Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter

Near the start of Atherton’s engaging 13th Aunt Dimity mystery (after 2007’s Aunt Dimity Goes West ), series heroine Lori Shepherd, the overprotective mother of five-year-old horse-obsessed twins, is alarmed when her sons insist they saw a vampire during their riding lessons. From her strange friendship with the spectral Aunt Dimity, Lori knows anything’s possible, even vampires, though Lori fears a pedophile may be skulking in the woods outside the Cotswolds village where she and her family live. In search of answers, Lori cozies up to her odd, reclusive neighbors and immerses herself in local history. Lori’s stable master friend, Kit Smith, lends his support. Though the vampire’s identity borders on the implausible, most readers will have had too much fun to mind. (Feb.)