Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Review - Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince

Title: Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince
Author: Nancy Atherton
Publisher: Viking Adult (April 18, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 256
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Aunt Dimity #18

I know that I have been quite difficult on books recently, but Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince is going to change that. From the very first chapter I was drawn into this book, Lori does not come across nearly as scatterbrained or man deprived as her previous books and though she is still an overbearing mother, it appears that she just might be letting her eight-year-old boys out of their car seats and allowing them to enjoy being kids.

Bree Prym is bored and restless in the big house that her aunts have left for her so she finds a reason to knock on Lori’s door and ask if she could spend a couple of days. Due broken pipe issues and the inability to ride their horses, the boys jump at the chance to visit Skeaping Manor with Bree. This macabre place has just the things that boys like to see, but shrunken heads and bugs are not on Lori’s agenda. She is fascinated by the silver collection. What is more interesting is the little girl, Daisy Pickering, in the dirty coat that seems to know more than she should about a lost prince.

When the little girl’s coat shows up at the charity shop with a silver treasure shaped like an ornate Russian sleigh in the pocket, Lori’s interest is piqued and with the help of Bree, they set off to finder her, only to discover that she and her mother have disappeared. What they do find is a very fascinating story involving an old prince being held captive.

Of course, Lori cannot let this go and by following the clues in the story, Lori and Bree take the reader on a very interesting journey into many of the finer homes in the area.

This is still one of my favorite series; there is an easy simplicity to the life in Finch, one that I enjoy returning to year after year. Aunt Dimity is not playing as much of a vital role has she has in the earlier books, I am not sure if this is good or bad, but there is a gentle change taking place.

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