From Booklist
Atherton continues her delightfully quirky Aunt Dimity series in fine style as a poison pen infiltrates a house party at the country estate of a British earl. When her best friend learns that her husband is heir to both an earldom and a fortune, Lori Shepard agrees to accompany a decidedly nervous Emma Harris to Hailesham Park to meet her in-laws. Of course, Lori enlists the help of her "Aunt Dimity," a blithe spirit who reveals her thoughts and opinions to Lori via the seemingly blank pages of a treasured journal. When one of the guests begins receiving threatening letters, it is up to the irrepressible Lori and her phantom sidekick to unravel a tangled family history in order to expose a twisted motive for mayhem. Chock-full of stiff upper lips and skeletons in the closet, this charming trifle will appeal to fans of cozy little mysteries. Margaret Flanagan
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The Washington Post Book World
"A thoroughly modern cozy . . . A very enjoyable read."
Book Description
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.
About the Author
Nancy Atherton is the author of nine Aunt Dimity mysteries, including Aunt Dimity: Snowbound.
Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday (Aunti Dimity Series) FROM THE PUBLISHER
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. When Bill and Lori arrive at Hailesham, the earl's grand Palladian country house, they find that a beautiful dove-shaped topiary on the grounds is ablaze. Is this an extravagant welcoming gesture or the work of an arsonist? Later, a classic poison-pen note appears: Watch the birdie. It could happen to you. Leave Hailesham or it will. Someone has a grudge against the Elstyns and will stop at nothing to get revenge. The 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. Atherton's signature whimsy and splendidly original twists make for yet one more delicious adventure with cozy-mystery lovers' favorite supernatural sleuth.
FROM THE CRITICS
The Washington Post
The setting is delicious: Readers get to spend a weekend at a posh English manor via descriptions of everything from the furnishings to the dresses, meals and even the closet space. But Atherton wastes few words and maintains a rapid pace as she gradually reveals the truth, making for a very enjoyable read. — Katy Munger
Publishers Weekly
Fans of cozies with a supernatural twist will welcome Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday, the eighth in this whimsical series after 2001's Aunt Dimity: Detective. When a family gathering at the earl of Harrisford's country estate, Hailesham, provokes all sorts of mischief, from threatening letters to torched topiary, Lori Shepherd must once again call on the spirit of her dead aunt to prevent worse from happening. 5-city author tour.
Library Journal
After the reading of an earl's will results in a destructive family feud involving her own husband, Lori Shepherd requests her ghostly aunt's help. This delightful title takes place in a beautiful period home fraught with danger and intrigue. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Like most people, Lori Shepherd would give her eyeteeth to spend five days at Hailesham Park, the Earl of Elstyn's country home. But Lori's friend and neighbor Emma Harris isn't like most people. Her contractor husband Derek, the presumptive tenth earl, has never wanted anything to do with the father he broke with years ago, and the invitation leaves her fretting about how an American commoner should act in a houseful of aristocrats, and fearful lest one of the collateral relatives-perhaps one of Derek's cousins, handsome Simon Elstyn, his bashful brother Oliver, or empty-headed Lady Claudia Landover-improve their chances of inheriting the estate by putting Derek out of the way. Sure enough, as Lori, encouraged by Dimity Westwood, the ghostly presence whose chatty messages appear in an old journal, arrives at Hailesham Park with her husband, Bill Willis, who just happens to be one of the Earl's attorneys, they're greeted by a burning topiary turtledove. More skullduggery follows-a series of threatening anonymous letters, a pair of suspicious falls from an exemplary horse-but, rest assured, nothing as sordid as murder, or even grand larceny. The mystery, such as it is, is solved by a documents expert with no help from either Aunt Dimity or Lori, whose expertise this time is confined to an unerring sense of what to wear to meals with an earl. A weightless mystery with precious few clues whose solution implicates a toothless malefactor: altogether the feather-lightest of Aunt Dimity's eight posthumous cases (Aunt Dimity: Detective, 2001, etc.).
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