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ANGEL
by Carter Brown
Horowitz Publications, Australia, June 1962
128 pages
$out of print
ISBN: 1839


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Carter Brown (real name Alan G. Yates) wrote a phenomenal number of books in a career spanning 30 years. From the 1950s to the early 1980s he produced hard-boiled thrillers and mysteries. On the back cover, the publishers boast of 34,000,000 Carter Brown titles sold.

„Angelū published in 1962 features an unorthodox cop called, Al Wheeler, who appeared as the central character in many Carter Brown novels. In „Angel,ū he investigates the dangerous aerial skylarking of a group of ex-Air Force buddies and witnesses an explosion that kills one of them. Evidence reveals that the tragic accident was, indeed, no accident and the mystery deepens as several suspects and motives come to light. The „Angelū of the title is a blonde bombshell, considered by the fliers to be a lucky mascot. (Obviously not so lucky for one of them.)

Ižd often seen the Carter Brown novels with their seductive, slightly lurid covers in old bookstores but only recently purchased one. They seemed to be everywhere in Australia at one time (This one is numbered 97) and when I spotted this title, curiosity got the better of me and I plucked it from the shelves.

The first thing that struck me was the humor. Like Richard Pratheržs Shell Scott, the hero has a fine sense of humour and the story is peppered with witticisms directed at his colleagues and the circle of suspects. Unlike Pratheržs stories, however, therežs not a lot of action. After the main murder, Wheeler shuffles about questioning the suspects until itžs resolved in a twist ending that isnžt entirely satisfying. You can detect a formula at work in the novel but thatžs not such a bad thing unless other Brown novels contained the same formula. It plodded in parts but was reasonably satisfying and itžs easy to see why these novels gained the popularity that they did.

Reviewed by Glen Hannah, September 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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