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Angela Tate Investigations #1
The Loyal Servant
Imagine for a moment: you're a mother of three and conscientious government employee, keeping your head down, trying to avoid the latest round of lay-offs, when you discover the schools minister slumped over his desk. Whiskey bottle and scattered pills lying next to his lifeless body tell their own story.
But you know for a fact the minister wouldn't take his own life. What do you do? Kick up a stink and risk losing your job? Or pretend nothing is wrong?
For loyal servant Caroline Barber, there is only one option. When her awkward questions result in the disappearance of crucial evidence from the minister's office, she is compelled to dig deeper.
The corruption she uncovers is scandalous enough to topple the government. But now she's raised her head above the parapet she has attracted the attention of powerful adversaries.
Way out of her depth and risking the safety of her family, will Caroline get the chance to blow the whistle? Or will her enemies silence her for good?
But you know for a fact the minister wouldn't take his own life. What do you do? Kick up a stink and risk losing your job? Or pretend nothing is wrong?
For loyal servant Caroline Barber, there is only one option. When her awkward questions result in the disappearance of crucial evidence from the minister's office, she is compelled to dig deeper.
The corruption she uncovers is scandalous enough to topple the government. But now she's raised her head above the parapet she has attracted the attention of powerful adversaries.
Way out of her depth and risking the safety of her family, will Caroline get the chance to blow the whistle? Or will her enemies silence her for good?
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
261 people are currently reading
648 people want to read
About the author
Eva Hudson
36 books100 followersEva Hudson was born and raised in south London. Before taking up writing seriously at the age of 43, Eva worked as a local government officer, singer, dotcom entrepreneur, portrait artist, web designer, project manager and content editor.
In 2011 her first novel, The Loyal Servant, won the inaugural Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize from Cambridge University. The book was also shortlisted for UK TV's People's Novelist Competition.
In 2013, Eva received a terminal cancer diagnosis and this spurred her on to write the book she always wanted to read, a female Jack Reacher adventure. She created Ingrid Skyberg, an FBI agent working out the US embassy in London who's tenacious, resilient and determined, qualities Eva herself had in abundance as she went through treatment. Before she died in 2015, Eva had published four Skyberg books. She also left an unfinished manuscript and notes for future adventures with her partner and editor Jo Monroe who continues to write the series.
For more information, visit evahudson.com and follow Eva on Twitter @Eva_Hudson.
In 2011 her first novel, The Loyal Servant, won the inaugural Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize from Cambridge University. The book was also shortlisted for UK TV's People's Novelist Competition.
In 2013, Eva received a terminal cancer diagnosis and this spurred her on to write the book she always wanted to read, a female Jack Reacher adventure. She created Ingrid Skyberg, an FBI agent working out the US embassy in London who's tenacious, resilient and determined, qualities Eva herself had in abundance as she went through treatment. Before she died in 2015, Eva had published four Skyberg books. She also left an unfinished manuscript and notes for future adventures with her partner and editor Jo Monroe who continues to write the series.
For more information, visit evahudson.com and follow Eva on Twitter @Eva_Hudson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
September 4, 2013
It's been awhile since I read a British political crime novel and I was not disappointed in this Lucy Cavendish Award winner. Americans may find this plot slow and maybe a little unexciting compared to the accelerated action in most of their own, but I enjoyed it.
Caroline is an ordinary public servant who stumbles across the suspected murder of a hitherto unassuming colleague. Just how hidden his depths are she is about to discover, to her and her family's cost.
Joining up with an older, hard-boiled journalist who is fighting to keep her job, Caroline is whipped into a rapidly changing work environment - to say the least of it. The women are determined to discover why everything in Caroline's department is being wiped, people are being transferred out of the office or disappearing and even police officers she trusts are deployed to other stations. Are these things co-incidental or is a massive cover-up being perpetrated?
I liked the pace of this story - as an Australian, I am used to the English way of writing - and can understand and enjoy the nuances contained in the script. Ordinary the characters are not, from Caroline's mum, Jean - a professional geriatric demonstrator - Caroline's husband, Pete, who is far more involved than he wants to be - and obviously to Caroline herself, who is in fact, no ordinary woman.
There is a lot more to this novel than meets the eye and a discerning reader should be well able to keep up with the twists in the plot.
Caroline is an ordinary public servant who stumbles across the suspected murder of a hitherto unassuming colleague. Just how hidden his depths are she is about to discover, to her and her family's cost.
Joining up with an older, hard-boiled journalist who is fighting to keep her job, Caroline is whipped into a rapidly changing work environment - to say the least of it. The women are determined to discover why everything in Caroline's department is being wiped, people are being transferred out of the office or disappearing and even police officers she trusts are deployed to other stations. Are these things co-incidental or is a massive cover-up being perpetrated?
I liked the pace of this story - as an Australian, I am used to the English way of writing - and can understand and enjoy the nuances contained in the script. Ordinary the characters are not, from Caroline's mum, Jean - a professional geriatric demonstrator - Caroline's husband, Pete, who is far more involved than he wants to be - and obviously to Caroline herself, who is in fact, no ordinary woman.
There is a lot more to this novel than meets the eye and a discerning reader should be well able to keep up with the twists in the plot.
January 30, 2014
Really a good read, and pretty real. Indeed so real at times I was pretty darned irritated by middle-aged indecisive women, until I realised that none of us is ready to handle the kind of thugs that powerful people can employ to get their requirements filled...
It wasn't only that; even the everyday family things such as a teenage boy, and a mother's fear about interfering with him and his friends, could get irritating, but then again one has to realise that that is what families are all about, and who's perfect?
The story though, is quite powerful. I can imagine that the civil service can indeed be cruel, not just in England, but in the USA, and Australia too. And when powerful people decide to break the law and decide to make sure nobody knows about it, well, that's what the story is about, and it's well worth reading.
I gathered this might be one of her first. I highly recommend it.
It wasn't only that; even the everyday family things such as a teenage boy, and a mother's fear about interfering with him and his friends, could get irritating, but then again one has to realise that that is what families are all about, and who's perfect?
The story though, is quite powerful. I can imagine that the civil service can indeed be cruel, not just in England, but in the USA, and Australia too. And when powerful people decide to break the law and decide to make sure nobody knows about it, well, that's what the story is about, and it's well worth reading.
I gathered this might be one of her first. I highly recommend it.
July 21, 2018
A Whitehall conspiracy with a civil servant and a cynical journalist allied to uncover the connections. Takes far too long to get going.
December 3, 2013
I am not a reader of political thrillers in general and it took me a while to get into the story. In fact, it felt like nothing much was happening for the first third or so. Then the pace ramped up and I could hardly put the book down. I won't go through the plot, but I'll concentrate on on what I liked and didn't enjoy.
Firstly, I liked the characters of Caroline and Angela. They are both strong women and I felt I was really with them.
The male characters of the book tended to come across as weaker - Freddie Larson, Pete, Martin Fox are all good examples. I'm not sure what Eva Hudson intends us to read anything into this or not. In reality, I like to see positive and negative attributes across the sexes and I have marked the book down as a 4 to take this into account, along with the slow start.
The plot was good though and the dialogue and writing kept the story sharp and interesting after the first 80 pages or so. I recommend this as an entertaining read and will be reading More from Eva Hudson. Another good British find through the Kindle English Mystery Book Club at Goodreads.
Firstly, I liked the characters of Caroline and Angela. They are both strong women and I felt I was really with them.
The male characters of the book tended to come across as weaker - Freddie Larson, Pete, Martin Fox are all good examples. I'm not sure what Eva Hudson intends us to read anything into this or not. In reality, I like to see positive and negative attributes across the sexes and I have marked the book down as a 4 to take this into account, along with the slow start.
The plot was good though and the dialogue and writing kept the story sharp and interesting after the first 80 pages or so. I recommend this as an entertaining read and will be reading More from Eva Hudson. Another good British find through the Kindle English Mystery Book Club at Goodreads.
November 7, 2014
Oh dear.............she lost me at 15% in when it turned into slapstick.......it just got daft and was enough for me, I'm afraid.
I was shocked to see this, too-"I'm so glad your home"...that's a big ouch. A sedan was mentioned at one point too which I thought strange as we're not in America. Then at one point it got silly with her offering WAY too much information to her boss (although speechmarks were dropped there as well). It continued to where we were at a protest and there's where the comedic element came in with a walking stick knocking off a policeman's helmet and I just glazed over.
As other reviewers had pointed out it was quite confusing as well. I was struggling in places and really wasn't enjoying it very much at all.
I was shocked to see this, too-"I'm so glad your home"...that's a big ouch. A sedan was mentioned at one point too which I thought strange as we're not in America. Then at one point it got silly with her offering WAY too much information to her boss (although speechmarks were dropped there as well). It continued to where we were at a protest and there's where the comedic element came in with a walking stick knocking off a policeman's helmet and I just glazed over.
As other reviewers had pointed out it was quite confusing as well. I was struggling in places and really wasn't enjoying it very much at all.
February 21, 2014
I really found this an enjoyable thriller that kept me engaged almost from the start. A civil servant discovers her minister dead at his desk and a reporter is intrigued by what his colleague might have been working on before he met with an accident - will their paths cross? Obviously the answer is yes but in a well worked and satisfying way. The characters worked well for me and the pace was very good indeed. I found the last 30% of so quite hard to put down. Maybe not the most challenging read but I mean that in a nice way - definitely a satisfying thriller and I'll read more of Eva Hudson's work as soon as I can, I've read charting thrillers that were not as good as this.
November 17, 2013
The Loyal Servant is a fast-paced, political paranoia thriller. There is a lot of plot (handled well except towards the end when things felt rushed) and a lot of characters. I did have problems with some of the characters. For example, Angela, the anything for the story newspaper reporter, is initially very unpleasant and never becomes likeable despite her role in the story. And the mother of titular character Caroline seems to be dramatically pointless (and irritating!). My problems with a few characters aside, I did find this book an engaging. fast read.
June 12, 2015
I guess I entirely missed the boat on this. I thought the plot dragged on endlessly. Could not bring myself to finish it and I read everything.The plot lines were very good but I could not stay with it.
July 13, 2014
Lost interest within the first 3 chapters. Maybe I will go back to it once I've read through the rest of my books.
July 25, 2023
Are we there yet? Terrific initial concept for a story, but such a winding tedious road to reach the end and then it wasn't the end.
After losing the evidence, finding the evidence, using the evidence only to be smote by the baddies influence. They then find the evidence again, lose it again and in the end, re-find it with the most predictable of devices that struck me from the first as being the place to look.
Along the way the heroine (who actually wasn't Angela Tate, and I wished it was because she was a far more interesting character) was lost in despair for a seemingly fractured family whom she seemed to care massively about but at the same time thought little of putting them at risk of being murdered, time and again.
Normal people would be far more concerned about their safety considering the level of threat they were repeatedly subjected to. Indeed there were crimes a plenty in the book, and yet there seemed to be zero repercussions... ok the influence of the baddies was a part of that lack of prosecution but then our heroes didn't get locked up either for a variety of crimes from espionage to breaking and entering, false imprisonment and assault. Had this been set in some surreal Bondesque world I could have coped with the huge plot holes and utterly pointless side stories but this book started off as something dressed in a possible reality.
At best its throw away reading, I'd say good for the beach but after reading a few chapters you would just leave it on a seat in a bar and then have nothing to read for the holiday. It's poor fare really. I give it two stars because the character's were well formed and somewhere in there is a good story. Its just wrapped up in too many layers of pointless words and actions.
After losing the evidence, finding the evidence, using the evidence only to be smote by the baddies influence. They then find the evidence again, lose it again and in the end, re-find it with the most predictable of devices that struck me from the first as being the place to look.
Along the way the heroine (who actually wasn't Angela Tate, and I wished it was because she was a far more interesting character) was lost in despair for a seemingly fractured family whom she seemed to care massively about but at the same time thought little of putting them at risk of being murdered, time and again.
Normal people would be far more concerned about their safety considering the level of threat they were repeatedly subjected to. Indeed there were crimes a plenty in the book, and yet there seemed to be zero repercussions... ok the influence of the baddies was a part of that lack of prosecution but then our heroes didn't get locked up either for a variety of crimes from espionage to breaking and entering, false imprisonment and assault. Had this been set in some surreal Bondesque world I could have coped with the huge plot holes and utterly pointless side stories but this book started off as something dressed in a possible reality.
At best its throw away reading, I'd say good for the beach but after reading a few chapters you would just leave it on a seat in a bar and then have nothing to read for the holiday. It's poor fare really. I give it two stars because the character's were well formed and somewhere in there is a good story. Its just wrapped up in too many layers of pointless words and actions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2022
This is a long, very complicated story. A good mixture of action and drama. The central figure, Caroline Barber, leads a complex life. She is a civil servant with big responsibilities. She also has a somewhat dysfunctional family. Children that don't communicate or are simply being teenagers. And her husband, Pete, has a major alcohol problem. Caroline tries to balance home and work life, many times not successfully.
As the story unfolds, the reader is taken on a wild ride in the British government. Much intrigue among power-hungry players. A surprising amount of misdeeds and heavy-handedness by people in power. Cover-ups that a journalist, Angela Tate, wants to expose and elicits Caroline's help to do it. The steps these women will go to put them and Caroline's family in grave danger.
The story is also complicated by the fact that chapters keep bouncing around among different plots and locales. It is difficult for someone not familiar with London to keep everything straight. It tried my patience frequently, but in the end it gave a measure of satisfaction.
As the story unfolds, the reader is taken on a wild ride in the British government. Much intrigue among power-hungry players. A surprising amount of misdeeds and heavy-handedness by people in power. Cover-ups that a journalist, Angela Tate, wants to expose and elicits Caroline's help to do it. The steps these women will go to put them and Caroline's family in grave danger.
The story is also complicated by the fact that chapters keep bouncing around among different plots and locales. It is difficult for someone not familiar with London to keep everything straight. It tried my patience frequently, but in the end it gave a measure of satisfaction.
August 17, 2021
Good Read.
Civil Servant Caroline wants to get to the bottom of her Government Minister colleagues death but she doesn't realise that will involve her in a government cover-up which gets very personal and puts her family at risk. She is up against her departmental boss who is a chauvinist and a bully with no repect for his staff. She doesn't trust her boss, the police, or the Media and turns to investigate journalist Angela Tate, who is very persuasive as Caroline tells her a big secret from her past, then uses her position within the government to hand over secret files. Working together will they be able to expose the government people, who will go to any extremes to keep the cover up under wraps, and keep her family safe.
Civil Servant Caroline wants to get to the bottom of her Government Minister colleagues death but she doesn't realise that will involve her in a government cover-up which gets very personal and puts her family at risk. She is up against her departmental boss who is a chauvinist and a bully with no repect for his staff. She doesn't trust her boss, the police, or the Media and turns to investigate journalist Angela Tate, who is very persuasive as Caroline tells her a big secret from her past, then uses her position within the government to hand over secret files. Working together will they be able to expose the government people, who will go to any extremes to keep the cover up under wraps, and keep her family safe.
December 21, 2020
Absolute rubbish. Supposed to be a political thriller but turned out to be a cliche riddled story about a 'switched on' woman's dysfunctional family and a tired old female hack bringing down a corrupt politician and his criminal network. Weak unbelievable plot bogged down in sub plots staggering around. The reader can sense the writer believing she's writing an exciting story but the characters are uninteresting. Lead character's family is irrelevant to the plot but forced upon us. Any strength the story may have had was off the page somewhere including the ending.
February 24, 2017
Good reading.
The story involved a lot of dirty politics and Angela's search to bring the truth to light. Larson and King would use any means to get the power to control their dirty tactics. Caring little, who was killed or harmed. Caroline, with Angela's help, put a stop to it all.
The story involved a lot of dirty politics and Angela's search to bring the truth to light. Larson and King would use any means to get the power to control their dirty tactics. Caring little, who was killed or harmed. Caroline, with Angela's help, put a stop to it all.
November 26, 2019
Such intrigue and distrust with the government? Surely not!!
A senior civil servant is found dead at his desk and it's officially a suicide. A dedicated member of his staff looks into it, as she does not believe it. Bring in devious and unscrupulous members of parliament and business men/women and what a web of deceit unfolds
A senior civil servant is found dead at his desk and it's officially a suicide. A dedicated member of his staff looks into it, as she does not believe it. Bring in devious and unscrupulous members of parliament and business men/women and what a web of deceit unfolds
November 8, 2020
Politics And Darkness
Superbly written in English English and an exposure of dastardly tricks at high level and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to cover things up. When the police seem to be complicit in the conspiracy, who do you turn to when your loved ones are at risk? Loved it, very readable and difficult to put down.
Superbly written in English English and an exposure of dastardly tricks at high level and the lengths the establishment will go to in order to cover things up. When the police seem to be complicit in the conspiracy, who do you turn to when your loved ones are at risk? Loved it, very readable and difficult to put down.
August 4, 2021
I mostly liked this book. The story is very believable. There were times when I thought the main character was a pushover or just a bit spacey.
As scary as it got for her and those she loved, she did keep it together pretty darn well though. And it sure kept you guessing.
I got this book free through Amazon Prime 1st reads.
As scary as it got for her and those she loved, she did keep it together pretty darn well though. And it sure kept you guessing.
I got this book free through Amazon Prime 1st reads.
July 26, 2022
A Rollercoaster storyline
It is unsurprising that this book was a prize winner as its creator leaves one gasping for breath due to the twists and turns and rapid-fire action. It also possesses a worrying ring of truth so well done Eva Hudson, you kept my attention to the very last page.
It is unsurprising that this book was a prize winner as its creator leaves one gasping for breath due to the twists and turns and rapid-fire action. It also possesses a worrying ring of truth so well done Eva Hudson, you kept my attention to the very last page.
March 1, 2018
Lots of twists
Too many chapters - it could have been sharper too much chat for me. But if you like political intrigue and lots of characters with different needs and wants it would be for u.
Too many chapters - it could have been sharper too much chat for me. But if you like political intrigue and lots of characters with different needs and wants it would be for u.
August 23, 2021
Loved it !
I almost shut off my kindle at one point as the dishonesty and corruption of politics always makes me so angry even tho at 70 I know it is the way of the world. Fiction this one maybe but not much different then the truth !
I almost shut off my kindle at one point as the dishonesty and corruption of politics always makes me so angry even tho at 70 I know it is the way of the world. Fiction this one maybe but not much different then the truth !
July 21, 2019
I could not get into this book
March 25, 2020
Good Read
Great Reading. Enjoyable. Eva Hudson has a way with words. Her series are definitely worth reading for us series junkies. Keep on Reading on.
Great Reading. Enjoyable. Eva Hudson has a way with words. Her series are definitely worth reading for us series junkies. Keep on Reading on.
July 13, 2021
Very slow going and not in the same league as the Skyberg series
August 29, 2021
Kept me gripped until the end, now I want to read the second one!!
December 4, 2021
I enjoyed the book, I particularly liked the ending, as in, it had suprises, and some twists, but for me, it took a while to get there, maybe a bit slow. Glad I finished it though.
February 1, 2023
I enjoyed this story, so many twists and turns. I couldn't decide who the main character was.
February 4, 2023
Novel was too long. I didn’t care much for the two leading characters. I only finished because I was curious to see how the novel ended. I might give Ms. Hudson’s other series a try.
May 19, 2023
Sorry, not a fan. The plot was too convoluted and it meandered into meaningless subplots. The main characters were believable but too many other characters were irrelevant or not interesting.
November 10, 2023
Gripping drama for sure!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews