Aunt Dimity’s Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery #1)

Brigid says: Cozy mysteries often include recipes since the main characters frequently work in food — owning a bakery, running a restaurant, catering, or managing coffee shops. That is not the case for this first in a long-running series which instead centers on Lori, a former book restorer who lost her job to budget cuts and is currently working as a temp. The book opens with Lori discovering the Aunt Dimity of her mother’s bedtime stories was actually a real person who left her a large inheritance. Of course, it comes with the stipulation that Lori investigate an old mystery stemming from Dimity’s letters with her mother, Beth. While Lori is getting to the bottom of it all, the recipe for Beth’s oatmeal cookie makes its way to her. Fans of mysteries without murder will delight in this whimsical and slightly magical tale. The premise, humor, and quirky characters are wonderfully similar in tone to The Gilmore Girls. (Paging Amy Sherman-Palladino to adapt this one!)