)
- Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter (2008)
- Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (2009)
- Aunt Dimity Down Under (2010)
- Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree (2011)
- Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (2012)
- Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince (2013)
- Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well (2014)
- Aunt Dimity and the Summer King (2015)
- Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure (2016)
- Aunt Dimity and the Widow’s Curse (2017)
- Aunt Dimity and The King’s Ransom (2018)
- Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold (2019)
- Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage (2022)
Similar authors
- Julie Hyzy’s A White House Chef Mystery series follows White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras. She is hell-bent on getting her dream job.
- Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow is a mystery series. Meg Langslow is a successful decorative blacksmith and an exceptional amateur sleuth. The series is set in Yorktown, Virginia.
- Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who… series follows Qwilleran and his partner, Koko the Siamese cat. They are in their element sniffing out clues and surprising criminals. See The Cat Who… Books in Order.
See also: Miranda James Books in Order.
Most recommended books of the series
- Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold (4.10 Goodreads score)
- Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (4.08 Goodreads score)
- Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin (4.08 Goodreads score)
- Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea (4.04 Goodreads score)
- Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure (4.04 Goodreads score)
Upcoming releases in the series
A brand-new Aunt Dimity book will be published on May 3rd, 2022. The name of the new installment will be Aunt Dimity and the enchanted cottage. Here, the people of Finch attempt to solve the riddle of a mysterious new neighbor.
Awards
Aunt Dimity and the Duke (1994) was nominated for the Dilys Award by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Aunt Dimity’s Death (1992) was voted “One of the Century’s 100 Favorite Mysteries” by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
Book summaries
Aunt Dimity’s Death (1993)
Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a bedtime story… …Until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman’s will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she’s about to inherit a sizeable estate – if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity’s English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery–and a ghost story–in an improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity’s indomitable spirit leads Lori on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can conquer all.
Aunt Dimity and the Duke (1995)
Emma Porter is forty, fat, frumpy, and a passionate amateur gardener. When her longtime lover dumps her for a younger woman, Emma escapes the cloying sympathy of family and friends by setting out on a summer-long driving tour of England’s glorious gardens. A Dimity-contrived coincidence brings her to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion in Cornwall, where she finds a duke in search of a missing lantern with extraordinary powers. Suspecting there’s more than one mystery to be solved at Penford Hall, Emma accepts the duke’s invitation to stay on and restore the once glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. The dark rumors surrounding a rock star and the near-death of the duke’s beautiful cousin confirm Emma’s suspicions and set her with Aunt Dimity’s ghostly guidance on the path to Penford Hall’s secrets and the pleasure of unexpected love.
Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed (1998)
Nancy Atherton’s growing number of fans will certainly be delighted by Aunt Dimity’s latest appearance in the honey-colored English cottage she bequeathed to her “niece,” Lori Shepherd. Thanks to Aunt Dimity, Lori’s life has taken on fairy-tale proportions: she’s financially set for life and happily married or so she thinks. When Lori’s plans for a second honeymoon to England with her workaholic husband fall through, she begrudgingly takes along her father-in-law who promptly disappears, leaving behind a mysterious note. Inspired and guided by the ghost of Aunt Dimity and her inimitable blue journal, Lori’s search for the elderly gentleman turns into a harrowing mission to uncover a centuries-old family secret complicated by mistaken identities, falsified deeds, family feuds, and Lori’s unseemly attraction to her husband’s beguiling English cousin. In a delightful chase that takes her all over the English countryside, Lori discovers the true meaning of marital bliss, and Nancy Atherton’s fans, new and old, will savor a masterpiece of old-fashioned fun.
Aunt Dimity Digs In (1999)
The latest in this enchanting and fast-selling series, featuring the beloved ghost Aunt Dimity, opens in a picturesque English cottage where the lovable Lori Shepherd is up to her elbows in pureed carrots and formula bottles, striving to be the perfect mother to twins! Luckily, a beautiful Italian nanny arrives just in time–so Lori can help settle the local civil war stirred up by a visiting archaeologist’s excavation. With Reginald, the stuffed pink rabbit, and Edmond Terrance, the stuffed tiger in tow, Lori hunts down a missing document, and the archaeologist digs up a lot more than artifacts. It is Aunt Dimity’s magic blue notebook that provides the key to buried secrets and domestic malice and shows all the residents of Finch that even the darkest acts can be overcome by forgiveness.
Aunt Dimity’s Christmas (2000)
Lori can hardly wait for Christmas this year: lean times are over, the cottage Aunt Dimity willed her is more beautiful than ever, her nine-month-old twins, Will and Rob, are thriving, and she and her husband Bill have never been happier. Determined to make this Christmas the best ever, Lori embarks on a round of shopping, holly-cutting, angel cookie making, and more. When fat snowflakes begin drifting down outside of the window, Lori feels all her holiday wishes are about to come true. But the next day, beneath the lilac bushes now covered by freshly fallen snow, Lori makes a disturbing discovery: the body of a mysterious stranger–a tramp–barely alive. While the nearby village of Finch continues with its seasonal preparations, including rehearsals for the Christmas Eve Nativity play, Lori puts her plans on hold and teams up with Julian Bright–a devilishly attractive Roman Catholic priest–to search out the stranger’s identity. Their journey takes them from abandoned World War II airfields to homeless shelters, places where the Christmas star shines dimly, if at all. As Lori unveils the tragic secret that led the stranger to her door, she confronts painful truths about herself and discovers the real meaning of a perfect family Christmas.
Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil (2001)
With rain crashing down on her Range Rover, as it climbs up a steep embankment on the Northumberland moors, Lori Shepherd is beginning to doubt the wisdom of her decision to evaluate a rare book collection at Wyrdhurst Hall. The grim, neo-gothic hall that greets her upon arrival is full of surprises-including a charming, secretive stranger, and a cache of World War I letters that tell a tale of doomed love and hint at a hidden treasure. It will take all of Dimity’s supernatural skills to help Lori solve the puzzle and restore peace to a family haunted by its tragic past.
Aunt Dimity: Detective (2003)
When Lori Shepherd returns from her trip to America, she is shocked to hear that Prunella “Pruneface” Hooper has been killed. This is the first murder in the village of Finch in more than a century, and everyone is in an uproar. Before the town implodes in the wake of this scandal, Lori sets out to solve the murder. Unfortunately, nearly everyone in Finch had a reason to want Mrs. Hooper dead. With the help of the ghostly Aunt Dimity and Nicholas, the enigmatic (and charming!) self-defense instructor, Lori aligns motive, means, and opportunity to unravel this delightfully tangled and gossip-filled whodunnit.
Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday (2004)
When Lori Shepherd’s husband, Bill, is summoned to the reading of a will at the resplendent country estate of Earl Elstyn, Lori jumps at the chance to come along. She didn’t expect, however, to find herself entangled in a messy—and dangerous—family dispute. The aristocratic earl has called together the entire Elstyn family to disclose the beneficiaries of his fortune, and all present will be affected. But someone has a grudge against the Elstyns and will stop at nothing for revenge. A burning topiary, a suspicious maid, family secrets, and threatening notes lead Lori to seek her phantom Aunt Dimity’s help in identifying the culprit before he or she can torch the whole house—with the guests in it.
Aunt Dimity: Snowbound (2004)
In their latest adventure, a pleasant woodland stroll through the English countryside is rudely cut short by the blizzard of the century, forcing Lori to take shelter in Ladythorne Abbey—an old pile still haunted by the presence of the madwoman whose prison it once was. But the abbey’s greatest secret is the priceless jewel it conceals somewhere within its cloisters—an heirloom that hides a treacherous past that Lori’s fellow guests can’t wait to get their hands on. Only Aunt Dimity’s indispensable wisdom can help Lori unravel a mystery that is considerably thicker than the accumulating snow in this page-turning treat.
Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin (2006)
Feeling a touch of world-weary, Lori Shepherd decides to become a volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, a retired legal secretary. But after only one visit, Miss Beacham passes away, leaving behind no family except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared. Armed with the generous help of a handsome neighbor and, as always, Aunt Dimity’s supernatural skills, Lori begins to unearth Miss Beacham’s secrets–including the surprising truth about her next of kin. Full of delightfully surprising twists and turns, Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin is another page-turning installment in the mystery series that has won the hearts of cozy mystery fans everywhere.
Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea (2007)
Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity novels have enchanted thousands of readers, and this new addition to the series is likely to broaden the spell. A series of death threats send Lori Shepard to a remote island off the Scottish coast and to a fabulous castle restored by an eccentric friend of her husband’s. But she finds herself drawn into an elaborate whodunit that may involve smuggling—or worse. Why has a human skull washed up on the beach? Is a desolate island really the best place to hide from a murderer? As Lori draws once more on Aunt Dimity’s supernatural aid, Atherton whips equal measures of whimsy and suspense into an irresistible confection.
Aunt Dimity Goes West (2008)
Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity series has charmed its way into the hearts of mystery fans everywhere, finding a larger audience with each new book. In Aunt Dimity Goes West, Atherton’s vivid storytelling and knack for bringing a setting to life will have fans lassoed to their chairs. Lori Shepherd, still recovering from her most recent adventure, is taking a vacation with her family in the beautiful mountain town of Bluebird, Colorado. But there’s something amiss at their seemingly perfect vacation home. Is the place cursed or is a sinister human hand shaping its eerie reputation? With Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori sets out to solve a hundred-year-old mystery and discovers that sometimes the strangest places can seem the most like home.
Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter (2008)
Everyone’s favorite paranormal detective is back in Nancy Atherton’s thirteenth Aunt Dimity mystery-but this time Lori’s supernatural confidante may not be the only one who’s not quite dead. Could the cloaked figure Lori’s twins saw in the woods near the family’s English country cottage really have been a vampire? Atherton’s ever-growing legion of fans and all fans of cozy mysteries will find themselves curling up with a nice cup of garlic- er, tea-for the most spine-tingling Aunt Dimity mystery yet.
Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon (2009)
After living in the small English village of Finch for eight years, Lori Shepherd longs for some excitement to spice up her all-too-familiar routine. So when a Renaissance festival complete with wizards, wenches, knights, and jesters sets up in town for the summer, Lori gets her wish and more. She soon discovers a sinister stalker, a jealous saboteur, and an evil assassin behind the scenes of King Wilfred’s Faire, and it’s up to Lori-with Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly guidance-to prevent the medieval revelry from ending in modern-day tragedy.
Aunt Dimity Down Under (2010)
Mystery readers everywhere continue to be won over by Nancy Atherton’s popular cozy series. In the latest installment, Lori Shepherd is bereft when she learns that her beloved neighbors, Ruth and Louise Pym, may be dying. Summoning her to their sick room, the elderly sisters have a favor to ask: Will Lori find their long-lost brother, Aubrey, before death claims them? Despite her misgivings, Lori sets out for distant New Zealand-where Aubrey fled after being cast out of the family in disgrace. With the help of a charming kiwi bird and her otherworldly friend, Aunt Dimity, Lori tries to heal a family broken by deceit.
Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree (2011)
After a dizzying time Down Under, Lori Shepherd returns to Finch and finds that her wealthy father-in-law, William Willis, Sr., has just purchased a splendid ten-acre estate nearby. While William fends off local ladies’ intent on romance, Lori oversees the painstaking restoration of a peculiar painting found during renovations. It’s nothing Lori can’t handle until moving furniture, strange sounds, and the theft of the painting prompt her to call on Aunt Dimity for help uncovering the estate’s shadowy past.
Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (2012)
Now Lori and Aunt Dimity are back on the list—and this time, they’re on a witch-hunt. At first glance, the unassuming Mrs. Amelia Thistle is a disappointment to the villagers of Finch, but Lori Shepherd isn’t fooled by the new arrival’s bland persona. Amelia is a world-famous artist, traveling incognito, and, after unearthing a fragment of a family diary hinting that Mistress Meg, the Mad Witch of Finch, might be one of her ancestors, she’s come to Finch in search of the truth.
Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince (2013)
It’s a cold, dreary February in the sleepy village of Finch and Lori Shepherd has two stir-crazy kids on her hands. So she leaps at the chance to visit Skeaping Manor, a bizarre Jacobean-house-turned-museum. There she meets Daisy Pickering, a sweet, but strange little girl from a poor family who spins a wild tale about the Russian aristocrats who once owned the priceless silver pieces on display. A few days later, Daisy’s shabby pink parka turns up at Lori’s thrift shop—with a silver sleigh figurine in the pocket. Lori tries to track down the Pickering family, only to find that they’ve disappeared without a trace. A delightful whodunit stretching back to the Russian Revolution, Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince will beguile new and longtime fans.
Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well (2014)
When a strapping young Australian named Jack MacBride arrives in Finch to wrap up his late uncle’s affairs, heads turn in the sleepy English village. But when Lori volunteers to help Jack clear out his uncle’s overgrown garden, they discover something even more shocking than a stranger turning up in Finch. After Lori laughingly tosses a coin into the garden’s old well and makes a wish, she is baffled to find that the wish seems to have come true. Word spreads, and the villagers turn out in droves to make wishes of their own. But as they soon learn, one person’s wish is another person’s worst nightmare and the village is thrown into chaos. As more and more wishes come true, Lori resolves to find out what’s really going on. Is handsome Jack somehow tricking his neighbors? Or are they fooling themselves? With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly help, Lori discovers that the truth is even more marvelous than a magical wishing well.
Aunt Dimity and the Summer King (2015)
It’s June, the roses are in bloom, and the small English village of Finch may be in big trouble. Two cottages are for sale, but something—or someone—is driving buyers away. Has a developer targeted Finch? Will property values skyrocket? Will a wave of wealthy weekenders drive out the longtime locals? Lori Shepherd has a lot on her plate—a brand-new baby daughter, her father-in-law’s impending nuptials, and a visit from her dreaded aunts-in-law—but she refuses to stand back and watch while big money destroys her beloved village. Lori suspects that a local real estate agent is illicitly lining her pockets at Finch’s expense, but before she can prove it, she’s sidetracked by a chance encounter with an eccentric inventor. Arthur Hargreaves, dubbed the Summer King by his quirky family, is as warmhearted as the summer sun. In his presence, Lori forgets her troubles—and Finch’s. Lori snaps out of her happy trance when a series of unsettling discoveries shakes her faith in Arthur Hargreaves. She stumbles across a detailed map of Finch in Hillfont Abbey. An ancient feud between Finch and the Hargreaves family comes to light. Arthur appears to be making secret deals with the shady realtor. Is the Summer King as kind as he seems?
Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure (2016)
While exploring the attic in her cottage near the small English village of Finch, Lori Shepherd makes an extraordinary discovery: a gleaming gold and garnet bracelet that had once belonged to Aunt Dimity. When Lori shows the garnet bracelet to Aunt Dimity, it awakens poignant memories of a doomed romance in Aunt Dimity’s youth in London after the War. Regretfully, Aunt Dimity asks Lori to do what she could not: return the bracelet to her unsuccessful suitor—setting Lori off on an adventure through London—and through history—to put a piece of Aunt Dimity’s past to rest. In the meantime, a new family has moved to Finch. The villagers are thrilled because their new neighbors are avid metal detectorists. Metal detectors soon become all the rage in Finch and the villagers unearth a lot of rubbish (some of it quite embarrassing) before one of them stumbles upon a trinket that could hold the key to the origin of Aunt Dimity’s bracelet. Is the bracelet a priceless and protected national treasure? Was Aunt Dimity’s lovesick suitor a common thief? If so, how will Lori break the news to Aunt Dimity? And what will she do with the bracelet? As Lori searches for answers, she discovers an unexpected link between the buried treasure in the village and the treasure buried in Aunt Dimity’s heart.
Aunt Dimity and the Widow’s Curse (2017)
It’s early April in the small English village of Finch. Lori Shepherd’s husband and sons are spending Easter break camping, and Lori is perfectly happy to be left at home with Bess, spared a week of roughing it with a curious toddler. The two attend a village events committee meeting and Lori is astonished when the elderly, soft-spoken widow Mrs. Annabelle Craven stands to make an announcement: she’s decided to hold a quilting bee in the old schoolhouse. At the quilting bee, Lori ends up seated beside Mrs. Craven, delighted at the opportunity to learn more about her neighbor’s life in the village of Old Cowerton. But dear, sweet Mrs. Craven’s stories reveal a startling secret about her first husband’s death. With Aunt Dimity’s advice, Lori sets out to learn the truth about what the residents of Old Cowerton refer to as the “widow’s curse”–and the deeper she digs, the more horrifying the tale becomes, until she discovers the most astounding revelation of all.
Aunt Dimity and The King’s Ransom (2018)
On a dull and dreary October day, Lori Shepherd and her husband Bill set off for the historic town of Rye, on the southeast coast of England, for a quiet weekend together without the kids. Bill must first pay a visit to a reclusive client–but after Lori drops him off, a powerful storm drives her off course and leaves her stranded in an ancient, rambling inn called The King’s Ransom. When Lori is spooked by ghostly noises in the night, Aunt Dimity reminds her rather tartly that not all ghosts intend to harm the living. But the longer Lori is stuck at the inn, the stranger things seem. She learns that the inn was once a hangout for smugglers and that it’s riddled with secret tunnels the smugglers used to reach a network of hidden caves. Then there’s the inn’s cook–a brawny, gruff ex-con–who seems to have a beef with a mysterious French guest. Are the noises Lori hears made by the spirits of long-dead smugglers? Or should she be more worried by the inn’s living inhabitants? Joining forces with her new friend Bishop Wyndham, and guided by Aunt Dimity’s wise counsel, Lori sets out to discover once and for all who–or what–is haunting The King’s Ransom.
Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold (2019)
It’s almost Christmas in the small English village of Finch–and everyone is sick. Though many of the villagers regretfully decline their invitations to Emma Harris’s annual Christmas bash, Lori Shepherd has no intention of missing it. When the winter weather takes a turn for the worse, it’s agreed that none of the guests will leave until morning. There’s general merriment as the Christmas party becomes a pajama party–until a car appears in the winding driveway and promptly slides off the slick pavement and into a ditch. Matilda “Tilly” Trout–a lost and scatterbrained, middle-aged woman–is mercifully unhurt and invited to stay the night. While she catches her breath, Emma asks her other guests if they would like a tour of the Manor–including an odd room that puzzles her. Several guests put forth guesses as to its purpose, but it’s Tilly who correctly identifies the room as a chapel. Placing a palm on one of the ornately-carved panels, Tilly finds a hidden compartment concealing a pile of glittering treasure–including an exquisitely decorated heart made of solid gold. Where did it come from, and why does it look so different from everything else in the chapel? Why didn’t Emma even know about this hidden compartment in her own home until now–and how did Tilly? With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly help and Tilly’s bewildering store of knowledge, Lori and friends set out to unravel the mystery behind the heart of gold. And, against all odds–and Christmas finally comes to Finch!
Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage (2022)
It’s early May in the small English village of Finch and the air is crackling with excitement: a newcomer is about to move into Pussywillows, a riverside cottage with a romantic reputation. Will the cottage’s newest resident prove yet again its enchanting ability to matchmake? But when Crispin Windle arrives, no one knows what to make of him: seemingly a loner, he repels every welcoming gesture and appears altogether uninterested in being a part of the community. Soon, the townspeople have all but dismissed him. Only Lori and Tommy Prescott, a young army veteran who recently moved to Finch, refuse to give up. They orchestrate a chance meeting that leads to a startling discovery: a set of overgrown ruins. They are, Aunt Dimity shares, the remains of a Victorian woolen mill that once brought prosperity to Finch. As the three explore, they stumble upon the unmarked graves of children who died working at the mill. Heartbroken, Lori, Tommy, and Mr. Windle get to work on the seemingly impossible task of identifying the children to give them a proper burial. And as Mr. Windle works tirelessly to name the forgotten children, he slowly begins to open up–giving the romantic cottage a chance to heal his heart as well.
