Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well

By: Nancy Atherton

Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden

When a strapping young Jack MacBride arrives in Finch to wrap up his late uncle's affairs, heads turn in the sleepy English village. But when Lori volunteers to help Jack clear out his uncle's overgrown garden, they discover something even more shocking than a stranger turning up in Finch. After Lori laughingly tosses a coin into the garden's old well and makes a wish, she is baffled to find that the wish seems to have come true. Word spreads, and the villagers turn out in droves to make wishes of their own. But as they soon learn, one person's wish is another person's worst nightmare. As more and more wishes come true, Lori resolves to find out what's really going on with Aunt Dimity's otherworldly help.

©2014 Nancy Atherton (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

That's more like it!

I almost didn't purchase this title after being disappointed with her last two books.... But, Aunt Dimity is back and better than ever!

If you can get past Terri Clark Lindin's Mechanical Delivery...

... You'll enjoy the story. Set your Audible playback speed at 1.25 or 1.5 and you'll find it helps immensely. Otherwise, Terri is so exacting and slow, you may pull all your hair out!

Fun story had me going till the end. I had a different solution, but really like the one in the book. Leave it to Nancy Atherton to keep things clean and mostly clean in motives.

Incredibly happy endings. So sweet

Book starts off with the mysteries being about a neighbor who died without anyone in town knowing him; a nephew who came to the funeral from Australia; and a wishing well that appeared to grant wishes. Suspicions, good and bad feelings, and confusion reign before all becomes clear. My heart melted. If you're at all a romantic, you'll love this too. And even if not.

A Very Gentle Mystery

This series is usually classified as a mystery. That may be misleading. However, I'm not sure how else I would classify it, except as general fiction. The "mystery" here does not involve crime or violence. It is about an unusual series of events and how they came to happen.

I've read a number of the "Aunt Dimity" books. They are perfect for bedtime reading, or listening, I find them relaxing and not at all likely to lead to nightmares.

When I read a book I don't imagine characters speaking with heavy accents as I read. I don't mind if a narrator uses accents as long as those accents don't distract from the story. Ms. Linden does use accents and they were distracting to me in this book. I believe I would have enjoyed her work more if she hadn't tried quite so hard on the accents.

I enjoy this series, but am not sure I would listen to an Audible edition with the same narrator.

Terrible narration

What disappointed you about Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well?

It was tiresome to keep hearing Lori's thoughts on everyone. She has lost the humility and kindness she had in the earlier books. Her character acts as if only she and Bill are the few intelligent and sensible people in Finch and all of the other characters are silly and immature.

What could Nancy Atherton have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

1. Use a different narrator. 2. Make Lori less whiny and smug.

What didn’t you like about Teri Clark Linden’s performance?

The narrator read the words so slowly, that one would think we were kindergarten students. I heard the story at 1.5 speed and it was still difficult to enjoy. Her accents were all wrong and many sounded cartoonish. I will read the next book on my own if the same narrator does the next one.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, it was poignant when we learned about the wishing well's evolution.

not worth a credit

Would you try another book from Nancy Atherton and/or Teri Clark Linden?

No. Not a mystery, and not funny, actually boring. It was a silly story, with characters that ended up being annoying rather than anything else.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I did not find anything at all interesting. It didn't have anything to hold my interest, so I didn't even finish listening to this audiobook.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her voices were, to me just awful, especially the art dealers. When Laurie started to cry and whine I actually stopped listening.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Extreme disappointment. Since the reviews weren't at all bad. Everyone to their own opinion I guess.

Any additional comments?

Nothing to add, other than I will give this series a miss.

The story was ok but ...

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Teri Clark Linden?

Did Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well inspire you to do anything?

Any additional comments?

the accents were not done well and really took away from the story.