Angel and the Actress

Discover a bestselling series of murder mysteries set in south Yorkshire. One million books read!

A detective who’s no angel despite his name . . .

Meet Detective Inspector Michael Angel. An old-school policeman who sometimes rubs his colleagues up the wrong way. He’s got his flaws, but he never gives up on a case.

An actress killed at her grand piano.

Award-winning actress, Joan Minter, 76, is murdered at a gathering of her closest friends. One moment, she’s making a speech celebrating seventy years in show business. Then the lights go out.

When they come on again, Joan is dead. Blood runs from her head onto the cream carpet.

No one saw the murderer and none of her friends could have done it.

That’s the challenge facing Inspector Angel and his team when they are called out to her luxurious home in South Yorkshire, at the foot of the Pennines.

At the same time, an apparently innocent insurance man is found murdered in his own house. The only clues are a new vacuum cleaner left by the murderer and an open fridge.

What’s the vacuum cleaner got to do with the case? And can Angel hoover up the murderer?

Two baffling crimes. One brilliant detective.

An absorbing mystery full of twists. Perfect for fans of R.D. Wingfield, Colin Dexter, Peter Robinson, Reginald Hill, and Agatha Christie.

THE DETECTIVE

Michael Angel is over fifty, married to Mary. They don’t have any children. They are a devoted couple but the relationship sometimes breaks down due to his job or due to the problems of Mary’s sister who lives in Edinburgh and imposes on their easygoing natures. Michael works at the small local police station and is devoted to defeating crime, murder, and dishonesty of any sort and has no personal ambition beyond being a good husband and a successful detective. He doesn’t want promotion with all the routine office work and stress that goes with it. He is incorruptible but always short of money.

THE SETTING

Bromersley is a market town at the bottom of the Pennines surrounded by stone and hawthorn-edged fields grazed by cattle and sheep. It is cold as anywhere in the winter but its closeness to the mountains protects it from many gales and heavy falls of snow. The town’s industry today includes the manufacture of ball bearings and whisky bottles, and a huge brewery produces Bromersley’s best bitter, which is considered the finest beer for miles around. Wednesday is market day, and the town centre is host to the frequent cries of stall-holders hawking their wares while the enticing smells of cheeses, coffees, foreign spices and fish and chips tempt your taste buds as you wander through the stalls. The police always find it difficult to catch pilferers and pickpockets in such a crowd.

PRAISE FOR ROGER SILVERWOOD:

’Solid plotting, unpretentious writing, thoroughly reliable entertainment.’ Morning Star

’A cast of characters you really want to populate with familiar faces of actors you see each week on TV - great fun. Angel is terrific.’ Books Monthly

’Once again Silverwood combines a classic mystery plot with well-developed characters.’ Publishers Weekly