What an amazing book! I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway. Being the first Aunt Dimity book I read but the twenty third written, I was hesitant to start it. I felt certain I wouldn’t be able to enjoy as I would if I knew some about it. I set it aside with the intention of reading a couple of earlier books. Then life took over as it tends to do. I came across recently and knew I must read it without the planned earlier books and hope for the best. I’m delighted to report that I believe wherever you are when you pick up an Aunt Dimity book, it is where you can start! Twenty two books before mine and I wasn’t lost at all! I’m not even going to attempt a lie and say I don’t care about the other twenty two. I do care. I care, though, because this book thrilled me so that I must read the others! If you have never read Aunt Dimity books, whichever one you come across, read it. Immediately! Don’t be foolish as I was and wait.
For the benefit of anyone who hasn’t read any of Aunt Dimity, she is a ghost! Our main character is Lori a wife, (to Bill), and mom to three children. Lori is an American living in England. Aunt Dimity was her mom’s closest friend. Now she watches over Lori extending her friendship to the daughter of her best friend. Isn’t that amazing? What a testimony to the power of friendship. In the King’s Ransom, Lori and Bill are off on a small getaway. However things don’t go as planned. Mother Nature had plans of her own. Lori and Bill are forced to spend their getaway, apart. Lori spends hers as a guest at The King’s Ransom Inn and it is there the adventure begins.
I love the characters and the world building. I was swiftly taken from my chilly, windy and rainy Juneau home to a chilly and wet Shepney. How delighted I was that my weather matched, somewhat, the weather in the book! It made it so much easier to slip into place. I spent the most delightful time there! I do so want to tell you all of it but the fear of telling too much, and spoiling it for you, is great. You simply must read this book! Do make time to read it properly. Perhaps start it on a weekend when you’ve nothing planned or are on a long vacation ride. Once you begin, you will lose track of time as you are transported to England. As for me, I’ll be looking for the beginning of these books. I must know how Aunt Dimity and Lori came to be acquainted. I have so many questions that no doubt will answered by the beginning. Read, dear friend, whichever Aunt Dimity you have picked out but expect to be left wanting to go back to the beginning. Aunt Dimity and The King’s Ransom is a most tantalizing choice. Enjoy it!
*Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways and Penguin Books for the opportunity to become acquainted with Aunt Dimity. It has be delightful. I am not required to leave a review. I leave my thoughts because I want you to be transported as I was. I want you to enjoy a deliciously spooky yet immensely entertaining vacation in Shepney at the King’s Ransom Inn. Tell the Hancocks hello and I hope you enjoy some of Steve’s delicacies. I do hope you enjoy the Bishop’s company! ( )

A charming cozy without much of a mystery, and with only occasional appearances by Aunt Dimity. It was worth reading for the history, the interesting architecture, and the food, but if you’re looking for suspense even of the tamest sort, I suggest you look for it elsewhere. I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. ( )

I probably wouldn't have finished this book if I didn't listen to the audiobook while walking for fitness. It wasn't awful, I just lost interest. Couple plan a weekend get-away and the wife drops her husband off Friday morning for a business meeting and travels on to the B&B but a storm comes up with tornado type winds and floods. She decides to get off the road and shelter in place at a church where she meets a retired bishop who insists she come with him to an inn where there's no vacancy. People are nice and put her up in a make-do attic. Lots of strange characters and ghosts. Before strange noises during the night are solved ( )

This is the 23rd book in the Aunt Dimity series, but the first that I’ve read. It works as a standalone.

This book is a mystery for those who like their mysteries light, funny, and bloodless.

It’s a paranormal for those who like their spirits from beyond to be warm, fuzzy, and eager for a chat over a nice cuppa, curled up in front of a roaring fireplace and crackling logs.

If you’re looking for darkness, you’ll have to look elsewhere. But if you’re looking for a comfortable book, one that reminds you that you’re not alone in this world, you can’t go wrong with Lori and her Aunt Dimity.

There are many lovely things about this book. While cozy mysteries aren’t my favorite subgenre, it was a nice change from the darker material I’ve read recently. Here are a few reasons why:

Lori narrates in a cheery, off-beat, and often funny voice.
Any frazzled woman can relate to her need for a getaway and the disappointment of life’s intervention. What makes Lori such a terrific character, though, is that she doesn’t stay feeling sorry for herself. Aunt Dimity gives her a pep talk, and Lori rouses, pitches in to help the villagers by serving in the community hall, and befriends people.

Aunt Dimity is an amazing and articulate ghost.
Those who have read other books in the series are familiar with this aspect, but I wasn’t. The late Aunt Dimity was Lori’s late mama’s best friend. After both women died, the mother’s friend left Lori an inheritance that included a blank notebook. Each time Lori opens the notebook, Aunt Dimity’s handwriting appears and they “talk.” Think a text conversation, only supernatural instead of technological, and with one partner deceased. A little odd, possibly spooky, but as Lori tells us,

“her sole desire was to be as good a friend to me as she’d been to my mother” (page 60).

There’s a cast of fun, kindly, generous characters.
In particular, Christopher, the retired bishop, is a wonderful addition. He’s everything bishops should be: humble, wise, and kind. He tells children bloody stores of saints’ martyrdoms, which the children love, and willingly spends several hours with a quintet of quarrelsome geriatrics at the village hall. He has a dry sense of humor and the ability to befriend almost anyone. And he loves bookstores! (Don’t you love him already?)

Though one of the mysteries seems to take a dark turn, Atherton surprised and delighted me (and Lori) with the answers.

The villagers work together to deal with the storms and flooding.
Neighbors tend to come together after natural disasters, but the people of Shepney are exceptional in how well-prepared they are. They’ve been through flooding before, they’ll go through it again, and they’ve planned ahead–and shared those plans online, too, for the benefit of other communities. There are tensions, yes–the quarrelsome (but hilarious) quintet of geriatrics and the antics of the rector’s young son prove that–but they do care about each other, even when they won’t admit it.

The villagers handle Steve’s criminal past with a gracious spirit.
His crime is unknown, but as various characters remind each other, people should be forgiven and allowed to start over. Steve has learned culinary skills in prison–Atherton gives us “Steve’s” recipe for Apple Crumble–and is trying to stick to the straight and narrow. As Aunt Dimity wisely says,

“Wonderful things can happen when a man is given the support he needs to make the most of a second chance” (page 229).

The tone is generous and warm-hearted.
The book’s tone reminds me of an Alexander McCall-Smith novel. It gives me the feeling that nothing–not a cyclone or uprooted plans or crowded inn–is so horrible that a good cuppa can’t cure it. If that’s unrealistically optimistic, so be it. Sometimes we need to step away from the real world’s horrors, turn off the television (or internet) news, and read a cozy book like this. Aunt Dimity and the King’s Ransom reminds me that people can be good.

4 1/2 stars. It didn't blow me away, but it was still a lovely novel. ( )

Nice book. A little too samey-same with the other books in the series. A mystery that seems serious at first but then turns out to be harmless. Lori jumping to conclusions but then taking a step back to check her reasoning with some evidence (a small change from previous plots). But it's an OK cozy mystery, just a little too milky. ( )