Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (Aunt Dimity Series #17)

by Nancy Atherton

Overview

Nancy Atherton's seventeenth in the New York Times bestselling series sees the sleepy village of Finch set aflutter by a bewitching mystery from its past. Watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, coming in July 2018 from Viking!

Last year, the otherworldly sleuth's devoted fans secured a place on the New York Times bestseller list for Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143122715
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/26/2013
Series:	Aunt Dimity Series , #17
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	526,111
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nancy Atherton is the bestselling author of twenty-two Aunt Dimity Mysteries. The first book in the series, Aunt Dimity's Death, was voted "One of the Century's 100 Favorite Mysteries" by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Nancy Atherton and the Aunt Dimity series

"Atherton smoothly blends history, village life, and the otherworldly."—Publishers Weekly

"Every scene is superbly crafted to perfection. Even if you have not read all the books in this series, I have not, you can enjoy and immerse yourself in this cozy mystery.” —Open Book Society

"I love the graceful style... the sense of tight-knit community, characters who aren’t afraid to be themselves, and, the unique paranormal element...I only wish I had learned about this series earlier." —Gotta Write Network

"In the realm of the cozy mystery, there are few series that can hold a candle to Atherton's Aunt Dimity series." —everydayebook.com
 
"Atherton is a superb writer who brings a lot of charm and wit to her story." —Suspense Magazine

"Always a charming read, the Aunt Dimity series is just right for when life gets too hectic and you need to slow down a bit." —Deadly Pleasures Magazine

"Let Nancy Atherton and Aunt Dimity remind you of the reason you got hooked on books in the first place. I promise you will be scouring bookstores for more of the series after you give it a taste." —CrimeCritics.com

From the Publisher

At the start of Atherton’s absorbing 17th mystery featuring paranormal detective Lori Shepherd (after 2011’s Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree), Amelia Thistle, believed to be “a mild-mannered, middle-aged widow of independent means,” moves into a cottage in the Cotswolds village of Finch. Amelia is in fact “England’s greatest botanical artist,” Mae Bowen, as Lori soon learns from an art appraiser neighbor who recognizes the woman. Mae, who’s desperately trying to escape her cult following, turns to Lori for help in concealing her true identity—and in redeeming the reputation of an accused witch known as Mistress Meg, who lived in Finch in the 17th century. Lori’s ghostly Aunt Dimity provides support through words that magically appear in a copperplate book. Despite the lack of a murder, cozy fans will enjoy following the far from obvious clues in the effort to exonerate Mistress Meg. 4-city author tour. Agent: Annelise Robey, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

The entire population of an English village comes together to protect the privacy of the newest resident. Ex-pat American Lori Shepherd, her attorney husband and their two horse-crazy sons live on the outskirts of the Cotswold village of Finch. Lori is just one of the many residents casually hanging about to see the arrival of newcomer Amelia Thistle. Two of Lori's artistic friends soon identify Amelia as Mae Bowen, a famous artist who formerly lived in a gated house to escape her rabid fans. Lori breaks village tradition by paying an uninvited visit to Amelia, who's still grieving the loss of her husband and brother. Amelia has come to Finch determined to recover the rest of a missing manuscript her great-grandfather had discovered in which Gamaliel Gowland, the 17th-century rector of Finch's church, describes Margaret Redfearn, presumed to have been a witch. Once Amelia reveals her identity to several people, Lori, the current rector and his wife, and Lori's father-in-law, who's smitten by Amelia, join in the hunt. Not only do they have to decipher the cryptic clues they find in each newly discovered page, but they must also protect Amelia from the fans who have tracked her down. Even Aunt Dimity, a spirit who communicates with Lori by writing in a special book, gets into the act with her usual sage advice. Although there's little mystery in the traditional sense, the hunt for historical artifacts adds spice to one of the most charming adventures of Lori and Aunt Dimity (Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree, 2011, etc.).

Kirkus Reviews