From Booklist
The premise of the Aunt Dimity series sounds a bit twee even for confirmed cozy lovers: wealthy American Lori Shepherd, living in the Midlands region of England, communicates with "Aunt Dimity," a deceased family friend, through a mysterious journal. For readers willing to play Atherton's game, however, the series can be thoroughly entertaining. To know Lori, who manages to be incredibly altruistic yet not particularly angelic, is to love her. Reading about her life in her snug cottage with her five-year-old twin sons and kind husband is as comforting as a cup of hot cocoa, with the denizens of her tiny English village serving as the marshmallows on top. This time Lori, volunteering at the hospital, befriends a certain Miss Beacham and is greatly saddened when she dies. Then Lori receives a letter from the deceased asking her to solve a mystery: Where is Miss Beacham's estranged brother? Fans of complex plots and taut suspense won't find succor here, but lovers of simpler pleasures will purr quietly. Jenny McLarin
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FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Feeling a touch world-weary, Lori Shepherd decides to become a volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary where she can spread a little good cheer. There she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, retired legal secretary with no family, except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared. Lori and Miss Beacham become quick companions, but after only a few visits, Miss Beacham suddenly passes away." Lori is saddened by the loss of her new friend, but when she receives an envelope containing a set of keys and a letter Miss Beacham wrote just a few days before her death, it becomes clear that there was much more to the gentle invalid than met the eye. Notices start arriving around the village of the large bequests made before Miss Beacham's death. And Lori finds that Miss Beacham's flat is filled with priceless antiques - an inheritance too precious to remain unclaimed. Hidden among her belongings are clues that Lori feels certain Miss Beacham has left for her to discover. But what is she trying to tell Lori from beyond the grave? 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 and, ultimately, the surprising truth about her next of kin.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly