Night Angels

by Danuta Reah

Snake Pass, the Peak District: the car of Gemma Wishart, a young researcher in Russian languages, is discovered, abandoned; the driver has vanished without trace. In Hull, a woman is found battered to death in a hotel bathroom; the only clue to her identity is a card bearing the name of an escort agency notorious for its suspected trafficking in Eastern European prostitutes.

For Detective Inspector Lynne Jordan, the missing academic and the murder victim have a tenuous connection. Jordan is in charge of a police operation to stamp out the illegal trade in human flesh and Wishart was helping her with transcripts of an interview with one such woman, who has subsequently turned up dead in the Humber Estuary. But it's possible there is another, even darker, force at work, and when two more bodies turn up, Lynne is forced to conclude there may be a serial killer on the loose.

Genres: Fiction

345 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Danuta Reah, who also writes under the name Carla Banks, was born in South Yorkshire. She comes from an academic family but opted out of formal education at the age of 16. She worked in a variety of jobs from barmaid to laboratory assistant, in a variety of locations, including a brief spell in Kingston, Jamaica. "I didn't plan my working life that way, but it was probably the best apprenticeship a writer could have."

She always wanted to write. Telling stories was an important part of her childhood. "Every child needs a skill in the playground - it's a survival thing. Mine was telling ghost stories. I got thrown out of the needlework class when I was nine because the needlework teacher couldn't cope with the ghoulish tales I used to entertain the class with."

She went to university as a mature student and then went on to teach adults in Further and Higher Education. She taught linguistics and creative writing, and in the course of this, refined her own writing style. "I didn't find my voice until I started writing crime. My first novel was based on a rather creepy encounter I had on an empty station platform one evening - it's a story I often tell when I do author events, but beware: it needs bright lights and a crowd."

She published her first novel in 1999, Only Darkness, the rights to which have been purchased by Escazal Films. Her novels have been published internationally: USA, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Finland, Czech Republic.

Crime - or at least dissent - runs in the family. Her father was a refugee from Stalin's Belarus; one of her ancestors, John Woodcock, was hung, drawn and quartered in 1646 for his religious beliefs.

She is married and lives in South Yorkshire with her artist husband - and occasionally she draws cartoons about the writer's life!

Danuta Reah is past Chair of the Crime Writers' Association. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and literary festivals, and has appeared on radio and television. For several years she was a member of the writers group LadyKillers, with Leslie Horton, Priscilla Masters and Zoe Sharp. LadyKillers did talks and readings around the country. The group disbanded when pressure of work made it difficult for them to get together, but they remain good friends and would consider appearing again.

Reviews

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good average detective story with some refreshing novelties. Not different enough to make this very special but perhaps better than the modern average.

A serial killer (of course) but also something more traditional.
The characters were convincing enough and supermen and women were missing. Points for that. Ethan Hunts and current James Bonds are so boring in a way.

It was also nicely different and real-life-like that everything was not explained in the end a'la Agatha Christie and so many others.
Life is a mystery and you'll never know everything.

Not bad at all. I might read another Danuta Reah. Easily.

Yön enkelit
Gummerus 2004

[Patti Alfano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Difficult read

I had a very difficult time reading this book. Nothing made sense because it jumped around too much. It felt like no one had edited it. I almost gave up several times but figured it would all come together in the end. It didn't.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5☆]

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping serial killer mystery

This book is a real page turner. The two main characters, Roz and DI Jordan are very well drawn three dimensional heroines. Also the setting in Hull and Sheffield among university types but also migrants was also fascinating. Highly recommended.

[Rosslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there were some unresolved issues in the plot this was a good read, full of suspense.