Angel Hunt

I'm a big fan of the Angel series by Mike Ripley. Are they really mysteries? HMMM - this one is, sort of. They are certainly entertaining and full of fun characters and situations. Definitely fit within the mystery genre and I think most mystery buffs - with the exception of the ones who are completely dedicated to intense psychological angst, character abuse, and torment (not that I'm totally opposed to these, just sometimes need a break!) - will have a fun time with Angel and his various associates, neighbors and hangers on. Ripley is a good writer, things move along well, the plot isn't always the strong point, but so much else is that one tends to let it roll. This is one of the earlier Angels, before he got married and lost a bit of his "street cred" and a touch of his insouciant take on life. I guess we all have to grow up - but I had hopes for Angel! However, in this one he is still Angel and a fun read when life is otherwise grey and grim.

Like Jonathan Gashs' hero, Lovejoy, Angel is an amusing (nearly) rascal, just barely skirting the law while becoming involved with dangerous escapades and brushes with the police. Angel, aka Fitzroy Maclean Angel, university graduate, cheerful boozer and avid womaniser, is flat sitting for his landlord when the body of an old university friend falls through the bathroom skylight and into the bathtub with a large section of window glass fatally imbedded in his neck. The police deduce that he was trying to escape from a group of violent animal activists with whom he had previously been involved. Angel is persuaded by the police to join the group as an unofficial undercover agent to discover the source of their weapons and to be able to warn the police about the extent of their escalating use of explosives.The scene is set in the countryside with a radical vicar, the hunting set, a vodka swilling teenager and exciting chases in Angels' old London taxicab. He's such a likeable villain that he keeps you smiling all through the book with his amusing dialogue and general good humour.