Review of Angel in Action by Angela Cohen, from Endeavour Press.
Action or .... Something Is Missing
I have got to admit that the introductory blurb told me more about Agnes Carmichael's past than is revealed throughout the whole this recent book. In that respect, this episode is less of a standalone story because of it. There are a couple of typos that have been missed and a whole word deleted. I'm not sure what should be there and there is little to lead the reader on, but something is missing. The errors and omissions are minor and do little to distract the reader from the storyline.
Agnes Carmichael drives a Porsche, she is independently wealthy, lives in the charming countryside village of Penny Stratton, and has friends in high places. One of whom is Mr Patel, a consultant surgeon at Leicester Hospital.
Agnes has dedicated her life to the survival of her patients, protecting them from all ills that may befall them yet perhaps she is also the devil in action. Most of the time she knows which buttons to press to encourage actions in others and yet strangely for one who wants to save those who are sick, she is not afraid of taking on the selfish, corrupt or respected do-gooder who feeds off lesser mortals' insecurities. She sees the senile father draining the soul of a timid neighbour as one of those who have outlived their usefulness to society and does something about it.
Mr Patel has invited Miss Carmichael to take up a nursing sisters' post as a locum while the hospital is short staffed, something that puts the back up of quite a few people who think that it is another, otherwise trivial matter. One of these is consulting surgeon Geoffrey Campion who has just moved to Penny Stratton.
Geoffrey Campion and his wife Megan are new neighbours in the village and before Agnes has time to take up her job in Leicester Hospital she finds herself invited to a party at the Campions new home. There she meets some of the wealthier elite from the village, some doctors, some nurses and the downtrodden Megan Campion. Overall, the party is a success, except for one attractive young female who has too much to drink. Agnes offers to drive her home and returns to the party later. Soon afterwards the nurse would be dead and an unknown lover lost to the wind. Agnes and Megan Campion go on to form an unlikely friendship but perhaps Agnes is wanting more from the friendship than Megan realises.
Over the next month Agnes would come to know how the world of Geoffrey Campion very well, and how he could wreck the lives of a world around him. How that man's unscrupulous, self-justified demands could wreak havoc and yet, drive him to distraction. A man with a viscous sexual appetite for younger women, his wife is left with crumbs. He feels above everyone, untouchable until he finds out one of his conquests has AIDS.
Agnes get to know this through her friendship with Megan Campion but tells no one. In her mind Geoffrey is a danger to the public and his patients. He should do the properly moral 'thing' and sacrifice his vocation. Geoffrey believes no one else knows and he can carry on working but that all goes wrong when the blackmail starts, his lies to his wife and colleagues get longer. His philandering goes on unabated. Agnes knows she must take him on and remove him from the hospital.
Easier said than done. The apparent suicide, a lost earring, damaged new car and the blackmail are all down to one person, pushing one man's mind to the brink of that awful precipice.
Agnes Carmichael takes her time to get the justice she believes the community deserves and, whilst many others may agree with her methods, there will be those to who wilt under the final assault. They too may think that there, but for Geoffrey Campion, go I.
Maybe it is the pretty way of life in the village, the warmth of the pastures or the slow build up in tension that carries the reader you along. I must disagree with the person who described this as riveting. It was a page turner but only because this was a free copy from Endeavour Press and I am writing this review. For me this story just did not 'grab me', did not want me to ask more of the author or the characters from within its pages. However maybe it has done just enough to get me to read another in the series 'Angel Dust' Maybe, and just maybe I can find answers to the questions I have about Agnes' past?
YOU ARE READING
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