Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil - Hardcover

Nancy Atherton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670891797 ISBN 13: 9780670891795

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2000

Synopsis

Lori Shepherd leaps at the chance to spend a few days away from the twins and hits the road to evaluate a rare book collection and stumbles across a mystery in the corridors of a Gothic castle. 17,500 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Nancy Atherton is the bestselling author of eighteen other Aunt Dimity mysteries. The first book in the series, Aunt Dimity���s Death, was voted ���One of the Century���s 100 Favorite Mysteries��� by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Reviews

"Plucky women long for action," asserts Lori Shepherd, who finds plenty of mischief, both ghostly and human, at Wyrdhurst Hall in her action-packed sixth supernatural cozy. Leaving husband Bill at home in the Cotswolds with their 18-month-old twin boys, Lori drives to a remote spot near the Scottish border to evaluate an old library for the new residents of Wyrdhurst, newlyweds Jared and Nicole Hollander. Alas, she takes a wrong turn in a rainstorm on the high Northumberland moors and narrowly escapes a landslide that washes her car off the road. Brought unconscious by handsome writer Adam Chase to his isolated hut, Lori later feels strangely attracted to her rescuer. The next day she learns from army captain Guy Manning that she'd driven on to a restricted military area because someone had left open a gate that should have been locked. Her accident may have been no accident. Finally arriving at Wyrdhurst, she has to wonder about her hosts, ascetic Jared and meek Nicole, who admits to Lori that Jared has yet to consummate their marriage. Investigating the library, Lori uncovers love letters between Claire Byrd, daughter of Wyrdhurst's formidable first owner, and Edward Cresswell, a soldier who died in WWI, that point to past tragedy. In the present, Captain Manning moons over Nicole, Adam remains a dangerously attractive presence and Lori's late Aunt Dimity provides sound advice from the beyond. What might be merely silly or ridiculous in lesser hands, Atherton here pulls off with irresistible flair and charm. 4-city author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Not every sleuth can call on a friendly ghost, or ghost-writer , for assistance. Lori Shepherd's house in the Cotswolds is the legacy of Aunt Dimity, who makes her thoughts known through a blue-bound volume where her writing appears. Lori has left her husband and the twins to examine the private library of a great old house, Wyrdhurst, near the Scottish border; the trip starts with her car going off the road in the rain and her rescue by an appallingly handsome young man named Adam. When Lori finally gets to the house, she finds mysteries upon mysteries, all swirling about Wyrdhurst's young mistress, Nicole, and her impossibly Victorian husband, Jared. Why does Jared spend so much time away from his new bride? Who is Adam, and why does he know so much about Wyrdhurst? Why are there so many odd noises and creepy events? Lori's husband sends along Aunt Dimity's book, and the hunt begins. In the library, Lori finds a cache of love letters between Edward, a soldier of the Great War, and Claire, daughter of old Josiah of Wyrdhurst, and begins to unravel a tragic mystery. Amidst the gothic trappings and the whiff of illicit desires, there's a romantic tale with echoes of A. S. Byatt's Possession and enough dreamy and ghostly wish-fulfillment to satisfy readers across several genres. GraceAnne DeCandido
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Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670891797
• ISBN 13: 9780670891795
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224