London in the late 1980s - the era of Thatcherism and Loadsamoney - is an exciting but sometimes dangerous place to live. Fitzroy Maclean Angel gets by partly through gigging as a jazz trumpet player, partly through taking illegal fares in his de-registered black taxi cab, and partly through ... well, just being in the right place at the right time. And, as he often says himself, it's better to be lucky than good.In Angel Touch, his second escapade, the streetsmart Angel comes to the aid of his neighbour, the sexy financial analyst Salome, and finds himself carrying out an undercover investigation into an insider trading scam amongst the coked-up whizzkids and mega-rich wheeler-dealers of the City. And things turn even nastier when a fatal car crash turns out to be anything but an accident ...Back in print for the first time in a decade are the first three titles in Mike Ripley's acclaimed 'Angel' series of comic crime novels. Each title is handsomely packaged and contains an specially-written introduction by the author.
Mike Ripley is the author of the award-winning 'Angel' series of comedy thrillers which have twice won the CWA Last Laugh Award. It has been said that he 'paints a picture of London Dickens would recognise' and that 'he writes like the young Len Deighton, wierd and wonderful information and very, very funny'. Described as 'England's funniest crime writer' (The Times), he is also a respected critic of crime fiction, writing for the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and the Birmingham Post among others.
An engaging and fun lead character along with his quirky friends and flatmates were the main attractions of this mystery set in London. Since it was written in the late 1980s the tech was pretty dated but the plot still worked, it was well written, and quite humorous.
Fabulous little mystery book, with winning underdog, slightly dodgy characters who come out on top with wit and humour. Wholly worth-while.
On a entirely separate note, the edition I read also had some of the most atrocious type-setting ever, remarkably small and cramped. Really. And I still really liked the book.