Aunt Dimity and the Summer King
-
-
4.3 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
Cozy mystery lovers’ favorite paranormal sleuth is back with her twentieth otherworldly adventure
It’s June, the roses are in bloom, and the small English village of Finch may be in big trouble. Two cottages are for sale, but something—or someone—is driving buyers away. Has a developer targeted Finch? Will property values skyrocket? Will a wave of wealthy weekenders drive out the longtime locals?
Lori Shepherd has a lot on her plate—a brand-new baby daughter, her father-in-law’s impending nuptials, and a visit from her dreaded aunts-in-law—but she refuses to stand back and watch while big money destroys her beloved village. Lori suspects that a local real estate agent is illicitly lining her pockets at Finch’s expense, but before she can prove it, she’s sidetracked by a chance encounter with an eccentric inventor. Arthur Hargreaves, dubbed the Summer King by his quirky family, is as warmhearted as the summer sun. In his presence, Lori forgets her troubles—and Finch’s. Lori snaps out of her happy trance when a series of unsettling discoveries shakes her faith in Arthur Hargreaves. She stumbles across a detailed map of Finch in Hillfont Abbey. An ancient feud between Finch and the Hargreaves family comes to light. Arthur appears to be making secret deals with the shady realtor. Is the Summer King as kind as he seems?
With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly help—and her new baby girl in her arms—Lori mounts a crusade to save her village from the Summer King’s scorching greed.
Look out for Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure, the next in the series, coming from Viking on May 24, 2016.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Atherton's disappointing 20th paranormal cozy featuring amateur sleuth Lori Shepherd (after 2014's Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well), the ghostly Aunt Dimity, who left her cottage and fortune to Lori when she died, helps Lori figure out why two empty cottages aren't attracting new owners in the Cotswolds village of Finch. Lori also wants to learn more about the mysterious Arthur Hargreaves, an eccentric genius known to his family as the Summer King, and why her fellow villagers dislike him so vehemently. Unfortunately, Aunt Dimity's barely useful counsel can't make up for the slow pacing or the plethora of people totally besotted with Bess, Lori and husband Bill's baby and the excuses offered for Lori's ignorance of facts known to the other villagers just don't hold water. The denouement is far-fetched, and the charm and wit of earlier books in the series are sadly missing in this one.
