Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire

Awkward attempts at humor and a dull plot mar this spinoff from Kasasian’s Gower Street series (Dark Dawn over Steep House, etc.). Betty Church, the goddaughter of eccentric detective Sidney Grice’s ward, March Middleton, has fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a Metropolitan Police sergeant. When she’s about to be invalided out of the force after losing a hand in the line of duty, Middleton pulls strings with the Home Secretary to ensure that Betty gets promoted to inspector and assigned to the East Suffolk Constabulary. There, she confronts rampant sexism and a string of baffling killings attributed to a vampire. The first victim, a junk shop owner, had wounds under his jaw that resemble tooth marks. Later, a seed merchant at a railway station dies from a bloody throat wound in broad daylight, and bystanders report seeing someone in a batlike cloak fleeing the scene. General silliness, including character names that smack of parody such as Fradigor Strynge, slows the momentum. Readers looking for a good balance of comedy and crime should stick with Lynne Truss. (Sept.)