Phantom detective comes along
Written: Jan 19 '06 (Updated Oct 31 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: well-written, great dialogue and description
Cons: mystery not that mysterious; 'twist' rather predictable; too little for Aunt Dimity to do
The Bottom Line: a fine contemporary 'cosy' to curl up with, full of interesting characters and situations; perfect light-reading material for a lazy weekend
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| jc_hall's Full Review: |
After a whirlwind Christmas, Lori Shepherd is both physically and mentally exhausted. A friend convinces her that a solitary hike in the Cotswolds would be just the thing to cure her post-Christmas blahs, so off she goes with a packed lunch, her stuffed rabbit Reginald and Aunt Dimity, all crammed into her backpack.
Um..yes, you got that right. Aunt Dimity comes along as a leather-bound journal, and across its blank pages her script will flow when Lori talks with her. No, this is not the set-up for a paranormal. Lori Shepherd is as down-to-earth as they come. A happily married mother-of-two, she’s an American living in England, and when she’s not doting on her husband or taking care of her twin 4-year-old sons, she’s stumbling onto mysteries that need to be solved. Aunt Dimity, a deceased friend of her mother’s, proffers sage advice via the journal from time to time, a device that, if anything, isn’t made much of in this novel, one of nine from the pen of author Nancy Atherton. The story of Snowbound is more a straightforward, old-fashioned, mystery than anything else, a modern equivalent of a ‘cosy’.
To resume: When the weather takes an unexpected turn, Lori cuts short her hike and seeks shelter at Ladythorne Abbey, where she’s accosted by an unfriendly caretaker brandishing a shotgun, and joined by two other American backpackers who have also been hiking in the vicinity. What are the odds of three Americans being stranded in an out-of-the-way manor house in the Cotswolds in the middle of February? Pretty long, eh? So when Wendy (the backpacker with an attitude) proves to have in her possession a pry-bar and a miner’s torch, Lori gets plenty suspicious.
Lori enlists the help of Jamie McCrae (the backpacker with the luscious looks) to help prove that Wendy is after the Declerke family heirloom, but it turns out that Jamie is as taken with Lori as with how Lori knows her way around the abbey library. Some heavy breathing later (mostly on Lori’s side), she realises that something dodgy is certainly afoot. With some help from Aunt Dimity, who once knew Lady Lucasta, the last heiress of Ladythorne Abbey, Lori uncovers an unhappy story of treachery and betrayal. Lori must wade through the cobwebs of years to uncover the truth of what drove the last heiress to a sad, bitter, and lonely death.
Nancy Atherton has penned a thoroughly modern cosy with very believable characters. Her dialogue jumps off the page and her descriptions are detailed and interesting. My only complaints are as follows: the mystery is not that mysterious, the ‘twist’ near the end is telegraphed, and Aunt Dimity has precious little to do. But this is the only Aunt Dimity story that I’ve read so far, and perhaps there’s more about her in the others. It’s an interesting premise, a phantom detective, and I’m sure the author would have made full use of that hook in the other novels of the series.
Pleasant light reading, would appeal to all who love ‘cosies’.
3 and a half stars rounded up to 4.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jc_hall
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Member: JC Hall
Location: Toronto, Canada
Reviews written: 199
Trusted by: 54 members
About Me:
Going back to Vancouver for Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!!
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