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Fitzroy Maclean Angel #1
Just Another Angel
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 Just Another Angel, his debut escapade, the streetsmart Angel meets a beautiful and enigmatic blonde - and that's just the start of his troubles. Hotly pursued by a jail-bird gangster and his thuggish henchman, a maverick cop bent on revenge, and a dogged Inland Revenue inspector, he finds his life becoming more complicated by the minute. And just how an emerald pendant, a women's peace camp and a wad of French francs fit into the picture, he can hardly imagine ... 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.
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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58 people want to read
About the author
Mike Ripley
65 books51 followersMike 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.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 18, 2022
This was one of those books where things just seem to fall in to place - from reading about who Mike Ripley is to passing a local charity store and seeing 3 of his book on offer at a fraction of the price they are new.
So I will say now I know next to nothing of the author, his style or influences however after reading the authors notes at the start of the book I got a very quick idea and I have to say that it was very good.
You have here a fun and entertaining mystery with an appealing rogue of a character in a time of British history everyone appeared to be out for something. A time of thinly veiled greed and excess. This is one of those stories which you have no idea where how what it is doing but when you look back you realise you have several hundred pages and not realised it.
There appears to be quite a series that follows this book the question is do I try and read more or give it time as quite often larger series suffer from repetition which would be a shame as this sure was a unique book
So I will say now I know next to nothing of the author, his style or influences however after reading the authors notes at the start of the book I got a very quick idea and I have to say that it was very good.
You have here a fun and entertaining mystery with an appealing rogue of a character in a time of British history everyone appeared to be out for something. A time of thinly veiled greed and excess. This is one of those stories which you have no idea where how what it is doing but when you look back you realise you have several hundred pages and not realised it.
There appears to be quite a series that follows this book the question is do I try and read more or give it time as quite often larger series suffer from repetition which would be a shame as this sure was a unique book
September 5, 2021
“Just Another Angel” is clever, funny, world weary, jaded, and far too fond of using the “if I knew then what I knew now” approach.
You need to be in good humour to read it and I wasn't particularly, so it was a case of wishing author Mike Riley would just get on with it rather than enjoying his comic skills.
“... very little can surprise Trippy any more. Anyone who once thought a 73B bus was a giant blue salamander following him down Baker Street is living proof that you shouldn't mess around in the medicine chest. (The 73B doesn't even go down Baker Street.”
When taken in for questioning by the police he's asked to account for his movements:
““He produced a notebook and took down the address of the party in Fulham (as best as I could remember it) and the time, which I guessed at around 11.15pm.
“Can you be more specific?”
“11.16pm?”
He ignored that and put the notebook away.””
Fitzroy Maclean Angel lives on the edge, of poverty, of getting sent down for a crime he most likely committed, of getting his lights punched out by a possessive husband, and of being assaulted by an angry cabbie if he takes a fare (you gotta read it to understand).
He supports himself through dodgy deals and occasional work as a jazz trumpet player.
Six months after a one-night stand Angel is hired by Josephine to find and return a pendant that has been stolen. That proves simple enough but sets off a chain reaction of increasing violence, much of which is directed towards Angel.
Originally published in 1988 some of the references have not dated well.
“It was nice to know I'd be missed while I did a Roland.
“Roland? A Roland Rat. I was going underground.”
“Just Another Angel” also shows its age when it comes to communication - there's lots of use of landlines and even telephones.
It's well written and, though reminiscent of several other wisecracking P.I. characters, introduces an interesting anti-hero in Angel.
You need to be in good humour to read it and I wasn't particularly, so it was a case of wishing author Mike Riley would just get on with it rather than enjoying his comic skills.
“... very little can surprise Trippy any more. Anyone who once thought a 73B bus was a giant blue salamander following him down Baker Street is living proof that you shouldn't mess around in the medicine chest. (The 73B doesn't even go down Baker Street.”
When taken in for questioning by the police he's asked to account for his movements:
““He produced a notebook and took down the address of the party in Fulham (as best as I could remember it) and the time, which I guessed at around 11.15pm.
“Can you be more specific?”
“11.16pm?”
He ignored that and put the notebook away.””
Fitzroy Maclean Angel lives on the edge, of poverty, of getting sent down for a crime he most likely committed, of getting his lights punched out by a possessive husband, and of being assaulted by an angry cabbie if he takes a fare (you gotta read it to understand).
He supports himself through dodgy deals and occasional work as a jazz trumpet player.
Six months after a one-night stand Angel is hired by Josephine to find and return a pendant that has been stolen. That proves simple enough but sets off a chain reaction of increasing violence, much of which is directed towards Angel.
Originally published in 1988 some of the references have not dated well.
“It was nice to know I'd be missed while I did a Roland.
“Roland? A Roland Rat. I was going underground.”
“Just Another Angel” also shows its age when it comes to communication - there's lots of use of landlines and even telephones.
It's well written and, though reminiscent of several other wisecracking P.I. characters, introduces an interesting anti-hero in Angel.
May 9, 2022
There was a time during the mid-90s when I went through a very bad patch but was helped by my discovery of the Fitzroy Maclean Angel books, of which this was the very first.
Angel lives in Hackney with his cat, Springsteen, a motley assortment of fellow tenants, and (parked outside) Armstrong, his black cab, named after Louis. He gets by partly through gigging as a jazz trumpet player but mostly by just being in the right place at the right time.
In this book, Angel becomes involved with a beautiful blonde who turns out to be the wife of a local gangster who is being pursued by a maverick cop hell-bent on revenge.
Angel lives in Hackney with his cat, Springsteen, a motley assortment of fellow tenants, and (parked outside) Armstrong, his black cab, named after Louis. He gets by partly through gigging as a jazz trumpet player but mostly by just being in the right place at the right time.
In this book, Angel becomes involved with a beautiful blonde who turns out to be the wife of a local gangster who is being pursued by a maverick cop hell-bent on revenge.
May 28, 2017
Great fun. Wickedly funny cast of characters and a 1980s London that I remember all too well. I'm looking forward to the next 'Angel' book.
April 22, 2021
It didn’t interest me. Too dated,I think, having been written in 1988.
February 5, 2015
The first 'Angel' book is really good. Ripley's writing is well paced and draws you in well, his description of the characters is well bodied and you really begin to identify with their little nuances meaning that you care for them. Special mention to Springsteen, Angel's cat, who owns Angel more than the other way round (been there).
I really urge anybody out there who enjoys light hearted thrillers to give the Angel series a try, you won't regret it.
I really urge anybody out there who enjoys light hearted thrillers to give the Angel series a try, you won't regret it.
dnf
May 27, 2018I didn't get very far, so I'm not rating this. I don't know why I started reading it - I think I read a review that sounded interesting, but I couldn't really get into it. The main character, Angel, was just not my type, and mostly seemed to be an uninteresting slacker. Reminds me of a weed dealer I knew long ago who was a total loser.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews