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The Ghost Tree

A Betty Church Mystery, Book 3

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About this listen

1914: Sixteen-year-old Etterly, running from something, hides inside the trunk of a tree and disappears. The police search but find no trace. Her family and friends wrack their brains but come up with nothing. And so slowly life returns to normal. The hole in the tree is boarded up, and the village of Sackwater moves on. Only Etterly's best friend, Betty, clings to hope, insisting she can hear her friend calling for help.

1940: A skeleton is discovered buried in the woods. Though most clues have long since decayed, it is wearing the necklace Etterly had on the day she went missing. Long haunted by her friend's fate, Detective Betty Church is determined to solve the case once and for all.

©2020 M.R.C Kasasian (P)2020 W F Howes 20th Century Detective Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Witty

Critic reviews

“I love this sort of book.... Betty has no truck with nonsense. Yay Betty.... Is this a rival for M.C. Beaton, my favourite of all time? We shall see.” (Frost Magazine)

“A nicely complex plot, some genuinely funny moments and some serious observations about the approaching war are balanced by an underlying darkness.” (Crime Review)

“A wonderfully gripping, old-fashioned murder mystery” (The Lady)

All stars
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Kasasian and Gregory are the perfect mix. Serious stories with humour (sometimes farcical). I attended London Uni, live in Suffolk and have a husband from Lancashire, so feel a kinship with these characters. Can’t wait for the next one.

Will make you laugh and cry.

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Great story beautifully narrated.
Poignant but also funny, the author has done a great job of capturing the era.

Lovely read

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Emma Gregorys performance was impeccable, right voice and intonations for the time ( early 20th century onwards) and all the accents very credible, some praise considering how many she had to get her tongue around- a real tour de force. The story seemed a a bit marathon in parts, but it was well worth sticking with it, a heartening and compassionate story, told with honesty and understanding of this ‘human’ race, Very well worth keeping in your library for a re-read.

A touchingly told compassionate story

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absolutely brilliant, Betty Church is fabulous, the setting is terrific, looking forward to more books

Splendid writing,story and characters!

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I think this is my favourite MRC Kasasian book so far. I've read all three of the Betty Church series and all the Gower Street series. This book offered to fill in some background and strengthen the ties between the two series. It was well constructed, a real mystery that led you down one path only to twist the plot with genuine surprises. I'm invested in the recurring characters and want to know what happens to them as much as how the mystery unfolds. The cliff hanger at the end ensures I need to know when the next book is released to find out the next phase. Great story.
Emma Gregory is a wonderful reader who compliments these books so well.

My favourite so far

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