Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace

Miss Blaine's Prefect #2

by Olga Wojtas

Never underestimate a librarian. Readers learned that lesson with the Prefect’s first adventure ( Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar , which Publishers Weekly called “marvelous” and “a laugh-out-loud farce” in their starred review). Now a certain Count from Transylvania is about to learn it as well, when the intrepid Shona McMonagle (comfortably padded, in her middle years, and a whiz at obscure martial arts) time-travels to 19th-century France to help a village being menaced by a mysterious killer. It’s true that Dracula’s name has for more than a hundred years been a byword for terror, but nothing can stop an agent trained by the Marcia Blaine School for Girls.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Vampires

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2020

About the author

Olga Wojtas was born and brought up in Edinburgh where she attended James Gillespie s High School the model for Marcia Blaine School for Girls, which appears in Muriel Spark s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She was encouraged to write by an inspirational English teacher there, Iona M. Cameron. Olga won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2015 and has had more than 30 short stories published in magazines and anthologies.

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review on my website www.bookread2day.Wordpress.com Twitter@bookpage5

I didn’t read Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar. But I have just finished Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace A murderous mission in fin-de-siecle France, that can be read as a standalone. I enjoyed this fresh different story. I have to say Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Mence is absolutely Superbly written, the setting keeps you guessing where this story is going. I loved this book with a sort of mixture of fantasy fiction taking place in certain parts. I thought it was quite funny with a range of characters from a police officer, an undertaker and a cheesemonger.

What glued me to the story was the mystery surrounding to what happened to Shona Aurora McMonagale, she wasn’t wearing a head torch when she was in the Morningside Library and how could there be a hall of mirrors with endless reflections with mirrors being mirrored? These first things kept me guessing what had taken place. And there is more mystery about a husband who is dead, Madeleine went to his funeral but she claims her husband is not dead. Surely if Madeleine went to her own husbands funeral he must be dead, no matter what she was feeling? There is far more to this scene where Madeleine is sure her husband hasn’t been buried. It takes a lot of work for a writer to come up with a plan for a new book with voices that readers will find entertaining and I think that Olga Wojtas is a very clever author, that’s builds exciting characters and settings for them.

Here is a a few lines of this well written book, that captured my attention, needing to read on.

I was in the dark. Literally and metaphorically. What would happen if I moved? I might plunge to my doom or step in something unsavoury. A risk not worth taking. I stood stock-still., pretty difficult condsidering I was still suffering the severe abdominal pain that is a side effect of time travel.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmmmm.... I picked these two books up because what was written on the back of the first book - 'who's likely to like this? Fans of Jasper Fforde ....and of librarians' - well that's me - I am a Librarian and like Jasper Fforde - especially his Tuesday Next series. From the book descriptions I was expecting a Tuesday Next character/heroine. She was smart and could kick ass. Shona McMonagle is not really a likeable character. At least, I don't like her - she's not funny or particularly smart. Yes, she knows a lot of stuff when she is ALWAYS ready to tell/correct/ people but she completed gets the details of her adventures wrong - although, maybe that's the funny part of the books. That is the other thing - I didn't laugh once - neither book was funny. Also, as a Librarian - I don't like the fact that she's always pulling a specific novel from the shelves --- there's a reason for this but unless you've read the novel (and I haven't) or seen the movie (I haven't) it doesn't make any sense. And by the end of book 2 she's removing another novel from the shelves. I know this is fiction but in these times -that it's a Librarian doing that really pisses me off. As for the plot of the two novels - she goes back in time and isn't told what her mission is so she's in the dark -like the reader. But even after reading the books, I am still unclear, why she had to go back to those particular times - to do exactly what? None of the people are important to history and the goals are so unimportant...and a bit silly. Is the silly the Jasper Fforde part of the story? Shona is a character from contemporary times sent in the past -but she's pedantic, a bit self-righteous, prideful, a bit jingoistic, misunderstands the world/people/situations around her, bossy, and not any fun. This series is not for me.

[Lynn P · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book begins with Shona McMonagle finding herself in the past not knowing when or where in the world she is, but finds a note saying "Remember you must die"........ after stepping out of a coffin. So begins the mystery!

Shona is definitely her own woman and it was nice to have a heroine who was in the 50+ age bracket for a change. Goodness what a fabulous school Marcia Blaine Academy must be as Shona can turn her hand to anything and knows no fear. When I began the book I was wondering if she was going to be more of a Johnny English character. But I was wrong, as she can take on an assassin not only with bare hands but also with her acerbic tongue. Fearing she had been cast to the past by Miss Blaine with no safety net, I was reassured when Shona tried to spend to freely and her purse became firmly shut! Miss Blaine it would appear did have her back.

Keen to establish she is Scottish and not English, her witticisms were unparalleled in my reading experience. She also has a ready knowledge of history which was an education in itself. Not to mention the clarification provided around vampires.

Having read Jasper Fford I can see why the author has been compared to him, she has the same quirky, other world presence in the book. This is the second book in the series - however, I had not read the first one and the book can be read as a standalone.

If you are looking for an escapist read which has been written with intellect and wit, then this is the book for you. I miss Shona already and look forward to meeting with her again.

I'm giving this fabulous book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Love Book Tours for the invite to the blog tour.

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like no other. Olga's first book Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar sets off in the same vague direction, but this takes "bonkers" to new extremes. Let's be quite clear about this: Olga Wojtas is an exceptionally funny woman, both in person and in print, and in The Vampire Menace her sense of humour is well and truly let off the leash. Like Shona MacMonagle, Morningside-librarian/time-travelling detective, Olga is a product of the real-life Miss Marcia Blaine School for Girls (aka James Gillespie's High). This is the ultimate in Edinburgh humour, and there are so many local references that my only concern would be that a non-local reader (or as Shona would say, someone less well-educated) would miss the nuances. But I got them all. And yes, Ms MacMonagle, as an FP of one of your target schools I think you probably could have withered me with one of your 'looks'.

Plot? It took a while to work it out: be patient. Somehow or other it's being sold as "crime fiction", but it's really a merry romp and the detective story bit is just an excuse for hurtling Shona MacMonagle back in time to collide with some characters from the past. On this occasion, the unfortunate era is the turn of the 20th century, and it's not exactly a plot spoiler to say that a vampire is involved. Not that you should expect any Wojtas characters to be like real people: if it's credibility you're looking for, I'm afraid you're dining in the wrong restaurant here. But boy, this is funny. I had to give up reading it in bed at night because I kept waking my wife up by laughing out loud.

I've read other bonkers books that just about fit into the same genre. Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is bizarre, but I hated that. James Hamilton-Paterson wrote three books including Cooking with Fernet Branca featuring Gerald Samper, who's every bit as insufferable as Ms MacMonagle, but then the author rather ran out of steam.

This is wonderful. Olga Wojtas has created a potential beast (or monster) of a series that could run and run in the future. Bravo.

(I actually read the paperback edition, but that doesn't come up on Goodreads with the pretty icon.)

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the Miss Blaine's Prefect series, I enjoyed the first one a lot so had to listen to this one next.
This time Shona McMonagle is sent on a mission isolated French mountain village where she must solve a mystery involving the mayor, the cheesemonger, the soprano Mary Garden, and even Count Dracula himself. Confusing right?
Again I found myself laughing throughout with Shona’s wit, especially when the villagers didn’t understand what she was saying, and her getting very annoyed at people saying she was from England rather than Scotland.

This is a light-hearted cosy mystery, it is such a fun audiobook.
Olga Wojtas narrates it beautifully.

[Georgina Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fab cosy mystery series that I’m definitely going to continue with. I loved this and the fact that the author narrated it herself was even better. The constant arguing about being English or Scottish was funny, I don’t think even by the end they really understood where Shona was from.

There are some great characters in the village, and some not so great, but all were well written and felt like friends by the end. I didn’t wok out who the criminal was, but once it was revealed it made sense - all the clues were there for you to grasp. There is also lots of laughs and sarcasm throughout, just perfect.

A great standalone too, as this is book 2 in the series. My review of book 3 will be up in a few days 😊

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delighfully silly (maybe just a smidgeon too much at times) and hugely entertaining.

[kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book in this series that I love. These stories never fail to make me laugh out loud and this one was no exception.

It is well written with a compelling storyline, this one involving Shona having to travel back to france to deal with a vampire problem, which once again had me wanting to be right there with her.
I listened to the audiobook and I loved it, the narrator does a fantastic job. I couldn't help laughing.

The characters are as always well developed and once again I quickly took them all to my heart.

I love this series and I will definitely be looking out for this author, whether in this series or something else, in the future.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love the art on the book covers, Librarian and time traveling novel.
Word comes to mind is Tedious... As I'm following along on the narrative with a constant question of What is the Mission?!
Trying to give this book an off chance that'll keep me interested..

[Jeannine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is even sillier than the first in the serious. Getting a little to goofy for me, but still a fun book.

[Jane Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shona McMonagle is an enigmatic and decidedly quirky character, which is just as well, because 'Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace', is a strange tale. It takes a little getting into, especially if this is your first encounter with the talented librarian, a former prefect of Miss Blaine's academy, and now intrepid time traveller. The adventure is standalone but would be more immersive if you were familiar with the character, and the reasons for time travel. Read the first book if you can. before embarking on this.

Set in the ominous-sounding French village Sans-Soleil, Shona has to extricate herself from a coffin and a room full of mirrors before finding out, where she is. The first people she meets are frankly strange, and she soon finds typical of the village. The story is a complex blend of history, historical characters and mind-blowing fiction, and it works. To enjoy this you have to accept the intricate world-building and immerse yourself in the adventure, and acerbic very witty humour, both verbal and visual.

The plot is absorbing, full of historical facts and historical characters, who are cleverly blended with the fictional ones. Shona is certain of her capabilities, and she is undoubtedly intelligent and well-educated, the perfect advertisement for Miss Blaine's academy, However, she is not the most intuitive of amateur sleuth's and there are many examples of dramatic irony in this story. The reader knows more than the protagonist, or at least understands, what they are reading. This makes for many humorous moments.

Shona's thought processes and dialogue with her fellow characters are witty and enjoyable. The distinctly Scottish humour can be appreciated wherever you hail from.

The story is well-paced and written with visual imagery, that lets the reader enjoy the period and setting, as well as the relentless adventure.

If you enjoy an original, unique reading experience, this is something you should read.

I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

[Kristel Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of this audiobook for review.

Shona McMonagle embarks on a new mission and time travels to 19th century France, to a small village where the locals are being terrorised by a murderer. People are “dying” in bizarre ways but one woman, Madeline is convinced that her husband isn’t dead only missing. Shona doesn’t know who she must protect so she investigates the mysterious events to try to find the person she is there to save. This process is hampered by the town’s weird obsession with cheese and the cagey/conflicting stories she is hearing about what happened to the victims, making it hard for Shona to trust everyone around her.

On top of all that the village is gearing up for their post-famous and popular yearly event – The Cheese Festival – but there appears to be both a lack of cows as well as processed cheese which seems to be a worrying development though no one is addressing it. She pretends to be an international visitor to the festival in the hopes of endearing herself to locals which doesn’t always work to her advantage. But when she meets the village’s most famous inhabitant, Dracula, Shona starts to believe that vampires may have something to do with the deaths, but she soon gets in way over her head and even her nifty head torch can’t help her to see the light.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 This was a of murder mystery/fantasy tale. Shona was a great character as she was an effortlessly snarky and unlikely action hero. She had a forthright and charming approach to investing and the oddball/endearing characters in the village. The story had plenty of laughs with the locals' continued refusal to acknowledge that Shona was Scottish and not English, the reactions to her wanting tea in the first place and then having the audacity to look for milk in it and the numerous misunderstandings and innuendos throughout the story. It did drag a little in the middle as it lost its momentum, but the ending was wrapped up well with plenty of hijinks to keep me entertained. Overall, a fun story with clever one-liners and intriguing characters.

[Chrystyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace by Olga Wojtas - good fun

For those that haven't read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, Ms Brodie is a teacher at the, fictional, Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh and her girls are the creme de la creme!

Shona Aurora McMonagle is a fiftysomething Librarian in Morningside, an ex pupil and a timetraveller despatched on missions by the ghost of Miss Blaine herself. The problem is that Shona never has much in the way of warning (stomach ache), no instructions about where she is going or what she is to do, she just arrives wearing appropriate clothing and with her luggage containing the tools she will need.

This time she is sent to fin de siecle France to a little village called San Soleil (the mountains prevent direct sunlight) where something strange is going on. Four men have been killed by wild animals and the widow of the Policeman is convinced he isn't dead. On top of this, the Mayor is rushing about and panicking about the village celebrations that are just days away.

Shona has just seven days to work out what she needs to do and who she is actually there to help.

I still find Shona mildly annoying with her wilful inability to see what is going on despite it being patently obvious to everyone else, but this is another entertaining romp which requires very little thought or concentration just what I was needing.

#review

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can really see the advances from the first book to this, the second. Although there are too many overheard conversations dangling plot threads, Shona remains as determinedly unsinkable, and as liable to completely misinterpret what she's seeing and hearing, as before; the difference is that this time, the plot machinations to which she's deaf are not at all obvious, which improves matters. (In fact, their ultimate explanation is transcendently silly, perhaps a semi-veiled reference to a famous mishearing from Life of Brian.) This time, she's off to a remote French village around 1900, dispensing offhand culinary and artistic advice avant la lettre, and instructing insufficiently alert villagers to the benefits of exercise and learning and the dangers of gender stereotyping--they keep calling why her trusty DMs soldier's boots. The funniest subplot to me is Shona's stenuous Edinburgh chauvinism, particularly her oft-repeated and vocal disdain for things that are English or from Glasgow. The second-funniest are the hidden misapprehensions uniting The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Dracula, as the actual vampire explains to her. Equally silly as, and better constructed than, the first novel. Fourth one seems to be out, though apparently only in the UK as yet. Will I brave the exchange rate? Perhaps. I feel Shona would approve of it as an exercise of personal autonomy, though she might also shudder at its want of frugality.

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 2 out of 5]

BOOK REPORT
Writing the same Book Report for both of the first two books in this series by Olga Wojtas—Miss Blaine’s Prefect series and the Golden Samovar, and Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace—because my reaction to them was the same.

Sigh.

I wanted to like them so much more than I actually did. I mean, our main protagonist is a strong and modern Scottish female librarian in her 50s who’s time traveling and solving mysteries!! And dealing with the supernatural! Y’all! So many of my boxes, checked, checked, checked.

Alas, the humor was more farcical than witty. It finally dawned on me part of the way through the first book that Our Shona could probably be considered a 21st century Inspector Clouseau, the bumbling and incompetent French Sûreté detective in the Blake Edwards Pink Panther movie series, who himself was modeled after Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. (Who, it must be said just in case you’ve never read those books nor seen any of the movies, was neither bumbling nor incompetent.)

There was _just_ enough smartness and humor (particularly Glasgow-related humor) in the first book to make me hope that with the second book, Ms Wojtas would up her game and be a little more subtle with the farce, and make the whole mystery mission a more believable/understandable one.

Alas and alack.

So, no more of this series for me.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Librarian Shona McMonagle is picked again as an emissary for Miss Blaine, her mentor and founder of the school Shona attended. This time, it may be as a punishment for allowing a certain book by Dame Muriel Spark to sully the shelves of the library. Be that as it may, Shona finds herself in a remote French alpine village, circa about 1900, with no idea whom she's supposed to be helping. She feels a little bit of the tell-tale tingle that identifies the beneficiary of her deeds when she's near the beautiful widowed Madeleine, who is convinced that Shona is working with the perhaps-corrupt mayor and the other town officials. Madeleine, who comes from a neighboring village, is convinced that her husband, who was the local policeman, is still alive and resents those who try to tell her differently. The only anomaly in the village is the nearby castle of a milord who is not English, as the natives think, but Scottish--if he isn't Transylvanian. It takes a while for Shona to figure out what's really going on, but it's delightful to read about it.

[Gloria Cangahuala · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read the first book in this series, but I don't think it's necessary; this book stood alone just fine. Shona McMonagle, a librarian, time travels to 19th-century France to help a village that is being menaced by an unseen evil force that thus far has apparently claimed the lives of four men.

I kept waiting for the "vampire menace" part of the book, but it took a good 1/2 of the book before we really get into it. Don't get me wrong, the book was entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny in parts. I loved Shona McMonagle to bits. I loved the Dracula character. But I guess I was expecting more of a dark, menacing plot, rather than the light-hearted plot that it actually was. So my expectations were all wrong, and I guess that's why I was disappointed, since the book was focused more on Shona and her quirks than it was on any real vampire plotline.

Overall, I'd give this book more like 3.5 stars than 3 stars, but that's about it.

[N.L. Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cross between Doctor Hill and Miss Marple.

When Shona wakes up inside a coffin in a hall full of mirrors, things seem very strange. However, things only get stranger as Shona meets the residents of the village.

With not having any information on her mission Shona must use what she has and works out who is in need of her help while uncovering what's really happening in the village.

This was a fun listen to. I was slightly stumped to know what was happening at first as this was my first in this series but that didn't stop me and I was quickly intrigued.

I couldn't help but laugh at the villagers and how awful they were, and at the lack of common sense they had, this reminded me of characters in a Roald Dahl book.

This was a really enjoyable audio and I would easily recommend this to other people and listen to the rest of the series

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept behind this series is slightly odd: the necessity to keep all copies of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie out of the library, combined with time travel to solve unknown issues. When Shona McGonigle finds herself in a secluded and shadowy French village in 1900, she is immediately aware that something is wrong there, but not only doesn't she know what, she also doesn't know how to find out. So she stumbles about, making inaccurate conclusion after inaccurate conclusion, until the truth is forced upon her.

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendously entertaining: the DM wearing librarian heads off to late 19th century rural France to solve a problem she does not even quite identify until nearly the end. Debussy and Mary Garden feature, hilariously, and if it’s all a tremendous muddle it all works out in the end so this very flawed heroine can live to fight another day!

[Hannah F · Rating 1 out of 5]

how the bloody hell is there a 2nd book when the first one was a hellish train wreck. explaining nothing and messing up past present future horribly.

just the summary of this one is more gobble ygook .ystarrung an i ncomponent arrogant bugger. You've been warned.

[Connie Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A definite improvement over the first book; although, the first half of the book was disappointing. However, the author finally seems to be getting the hang of writing a tongue-in-cheek, laugh-out-loud mystery. Hope, the third in the series shows continued improvement.

[Tammy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe I read this whole book. I kept going, thinking "this can't get any worse". But it did.

In the beginning I thought it was an Amelia Bedillia type of story and character... it wasn't, there was no cleverness, it was just awful.

[Debra Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A time traveling librarian is sent to help someone in an isolated French village with an odd lot of citizens & 'leaders', an atypical vampire, and a cheese problem.
Who exactly is Shona McGonagle supposed to save?
This off the wall tale is bonkers and quite fun.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up because it was supposed to be good for fans of Jasper Fforde. Unfortunately, it was not funny at all. I could see where she was trying to do absurdist humor, but it just fell flat for me. I think the main character was supposed to be charmingly obtuse, but she was just annoying.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully playful and lighthearted - loved this book!

[Ruth Coward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fun Read!

Shona is on a time travel mission again in her usual confident, no nonsense manner. I love the clever wit and ridiculousness!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hoot. I chuckled out loud at the absurd asides and was thoroughly amused.

[Kelly Barum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful find.

[Jenny Engelbrektsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This intellectual, moronic heroine makes me furious, but she also makes me laugh out loud at times, and that counts for a big something!