Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire

Having been a fan of M.R.C Kasasian's Gower Street books I was eagerly anticipating the publication of this book, and I wasn't disappointed.
Introducing new characters, with cameos from old favourites, this was a book I didn't want to put down. 
There is a lot of humour in the book, with the ridiculous character traits being enhanced, but there is an underlying darkness that keeps you on edge. Where an author could easily stray into slapstick, MRC K can drag you back with a snap. 
I enjoyed the twists & turns, the false leads. The only problem is I want to know what Betty's next case is, & I want to know more about Betty's past. 
Hopefully I've just given this book 5 stars (screen issues!).

I loved Sidney Grice and March Middleton in the Gower Street detective series, so couldn't wait to read MRC Kasasian 's new book Betty Church And The Suffolk Vampire. It's filled with the same humour and has a cast of crazy characters, with a gruesome murder or two thrown in for good measure.
It's 1939 and Betty Church - one of the few female police officers - finds herself back in Sackwater the place she grew up, investigating a string of murders where the victims have puncture wounds to the throat which the locals believe is the work of the Suffolk Vampire. I loved this.

Thanks Head of Zeus and netgalley for this ARC.

M.R.C. Kasasian started a cool new series with ties to his Gower Street series.  Loved Betty Church! No nonsense, in control with quirky crazy cast makes this a new series  I can't wait to read more.

I enjoyed Betty Church and The Suffolk Vampire so much I only wish I could write a review to do it justice. MRC Kasasian is a very clever writer with a distinctive and individual voice. He can tell a good story. His characters are completely original and at the same time believable. His brilliant plotting has events and ‘clues’ feeding back in, and,
after some masterly misdirection, the story arrives at a logical, convincing and satisfying conclusion as a truly good mystery story does.
It satisfies as historical fiction too as the characters speak and behave as they might have in the 1939. I was delighted that the language, values and beliefs feel true to its time and place rather than 21st century. (I am old enough and have watched enough black and white movies to know what it was like long ago!) And then there are cultural references that add to the richness of the book that I won’t mention in detail so as not to spoil the delicious moments of reading them.
To cap it all Mr Kasasian does humour so well – gentle humour and laugh aloud moments which he then sometimes undercuts in the subtlest way with great poignancy as we remember the backdrop of the previous war and the war about to start. A truly gifted writer.
I was sad when The Gower Street Detective Series came to an end so I was pleased to find March Middleton popping up as Betty’s godmother, and references to Sidney Grice too – gone but not forgotten. I was relieved and delighted that Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. I would find it very embarrassing to receive a proof copy and then not be able to write a good review! If you haven’t read The Gower Street Detective Series you are in for a treat. I am only sorry that there isn’t the next Betty Church mystery ready and waiting for me now. More please Mr Kasasaian and Head of Zeus!

Set in 1939, Betty Church - one of only a handful of female police officers - accepts a promotion that takes her back to Sackwater, Suffolk, where she grew up. It isn't long before she finds herself investigating a series of grizzly murders, the victims of which each have puncture wounds to their throats. With the local media sensationally dubbing the unsub 'The Suffolk Vampire', Betty and her motley crew of unlikely (but oh so endearing!) police officers are tasked with finding the culprit.

I absolutely loved M.R.C. Kasasian's Gower Street Detective series and was saddened when at the end of the sixth book, 'Dark Dawn Over Steep House,' it appeared there would be no more. And, if I'm honest, I was a little apprehensive before reading his latest title. Would it be as good? Would I like the characters as much? Could I go through an entire Kasasian title without the hilarious antics of March and Sidney's maid, Molly? Thankfully where the latter's concerned I didn't have to find out, as not only does Molly have a cameo, Mr. Kasasian's created an equally brilliant and humorous cast in this, the first novel of a new series. It turns out Betty Church is March's goddaughter and while Sidney's no longer with us (RIP Mr. Grice!), he certainly hasn't been forgotten either, with many references and anecdotes popping up throughout. Hoorah!

Set against the backdrop of the start of WW2, the historical detail is, as ever, spot on. And aside from that, the brilliant characters and laugh-out-loud funny dialogue that I've come to associate with an M.R.C. Kasasian title, I love that this author is masterful at misdirection and when all is finally revealed, I'm left wondering why the heck I didn't catch on sooner. Afterall, the clues were there. Having read 6 (7, if you include this title!) of his books, I can't help but feel that by now I should be doing better at tapping into his psyche and figuring out whodunnit. But for me, that's one of the marks of a great author; that no matter how many of their novels pass through your hands, their writing still leaves you guessing.

My only complaint - and I've said this after reading every Gower Street book too - is that I'm not known for my patience and for me a year (roughly) is much, much too long to wait for the next M.R.C. Kasasian book to be released. There IS going to be another in the series, right?

Anyone?

Note: Many thanks to the author, Head of Zeus and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 1939 and, as Britain prepares for coming war, Betty Church prepares to return to her home town of Sackwater in coastal Suffolk to do battle of her own—as a police inspector, no less. How will she, a woman, be received into this traditionally male realm by her fellow officers?

Fans of M. R. C. Kasasian’s Gower Street Detective series (of which I am one) will love his new creation. Not only is Betty Church logical and tough, she is also March Middleton’s godchild—a good thing, too, since she is about to face a most puzzling series of murders, which may or may not have something to do with one of her constables’ past.

The cast of rude mechanicals in Betty’s charge ensures that Mr Kasasian can continue the absurdist comedy for which he is renowned. Be it the corpse she finds that turns out to be only her sleeping sergeant, or Woman Police Constable Dodo Chivers, who takes every statement quite literally, humour abounds. Where Dodo is concerned (like Mr Grice before her in the Gower Street novels), it can send conversations off at increasingly surreal tangents, which can require a careful reading if you’re to get the joke.

Her bumbling colleagues aside though, Betty also has a wealth friends who are quietly but delightfully developed as characters—fixtures, I hope, for many journeys to come. I especially liked Captain Carmelo (her ex-boyfriend’s Maltese father), Jimmy (her ex-boyfriend’s nephew, who considers her to be his aunt), and Dr Tubby Gretham and his wife. There has even been speculation on Twitter that Mr Kasasian himself pops up in the role of Betty’s father, an unpopular dentist who can hardly be civil to his own daughter, let alone to his dwindling number of patients. As for the mystery element, there are some particularly grisly murders, a lot of blood, and an extremely enticing red herring. More than this I dare not say for fear of spoilers.

One of the great pleasures of reading an M. R. C. Kasasian novel is that nothing will be quite as you imagine it should be, whether it’s a character’s name, their appearance, their background, or even their interpersonal relationships—and with Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire, Mr Kasasian takes this to a whole new level. Within the cozy mystery genre his voice is unique. If you delight in meeting a truly new kind of character, you will certainly delight in this. Be warned though; Victorian sensibilities are a thing of the past and the ripeness of some of the language may come as a shock.

If you enjoy comedy like this, you might also enjoy (although they are not Crimes & Thrillers) James Hamilton-Patterson’s Cooking with Fernet Branca, Patrick Dennis’s Auntie Mame (or better still—if you can manage to get your hands on a copy—Little Me), and even perhaps Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. Fans of the Grinder-Snipe twins will relish in Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey’s Julian and Sandy from the vintage BBC radio series Round the Horne. Varder the big bona lallies on him!

Many thanks to @MRCKASASIAN, Head of Zeus Books @HoZ_Books, #KasasianCrew, and #NetGalley for providing me with a reviewer’s galley proof.

My inner feminist (maybe not so inner) was screaming for joy at how Betty tackles the gender prejudices of the time in this book. I loved the plot as its well-conceived and imaginative there are some comedic gems in amongst it all. 

Betty Church, is very much a woman in a man's world in the early 1900’s and she’s a female police officer. She is more than capable to look after herself, despite those who surround her. The author manages to add humour to the gender and social norms of the time. Betty Church is a wonderful creation and I'd like to read more about her.

Betty is reluctant to leave the police after losing part of her arm, leaving her with the only option which is to transfer from the Met to The Suffolk town of Sackwater where she grew up and thought she had left behind for good.  After a visit to her Godmother (the famous investigator March Middleton), she is promoted to Inspector. 

Everything is different for Betty in Sackwater, she’s the first woman police officer in the area, the times passes slower as the crimes are slightly lighter shade (reminds me a little of Hot Fuzz). Once Betty gets a case at the train station to investigate a missing bench. When Betty gets to the station there is no bench, instead there is a body (It’s in the synopsis not a spoiler). A smartly dressed man, stone-cold dead, with two distinctive puncture wounds in his throat. Sending the locals into a gossip frenzy about the Suffolk Vampire.

I never read anything by M R C Kasasian and this came as a great surprise.
I started the book and - BANG - I couldn't put it down.
I loved the humour and the funny events mixed with more serious parts like the start of the WWII and the position of the woman.
The main character is great, a bad ass heroine with a lot of humour. The entire cast of characters is likeable and well written.. The mystery was good and fun to read.
I loved the style that mixes different tones and gives each character his/her own type of language.
I look forward to reading other instalment in this series because this one was great.
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC

Having read some of the Gower Street detective series also by M. R. C. Kasasian. I was intrigued to find out about this new series.
Set in 1939, Betty Church returns to her hometown of Sackwater to become the new Inspector at the local police constabulary.  They’re not keen on her arrival as firstly, the police force is a man’s world and the men are a bit prejudiced as she is female and they think she should be at home. But, also after an accident she has lost one of her arms.
She leads an investigation of several grisly murders, were the victims die after two puncture wounds in their necks. When the local gossipers and the local paper and gets wind of the murders, they nickname the killer ‘the Suffolk vampire’.
I loved this book and if you love Agatha Christie type novels this book is for you.  I loved the different characters in the police team and some were very silly and there is a lot a lot of humour in this story too. But I liked the story that way, as this made the story more original.  This is a great book with many twists and turns and dead ends. This author has written this really well as it is quite a long book but for me it didn’t feel that way as how the book is written.

Thank you Head of Zeus and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.