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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)

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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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I’ve listened to all of the series and I found this one the best yet, really enjoyable and looking forward to the next one hopefully soon

Wonderful book

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This book was a pleasure to listen to.
It’s quirky humour evident throughout and Emma Gregory is possibly the best narrator around.

Love this writer and narrator

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I was very surprised by this story! it really is a great read! well thought out and I loved that it was set in 1940's so accurately! great story!

the ghost tree

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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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