Title : Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree

Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree is the 16th book of the Aunt Dimity series. Aunt Dimity, if you haven’t read any of these books before, is a ghost who speaks her mind (so to speak) through her writing in a diary. The diary is owned by Lori Shepherd, our intrepid heroine, and God-daughter of Aunt Dimity. As and when Lori gets embroiled in a mystery, which is with every book, she discusses her thoughts on the investigation with Aunt Dimity via the diary. Lori speaks out loud, and Aunt Dimity expresses herself by writing in the diary.

Lori lives in the small village of Finch with her husband and two boys, and in this book, her charming, moneyed and widowed father-in-law has just bought an old mansion, Fairworth House, in the village to be close to his son and family. This causes considerable curiosity in the village, and it falls to Lori, the dutiful daughter-in-law, to keep away the local gossip and the interfering old biddies waiting to catch the old man’s eye.

As Willis Sr. settles into his mansion, he is also put upon by an unexpected guest; local baker Sally Pyne needs his help to enact a fib. To help her father-in-law, Lori has hired people to make renovations. She also helps hire a housekeeper and her husband to look after the sprawling mansion and surrounding estate. The hired help seems too good to be true, and when mysterious events start happening, Lori suspects the new hires of sinister motives . . .

This book has many quirky, colorful characters. If you have read other books in the series you will no doubt be aware of them. If not, please note that Atherton makes references to this cast and reels them into the story like old and well-known friends. Our heroine Lori seems a bit hyper and given to worrying about little details, and Aunt Dimity is the staid, sound one offering her sage advice.

This is a pleasant enough mystery, although on the tepid side. Compared to other mysteries/thrillers, this is almost a beach read, because for all the mysterious happenings and prowling around at night, you know that nothing really gruesome is going to happen – no murderers/slashers/really evil people in the vicinity. You have your gossip-mongerers and peeping-toms, and people who cannot but want to have their finger in every pie, but it’s all very PG, and the village in totality seems rather sweet and harmless. This book, and I’m surmising the entire series is the kind your older kids could read even.

This book is well-written and engaging. If you enjoy this genre, i.e.; a cozy English mystery about not-so evil people (almost makes me want to make tea and scones and move to the country-side) this will be a a quick and easy read.