Aunt Dimity and the Duke (Aunt Dimity Mysteries, Book 2)
A cosy tale of mystery and secrets
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
A Cornish manor holds more than one secret...
Nancy Atherton travels to the Cornish coast in Aunt Dimity and the Duke, the second novel to feature the ghostly sleuth. Perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton and Rebecca Tope.
'I love the graceful style... the sense of tight-knit community, characters who aren't afraid to be themselves, and the unique paranormal element... I only wish I had learned about this series earlier' - Gotta Write Network
When Emma Porter is left by her long-term lover, she determines to return to her first and most dependable passion: gardening. Escaping the sympathies of family and friends, she sets out on a summer-long driving tour of England's gardens.
Chance brings Emma to Penford Hall, a sprawling Gothic mansion, where she finds a duke in search of a magical lantern. Suspecting there's more than one mystery to be solved, Emma accepts the duke's invitation to stay and restore the once-glorious chapel garden to its former beauty. As dark rumours surrounding the death of the duke's beautiful cousin abound, Emma is soon set - with her Aunt Dimity's ghostly guidance - on a path of life-changing discovery.
What readers are saying about Aunt Dimity and the Duke:
'This is a wonderful book to read while spending an afternoon with a cup of tea, oatmeal cookies and window seat overlooking a beautiful garden'
'Charming escapism'
'A lovely fairy tale and mystery rolled into one'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Atherton's second novel proves more amusing than her first (Aunt Dimity's Death) as it recycles several characters from that mystery/ghost story. Bostonian Emma Porter-a 39-year-old computer analyst and ardent gardener recently jilted by her longtime lover-is on her own in England, exploring Cornwall's gardens. A seemingly chance encounter leads her to Penford Hall, a name prominent in the tabloids five years earlier when a rock star's death peripherally involved Grayson Alexander, the 14th duke of Penford. At the Hall, Emma is greeted by Grayson as the savior of his ruined chapel garden, waiting to be restored in time for the village ``Fete'' that occurs once every 100 years to celebrate a legendary local supernatural event. That act is memorialized in a chapel window being examined by restorer Derek Harris, a widower who soon becomes Emma's romantic interest. Also present is a fading supermodel whose acerbic tongue cuts the story's high sugar level until she is rendered unconscious by a blow to the head. The source of Grayson's largesse and the identity of the model's attacker, when revealed, leave some questions unanswered, but romance runs rampant, happy endings abound and most readers will be smiling at book's end.
