Mystereity Reviews
Written on Aug 21, 2021
"It's something else she said that night. She told me that losing someone you love isn't something you get over - or under or around. There are no shortcuts. It's something you go through and you have to go through all of it, and everyone goes through it differently."
I read the second book in this series several years ago and I meant to go back and read the first book and I didn't manage it until now. I expected to get a book about murder and ghostly mayhem, but that's not what I got. Instead, I got a hauntingly (in a different way) romantic story of love, loss, guilt and forgiveness, and I was captivated from the very first page.
Lori is living paycheck to paycheck as a temp worker, barely keeping her head above water when she receives a letter requesting her presence at a local law firm Willis & Willis. Arriving at the firm's office in a old mansion soaked to the bone, she is confused and unsettled to receive a warm welcome and even more confused when she learns that the childhood Aunt Dimity stories she grew up hearing from her recently deceased mother were actually tales about a very real woman in England, a friend of her mother's who had also recently passed away. Lori learns that Aunt Dimity's will tasks her with writing an introduction to a book of Aunt Dimity's stories from her childhood to be published. What follows is a whirlwind trip to England to complete the task and the discovery of the heartbreaking secret kept by Aunt Dimity for decades, leading to a life of lonliness and regret, but also with an indomitable sprit and the gift of friendship.
Very few books hit me in the feels, and this one hit me hard. Aunt Dimity's spirit (again, not in the literal sense, but the emotional sense) and her regrets and remorse, along with Lori's tenacity, grief and uncertainty all made the book palpably emotive and this isn't one I'll forget any time soon (and will definitely be one I'll re-read when I need uplifting.)
As for the plot itself, I enjoyed it. It was refreshing to have a plot not centered in murder but in people and their history and the skillful weaving of the past and present together really drew me in and kept me reading. I was a little disappointed in how quickly the story was wrapped up (I have several questions that I hope are answered in later books but I won't hold my breath) but overall, it was an enchanting, lovely and very cozy read.
