Official Synopsis from Goodreads: Hidden among her belongings are clues that Lori feels certain Miss Beacham wished to be discovered after her death.Feeling a touch world-weary, Lori Shepherd decides to become a volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, retired legal secretary. But after only one visit, Miss Beacham passes away, leaving behind no family except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared. Armed with the generous help of a handsome neighbor and, as always, Aunt Dimity’s supernatural skills, Lori begins to unearth Miss Beacham’s secrets–including the surprising truth about her next of kin. Full of delightfully surprising twists and turns, Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin is another page-turning installment in the mystery series that has won the hearts of cozy mystery fans everywhere.
Genre: Cozy mystery
Setting: Modern day Finch (a small village “in the west midlands of England”) and Oxford
My copy came from: Borrowed from my mom.
Review: Sweet and sad. Fans of the Aunt Dimity series will love this one!
Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin is the tenth book in the Aunt Dimity Mystery series, a series that combines whimsy, magic, a bit of mystery, and a picturesque setting into a sweet mystery series. If you enjoy mysteries (not necessarily just murder mysteries – there is no murder in this particular book), and don’t mind a super-sweet story and a sometimes obnoxiously perfect heroine, then this series is for you! I go back and forth with this series, as the main character, Lori Shepherd, is sometimes way too much for me to handle. She’s perfectly beautiful (everyone falls in love with her), she’s fabulously rich (she’s rich and her perfect husband is rich as well), and she lives in a perfect house in the English countryside. Sometimes she just really bugs me, but other times I can set aside my petty jealousy (of a fictional character!!) and enjoy the books. I’m happy to report that in this installment, Lori wasn’t obnoxious at all, and I enjoyed the mystery and the setting.
This mystery is about Lori meeting a nice older lady, Miss Beacham, who passes away and Lori is tasked with finding Miss Beacham’s brother (her Next of Kin… get it?). Lori’s search takes her to Oxford, where Miss Beacham lived, and I liked the mystery in this book. Sometimes you just need to read something light-hearted and kind, and Aunt Dimity Mysteries will always fill that requirement! Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin is definitely one of the better Aunt Dimity books. One that is both sweet and sad.
Oh, and if you haven’t ever read an Aunt Dimity book before, definitely read book one first, Aunt Dimity’s Death. It explains the origins and magic of Aunt Dimity.
Bottom Line: Sweet and sad. An excellent addition to the Aunt Dimity series.
Links to Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin on Amazon | Goodreads
The Aunt Dimity Mystery Series:
- Aunt Dimity’s Death
- Aunt Dimity and the Duke
- Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed
- Aunt Dimity Digs In
- Aunt Dimity’s Christmas
- Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil
- Aunt Dimity: Detective
- Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday
- Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
- Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
- Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea
- Aunt Dimity Goes West
- Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter
- Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon
- Aunt Dimity Down Under
- Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree
- Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch
- Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince
- Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well
- Aunt Dimity and the Summer King
- Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure
- Aunt Dimity and the Widow’s Curse (this one was just released at the end of May)
Have you read any of the Aunt Dimity Mysteries? Which one is your favorite? My favorite is book #2, Aunt Dimity and the Duke.
luvtoread 
Oh my! I think there are quite a few Aunt Dimity’s I haven’t read yet. 🙂
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There are a lot! I wonder if I’ll ever catch up! 🙂
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22! I gave up on this series long ago (22!) and can’t believe there are so many installments. This must be a very good review as my first thought was to ask if I could borrow it. But you reminded me of the one little quirk that has kept me away – perfection and wealth, and the perfect and wealthy husband (maybe that is more than one thing). Anyway, being human, my lack of perfection contrasts badly with the heroine. 😉
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She’s not so bad in this one. I can only handle her in small doses but she didn’t bother me here. But I’m also not racing to read the next one, either! And of course you can borrow this one if you want to 🙂
The author seems to consistently put a new book out every year. I must admit I’m interested in what Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter could be about 🙂
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I definitely think you nailed the issue: most of us don’t see perfect as human because it’s not! All you have to do is read a thriller novel to see that any perfect family is merely perfect on the outside. Someone has SURELY murdered someone else 😀
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🙂 Yep – and also, perfection is boring. There’s no excitement there!
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I’ve never heard of Aunt Dimity but have added these to the list 🙂
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They are quite fun and totally innocent. No graphic scenes in these books!
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Perfect for me then!
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I was surprised that you didn’t mention Aunt Dimity as a character. I’ve never heard of this series before and thought for sure it was about an old lady detective! A modern-day Miss Marple 😀
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Well, the books feel quite “old lady-ish” to me, simply because they are so sweet and kind, and aren’t filled with sex and gore and language.
And Aunt Dimity is one of the most unique characters I’ve ever read. She’s actually a ghost, who communicates with Lori (the main character) through an old diary. Her story is revealed in book one, Aunt Dimity’s Death. So, the premise for this mystery series feels quite whimsical. And when I say “ghost”, she isn’t a scary ghost at all, more of the wise, kindly spirit who tries to help everyone out and only communicates with one or two people.
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That does sound fun. I kind of hope new information appears in the diary, as opposed to it being an old diary that already has everything written.
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Yep. The diary is “active” – Aunt Dimity writes her response in the diary to Lori who speaks aloud to Aunt Dimity. It’s quite cute actually 🙂
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