Publisher's Weekly Review
If you're looking for arch, cancel the trip to Chartres. Here's the third in a pointedly cute series featuring the ghost of "Aunt" Dimity, the dead friend of heroine Lori Shepherd's mother. Lori plans a second honeymoon for herself and her overworked husband, lawyer Bill Willis, in the idyllic English cottage Lori inherited from Dimity (Aunt Dimity's Death, 1992). When a case keeps Bill in Boston, Lori heads overseas with her father-in-law, William Willis Sr. He suddenly disappears, taking Lori's pink flannel bunny, Reginald, and leaving an enigmatic note about family business. Further clues come from Dimity's ghost via her leather-bound journal, in which Lori observes Dimity's handwriting materialize on the page. Lori tracks Willis Sr., accompanied by her friend Emma's precocious 12-year-old stepdaughter, Nell, and Nell's teddy bear, Bertie, through the picturesque countryside to London. There she finds the British Willisesincluding sexy Gerald, efficient Lucy and bumbling Arthurwho are at odds, their family law firm in disarray. The plot hangs on an 18th-century feud that divided the family, resulting in murder and theft, and leading to present-day blackmail; the villain is easily identified. At the end of this amusing but silly tale, Bill and pregnant Lori move to England, delighting Aunt Dimity's ghost. Author tour. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Another foray into fantasyland with rare-book expert Lori Shepherd (Aunt Dimity and the Duke, 1994, etc.), the heiress to a charming English cottage and a considerable sum of money who has been married for two years to Bill Willis, a Boston lawyer of aristocratic lineage. All of this has come to Lori through the ghostly good offices of Aunt Dimity, long in her grave but always on hand when needed. Lori and Bill live in the ancestral mansion of Bill's father/law partner William. When Bill's workload keeps him from a planned trip to England with Lori, Willis Sr. takes his place, but he vanishes soon after the pair's arrival at Lori's cottage in Finch, having excused himself in the middle of a chess game with Nell, the precocious daughter of Lori's neighbors Emma and Derek Harris. Willis, Lori suspects, has seized on the trip as a chance to make peace with the English branch of the family, long estranged over some ancient feud. Lori, accompanied by Nell and guided by Aunt Dimity, keeps missing Willis as she follows in his wake, but along the way she meets the younger generation of Willis cousins--Gerald, Arthur, and Lucy--partners in a London law firm recently decimated by the departure of its senior members. Now Gerald has also left, in a cloud of rumors about an ugly, aging mistress and other matters. It's at Gerald's shabby cottage that Lori at last catches up with her father-in-law--and all puzzles, past and present, are resolved. Giddily opaque plotting, a clutch of overmannered characters, and a general aura of sticky sweetness: Fans could adore it; others might like to see the author's graceful writing skills brought a bit more down to earth. (Author tour)
Booklist Review
Mix snippets of fairy tale, ghost story, romance, British cozy, and history lesson. Stitch in the eccentric Willis family, a transatlantic feud, and three stuffed animals, and you have the latest in Atherton's popular Aunt Dimity series. Anglophile Lori Willis watches her lawyer-husband Bill change from starry-eyed newlywed to bona fide workaholic. Lori decides a second honeymoon at her English Cotswold cottage--a legacy from Aunt Dimity--will restore the glow to her marriage. Unfortunately, busy Bill can't get away, so his father, whom Lori adores, volunteers to accompany her. But once they arrive in England, the elder Willis mysteriously disappears. Fearing the worst, Lori sets out to find him with the help of a friend's precocious 12-year-old daughter. Aided by cryptic clues provided by Aunt Dimity from the Great Beyond, Lori discovers not only a long-standing family feud but also the way to restore romance to her marriage. Heartwarming and charming, Atherton's latest bit of eccentric whimsy is sure to delight. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1996)0670867152Emily Melton
Library Journal Review
Atherton's third serial title once again mixes mystery with a bit of gothic romance. Because her husband has a last-minute conflict, pretty Lori ends up at Aunt Dimity's English country cottage with her father-in-law instead. When he disappears, Lori searchesand finds an old family secret. For fans. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
