About this item
In the newest installment of the bestselling Aunt Dimity series, a dreary Christmas leads to hidden treature and new friendships It's almost Christmas in the small English village of Finch--and everyone is sick. Though many of the villagers regretfully decline their invitations to Emma and Derek Harris's annual Christmas bash, Lori Shepherd has no intention of missing it. When the winter weather takes a turn for the worse, it's agreed that none of the guests will leave until morning. There's general merriment as the Christmas party becomes a pajama party--until a car appears in the winding driveway and promptly slides off the slick pavement and into a tree. Matilda "Tilly" Trout--a lost and scatterbrained, middle-aged woman--is mercifully unhurt and invited to stay the night. The next morning, Emma asks her guests if they would like a tour of the Manor--including a secret room she recently discovered. Several guests put forth guesses as to its purpose, but it's Tilly who correctly identifies the room as a chapel. Placing a palm on one of the ornately-carved panels, Tilly finds a hidden compartment concealing a pile of glittering treasure--including an exquisitely decorated heart made of solid gold. Where did it come from, and why does it look so different from everything else in the chapel? Why didn't Emma even know about this hidden compartment in her own home until now--and how did Tilly?With Aunt Dimity's otherworldly help, Tilly's bewildering store of knowledge, and the village's collective memory to guide her, Lori sets out to unravel the mystery behind the heart of gold. Lori and Tilly both discover they'll never spend another holiday alone--and Christmas finally comes to Finch!
About the Author
Nancy Atherton is not a white-haired Englishwoman with a softly wrinkled face, a wry smile, and wise gray eyes, nor does she live in a thatched cottage behind a babbling brook in a tranquil, rural corner of the Cotswolds. She has never taken tea with a vicar (although she drank an Orange Squash with one once) and she doesn't plan to continue writing after her allotted time on earth (though such plans are, as well all know, subject to change without notice) .If you prefer to envision her as an Englishwoman, she urges you to cling to your illusions at all costs -- she treasures carefully nurtured illusions. She also urges you to read no further. Because the truth is that Nancy Atherton is a dark-haired American with a generally unwrinkled face, a beaming smile, and hazel eyes, who lives in a plain house in Colorado Springs. She comes from a large, gregarious family (five brothers and two sisters!) and enjoys socializing as much as she enjoys solitude. So if you are looking for her at a convention, don't look for a stately grande dame in a flowery dress. Look for a woman in jeans and sneakers who's bounding around like a hyperactive gerbil. That'll be her. And she'd love to meet you. Japanese: ???? ?????
