Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton

Lori's life is a disappointment. Her college degree is useless, her job experience is laughable, her social life is in shambles, and her finances are nonexistent. She is burned out and jaded, nothing at all like "Aunt Dimity," the unflappable, ever-optimistic, fictional heroine of her late mother's bedtime stories.

And then a letter comes, on fancy embossed paper, summoning her to the law office of Willis & Willis. Out of a sense of both curiosity and obligation, she shows up. Shivering on their doorstep like a Dickensian orphan, she is taken in by the handsome but way-too-friendly Bill Willis, whose father gives her the baffling news that Aunt Dimity, the character from her favorite childhood stories, has died, and named Lori in the will.

Fast enough to cause whiplash, Lori goes from a world of temp jobs and unheated apartments to one of mansion-like law offices and impossibly charming English cottages straight out of her childhood imagination. But Aunt Dimity had secrets that Lori must uncover, even if it completely changes the way she remembers her mother and her past.

Aunt Dimity's Death is a cozy mystery for people who don't necessarily like cozy mysteries. There are no cookie-related murders, and Lori's trek into Dimity's past can only barely be called an investigation, but it certainly is cozy. Historical fiction fans will enjoy the tales of England's traumatic but thrilling days of World War Two, and fans of character development will enjoy Lori's emotional recovery from her dark days. It's a charming and heartwarming read.