Angel Without Mercy

Agnes Carmichael #1

by Anthea Cohen

The Night Superintendent at St. Jude's tyrannizes the staff of this hospital in a quiet English village until one day, the rebellion begins

Genres: Mystery, Crime

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Pseudonym of Doris Simpson, Anthea Cohen, worked as an antiques buyer, shoe salesperson, and was a state registered nurse. She lived on the Isle of Wight. She was the creator of the much beloved anti-hero 'Agnes Carmichael', a nurse who avenges wrongs by killing the culprits. She died in 2006.

Reviews

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Marion Hughes is the Night Supervisor at St' Jude's Hospital .... a job that she aims to keep no matter what. She is hated and feared by all who cross her path. Every infraction is recorded and she will make their lives miserable. She has even threatened the janitor and cafeteria workers.

Someone finally snapped under the pressure. Miss Hughes is found in her car which is submerged in the river. The resulting autopsy suggests murder.

So many people hated her and wished her dead .....

Nurse Carmichael is working the children's ward. She hates children, hates listening to them cry and snivel, hates having to take care of them. She wants a Sister's position, which will ensure she doesn't have to work with the little ankle biters ever again .... BUT .... Sister Hughes doesn't like her... reports every little fraction and could end Carmichael's hopes for a new position in a heartbeat.

Nurse Hiram Jones works with elderly gentlemen. He's been holding back some of their sleeping medication in order to give it to his live-in lover, John. He always blames the old gentlemen for 'forgetting' but Miss Hughes knows more than he thinks. If he's caught stealing pills, he will go to jail .. and lose the man he loves.

Nigel Denton is the new surgeon. Miss Hughes knows she has seen him somewhere ... but where? Mr. Denton likes a drink every now and then ... and Miss Hughes makes sure he knows that she knows.

Sir James Hatfield is a recent widow. Miss Hughes is out to snag the rich doctor, and is not above a little blackmail to get her man. What is he hiding?

Very clever character development. I really didn't like any of them, but I'm sure that was the point. It's not a real suspenseful read, but the mystery keeps you reading until you know the ending.

I wish to thank the author / Endeavour Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. The opinion expressed here is unbiased and entirely my own.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the staff of St. Jude’s Hospital dread the appearance of the night Superintendent nurse Marion Hughes. She is not only a stickler for the rules and insists that the wards are run like a military operation but she is a bully, she loves to find fault with the staff under her control and therefore she is disliked and feared.
Hiram Jones is so afraid that Sister Hughes will find him taking pills for his lover John who is manipulative and threatens to leave Hiram if the supply of drugs is not plentiful. Although Hiram works on the male geriatric ward and uses the ‘forgetfulness’ of his patients as an excuse for the extra pills that are used Marion Hughes in suspicious and is watching him.
The new registrar Nigel Denton comes in for immediate scrutiny because Sister Hughes is certain she can remember something scandalous from is past that is at the back of her mind, she also knows that he has a liking for a little too much alcohol when off duty and that maybe he is sometimes still under the influence of drink when coming in to work.
The person who probably lives in the most dread of Marion Hughes is Agnes Carmichael, she works on the children’s ward and she really is not a child lover, on top of that she desperately want promotion to become a sister and Marion takes every chance available to find fault with Agnes’ work and to belittle her until she is a bundle of nerves.
However difficult she makes life for her underlings Marion is willing to break any rule to suit her own ends and her constant fawning over surgeon Sir James Hatfield is an embarrassment and annoyance to him, the fact is Marion would like to take the place of his late wife!
Even the janitor and cleaners have and intense dislike for Marion. No one is going to care if something happens to her and there would be plenty of people who would be only too pleased to see her out of the picture for good!
This is the first in a long series of Agnes Carmichael stories and having read them all many years ago I was pleased to see that they have been republished on Kindle. They are not too violent and one always has the guilty feeling that the victim has got what they deserve!!!!

[Will Templeton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of characters to keep track of, all with increasingly malicious feelings towards the person who would eventually become the victim of the murder. I say eventually because it was AGES before it happened. I didn't hate the book but due to the attached publicity I knew from the start who the perpetrator was, which spoiled any potential surprise. Lots of scenes making nearly everyone in the extensive cast seem like a suspect began to feel like padding after a while. To me this was a potentially excellent short story inflated into an adequate novel.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing tale of life in a hospital with all the intriguing relationships among the doctors and nurses. Each one is "tortured" by the chef supervisor as she makes herself hated by the entire staff. She knows too many secrets and intends to use them to her benefit.
A surprise ending was well constructed.
A very good read!

[heather steigler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too vague and short

When I started it I thought it was going to be very good. I was disappointed. The ending was very non inspiring. Once you had a mystery it lasted 2 minutes and book finished. The idea and writing was good but the final product is lacking. Can't recommend.

[Donne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, was the first in the series, i believe.

i loved the fact that a "nobody" who was overlooked was the person who "saved" all the rest.

worth a read, although it does go on a bit too much sometimes.

[Vicki Scullion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mystery!

[Norma Jean Draves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery

Yes t
This book will keep you turning the pages to see what is going to happen . The night nurse was not a nice person. It is interesting
how one person can change your life.

Yes I would recommend this book if you enjoy mystery.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In perusing the shelves of the library in search of an author I had not read, I came across this one. The book was a bit odd, in that almost the entire book was building up to the murder/death of Nurse Hughes, a thoroughly disagreeable person who 'digs up' dirt on her fellow nurses to use against them at some future date. Only a few pages at the end were devoted to the investigation of her death. An unusual writing style for me, but it did seem to work.
I don't know much about the organization of British hospitals, but that did not seem too much to confuse the reading (for me, at least). Will pick another by this author and see where it goes. This is not one where there will be a recurring character who solves the mystery - far from it.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for P.D.James fans, it works so well,unfortunately the end, the denouement is such a disappointment....luckily this means that only the last 10 pages are, well, in need of some serious re-editing,perhaps even some rewriting....

[Kim Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just started re-reading this series and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed them. Staff Nurse Carmichael might be in the nursing profession but she has her own way of dealing with people who in her eyes cause her problems. You don't want to get on her bad side!