Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure

In this modern-day cozy, the kindly, British-accented spirit of Aunt Dimity streams live from a magical journal to request a favor of her niece, American amateur sleuth Lori Shepherd—to locate an elderly WWII acquaintance of Dimity’s, named Badger, and return a bejeweled gift he gave her. Lori, who resides in the pastoral Cotswold village of Finch, travels to London, where she is helped along by a youthful student archeologist, a sassy-sounding café proprietor, and three veterans of the war. Finch’s lovely, albeit nosy, neighbors, each provided with a unique dialect, personality, and temperament, are the heart of this spectral charmer that also includes a newcomer to the village, whose hobby of metal detecting causes a bit of discord. Reader Moore’s confidence and linguistic dexterity are admirable, since there are numerous characters who are integral to the plot, each with a distinguishable accent; Moore retains her American accent for Lori, then ably moves among various British dialects. Atherton’s Aunt Dimity fans will be delighted with this accomplished audio version of her latest mystery, which is light on intrigue, heavy on charm. A Viking hardcover. (July)