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The Mangle Street Murders cover art

The Mangle Street Murders

By: M. R. C. Kasasian
Narrated by: Emma Gregory
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Summary

Gower Street, London, 1882: Sidney Grice, London's most famous personal detective, is expecting a visitor. He drains his fifth pot of morning tea, and glances outside, where a young, plain woman picks her way between the piles of horse-dung towards his front door. Sidney Grice shudders. For heaven's sake - she is wearing brown shoes. The Mangle Street Murders is for those who like their crime original, atmospheric, and very, very funny.

©2013 M. R. C. Kasasian (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"One of the most delightful and original new novels of the year, this is the first in a series that could well become a cult. Grice and Middleton promise to become a positive treat. Catch them now." ( Daily Mail)

What listeners say about The Mangle Street Murders

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not Quite My Pot of Tea

Attracted by the number of positive reviews I decided to give this one a spin. It's clearly being enjoyed by a lot of people. It just wasn't on my frequency though, I've possibly read one or two too many books where it's a smugness competition between two equally clever and dumb lead protagonists.

It's well read by Emma Gregory. I thought her performance and delivery suited the book very well. Indeed there were some very good parts. March's childhood memories of being taken to a hanging by her father were powerful. There were also one or two genuinely amusing scenes including the two police constables with the grappling hooks by the marsh.

In the end though, it didn't quite grab me as it obviously has others. I think the smug characters came dangerously close to caricatures and once the lack of humanity in the Grice character failed to make me laugh it was uphill going. The publisher describing the book as "very, very funny" definitely felt a shade over-optimistic.

Still, lots of others like it and it does have a clever plot so there are certainly worse ways to spend a credit!

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61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not actually funny at all, depressing.

What disappointed you about The Mangle Street Murders?

Billed as 'very, very funny', this wasn't. Unless of course you like child abuse, sociopaths (proper ones, not the nice TV ones) and an anti-hero with no redeemable features. I have a dark sense of humour, but this wasn't that. At one point, casually thrown into a short scene, a mother chooses not to take her baby to the doctors because at least it will be 'one less mouth to feed' if it dies. This is just after she offers to have sex with one of the characters whilst still nursing the baby. The piece of hubris in the middle where the author suggests his character inspired the writing of another, far more famous detective, is conceited and clichéd. It's fine, if you like that sort of thing, but not as billed.

What will your next listen be?

Probably some Brandon Sanderson, Agatha Raisin or Dick Francis.

What aspect of Emma Gregory’s performance might you have changed?

A little less emo, but that might have been the book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Mangle Street Murders?

None, it is the overall style and story that is at issue. The characters have no real impact, what happens would have happened without them. If anything they make it slightly worse.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bravo and now for the next book!

I purchased this book on a whim and expected it to be a light hearted but fairly vacuous spoof. Instead I was delighted to find that this is a witty but gripping detective story with two very engaging characters in the lead. March is a beguiling heroine, brought up on the battlefield by her army doctor father and with the sensibilities of a modern woman living within the constraints of Victorian society. Her guardian Sidney Grice is a notorious detective with uncompromisingly despicable views. Their relationship is therefore a thunderous war of attrition and the joy of this story is their entertaining and occasionally hilarious sparring matches. Listen out for March's brilliant retort to the despicable police officer and Sidney's battles with his too large glass eye. Absolute gold dust.

The narrator pulls this of brilliantly and this was a fabulous listening experience. I am so happy there are more books in this series and will undoubtably purchase them all.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Tries too hard

This Sherlock Holmes inspired pastiche tries too hard to be funny. Unlike Conan Doyle, Kasasian doesn’t give his anti-hero detective any redeeming qualities so he just comes across as unlikeable. I won’t be listening to the rest of the series.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Fun

How to describe this story?? Homage? Parody? Satire? Whatever it's described as, if you enjoy the Holmes stories but are not a purest or scholar, you should enjoy this book. The main character has many of the traits of the great man but also, in some case, the opposite. I will not give anything away but I found this book witty and quite enthralling. There are many 'in jokes' which raised a smile. Looking forward to more.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Rare Treat

Where does The Mangle Street Murders rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I couldn't possibly say where The Mangle Street Murders ranks amongst all the audio books that I have listened to so far - I listen to a prodigious number. Suffice to say that I rated it highly enough to write a review, something that I have not done before.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the way that the story presented itself as a Victorian penny dreadful quite realistically, whilst in fact being a pastiche. The humour was written with a light hand and was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

Have you listened to any of Emma Gregory’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Emma Gregory's other performances but thoroughly enjoyed her work this time with only one exception - her consistent mispronunciation of the words 'pince nez'! I have to say that it nearly drove me mad, in fact it is the only reason why I did not give her performance five stars! Normally pince nez do not crop up that frequently in the average novel but sadly in this one they did!

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Glass eyes and pince nez :)

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Funny, entertaining and unpredictable

Would you listen to The Mangle Street Murders again? Why?

Yes, the plot twists and turns and the subtle humour would be great for a re-listen.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and quick wit.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh out loud on several dog walks!

Any additional comments?

Really good book for those mystery lovers who like humour to the dark side.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Unfunny Victorian personal detective

Bought this as it had great reviews.

Unfortunately not my cup of tea. It was described as very funny, but this was grossly exaggerated.

Sidney Grice personal detective and hero of the hour has nothing likeable in his character. March his charge and side kick is moderately likeable but still rather silly.

The story was good, and I liked the Victorian setting, however there are lots of funny detective stories out there to chose from.
This one infortunately failed to deliver by making the principal characters so unlikeable.

On a positive note Emma Gregory was a good narrator.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lighthearted,fun victorian who done it.

Any additional comments?

Absolutely enjoyed this Victorian who done it starring Sidney Grice and his young ward, March Middleton. A successful personal detective Sidney has few redeeming qualities. He is rude, lacks compassion and is sure he is always right. What makes this novel so different is the wonderfully witty dialogue between he and March and the fact that March more than holds her own.
Although I must say the author must be glad Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain,this book does not just pay homage to it-it positively steals from it.A brilliant personal detective, who has been befriended by a London police inspector, despite being anti-social to the extreme, has a protege who he reluctantly allows to help solve cases. And the protege happens to have a wealth of medical knowledge.His protege is a women who gained her knowledge helping her father who served as a medical officer in India (close enough!).
OH and he wants his protege to write about him and the cases he solved...sound familiar?
However I did find this book a breath of fresh air in a genre that often is rather serious and gory.
I would recommend this to anyone wanting a light ,none too serious listen...but if you like something to get your teeth into this will not be for you.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very good read

This detective story did not disappoint. The main character was absolutely brilliantly constructed. The relationship between him and his ward was extremely entertaining.

The narration was perfectly performed, allowing the story to flow seamlessly.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who want to read a light and entertaining book.

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12 people found this helpful