AUNT DIMITY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

A death threat sends a family fleeing from the West Midlands to the western isles of Scotland.

When attorney Bill Willis is threatened, he packs off his sleuthing wife Lori Shepherd (Aunt Dimity Takes a Holiday, 2003, etc.) and their twin sons to the remote island of Erinskil, where old family friend Sir Percy Pelham is the laird. While her husband works with Scotland Yard to track down the source of the threats, Lori enjoys the island, with its quaint legends of the past. The twins romp on the beach with their bodyguard Andrew Ross; Lori’s minded by enigmatic bodyguard Damian Hunter. A trip to the pub reveals Peter Harris, a West Midlands neighbor, and his friend Cassie, masquerading as bird watchers to escape tabloid reporters. Noting on their birding expeditions a prosperity the island’s farming and its tweed mill can’t explain, they wonder if the mysterious lights they see at night are evidence of drug smuggling. After Peter vanishes, the search leads Lori and Damian to the hiding place of ancient treasures and modern cash. Barely escaping death when the stalker tracks them down, Lori learns all in the dénouement.

Lori’s soothing familiar, Aunt Dimity, has little to do in this unmysterious tale. Fans will have to settle for the trip to Erinskil and the recipe for lemon sticky cake.