Angel: A DCI Ryan Mystery (The DCI Ryan Mysteries)

I cannot put LJ Ross's books down! The interesting characters, DCI Ryan and his coworkers as well as the evil wrongdoers, have kept me reading non-stop. The cliffhanger ending ensures that I want to read the next book in the series ASAP!

Good series. The story moves along at a quick pace even though the detectives must filter information laboriously. As the reader, you feel their impatience not their boredom . Good development of characters invests you in the series.

I am so glad I found this series. The characters are now like old friends and the plot keeps me interested. One of the best series I have found. I am a little depressed because I am now reading book six in the series and there is no book seven.

The intensity of these novels leaves me needing to take a break. I love the characters and get so worried about what might happen to them that I need to take time off a bit. Good mysteries, wonderful characters and lots of stress!

Ms Ross is an excellent writer. Grammar, syntax, spelling..all top notch. No misuse of punctuation, e.g. using an apostrophe in place of quotation marks, and keeping contractions to a minimum.. Riveting...her descriptions of people, places, and things are like watching a film. Excellent command of English. Great character development.
Thank you, Ms Ross.

I liked the placement of the bodies. The fact that cities have a log of when and where someone is buried. That's probability logical but it was a different twist. I don't know what I liked the least.

A fast paced and gripping story line with reasonably developed characters - for the most part. The short comings and the four stars are because to the lack of integration of the subplots into the main narrative. As they are not really integral, their use appears to be a rather transparent mechanism in the plot development and the worse example is the glaringly not integrated rescue of a killer by helicopter. UGH!

The humor the action the content the mystery and the wonderful character of Ryan and I have I just can't ever figure out who did what and it's so much fun following I eat really await the next book I've read 5 and I just hope it never ends thank you so much

Another good read. I liked the characters and their dialogue and will continue the series. I wasn't happy the way the story just stopped at a climatic point. This isn't an epic tale, it's murder mystery. Finish the book!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to the next book. The characters have evolved with each book to a cohesive team and Ryan into a likable chap. The stories have predictable segments but a "fool me" slips in often and I find myself rushing to the end, but so sorry it is over.

I just finished Angel after having read the first three novels. They are truly enjoysble. I feel a personal attachment to the characters, Ryan, Anna, MacKenzie,Phillips and Jack. I love British mysteries and these are among the best. They are unique in their story line, more so than just a plain “who done it.” I am anxiously looking forward to the next book.

My recommendation is to start reading with Holy Island and continue through the series. All of the books are well written. Enjoy!

Ms. Ross has delivered the latest DCI Ryan story and it is a corker! I literally (really!) could not put it down until completed. The characters are so well developed and fascinating; the story and mystery are full of twists and turns and the outcome defies predictability. Ms. Ross has become my favorite mystery writer in the genre of British detective stories.

Maybe this book deserves 5 stars, but there are a couple of things that annoy me enough that I gave it only 4. First of all, why does the bad guy always somehow manage to get away even though he's surrounded by many policemen/women--some with guns--and then cause more havoc before he's finally caught once and for all? Just capture the sucker and get on with the story. Maybe for some it adds to the interesting plot line? For me it's just annoying. Second, one of the really bad guys whom they'd captured in a previous book and put into maximum security managed to escape and has captured DI MacKenzie--end of this book. So now we know what the next book is going to be about. Not sure I will be able to deal with all the evil that will ensue while Ryan, etal, try to rescue her before it's too late. Ross writes well, so the stories get 5 stars from that category. And her plots are interesting and enticing enough to keep you reading to see if your suspicions are right. I may skip book #5 and just go straight to #6. I do like this author. Just can't always stand knowing that one of the characters I've come to know and like may not be rescued in time.

I started listening to the audio book of Angel on my way to Edinburgh. By the time I had driven home later that day, I had devoured the whole book. If I had any doubts that a post 'Circle' book would lack the appeal of the first three books in the series, they were quickly eroded as from the very first chapter I was hooked and all the author had to do was reel me in.

In a strange twist of fate, a delayed funeral leads to the discovery of a body buried in an open grave. The body seems posed, staged to look like an angel, but this is not the most disturbing part of this story. When more women start disappearing, all with the same red hair colour, all suffering the same fate, it is clear this will be no simple case for Ryan and his team. Now those who have read the earlier books will know that one of the team has red hair and there are fears that she may become one of the killer's targets, adding another dimension of fear and confusion to the already tense investigation.

I love the way that the author builds the suspense and also plays upon the religious connotations of the crimes within her work, including the way in which the killer chooses to dispose of the bodies. It is not clear why they should choose to bury the women, or as to what perceived crime, if any, they are guilty of which would lead to them being targets. Their backgrounds vary widely, so there seems little logic, and yet there is a central thread, a hidden mystery from the past which holds all the clues to the present investigation.

The way the team is written and portrayed is as strong as ever, and it is the relationship between the characters, as well as the powerfully descriptive setting in each and every one, which really adds en extra dimension to these books. While we perhaps do not see as much of Anna as we had in the first three, she is still there, ever present and supporting Ryan, while duly winding him up over wedding related rituals and first dance nightmares.

This step back by Anna allows the book's other central female figure, Mackenzie, to take a larger role. This includes the shift in focus to her as a potential victim, to become the one to receive threatening messages, suspected to be from their killer. It is strange to see Mackenzie as vulnerable when she has always been portrayed as strong and no nonsense, but she is also only human, and her frailty, hidden behind that wall of defiance and determination, was wonderful to see. It made her all the more endearing as a character I had not been quite sure of before.

In Angel, Mackenzie and Lowerson really do come into their own, something which we started to see a hint of in Heavenfield. And it seems Lowerson has a little bit of a crush on his DI, bless him. It did make me smile how protective he was over her, with their friendship growing as strong as the 'bromance' of sorts between Phillips and Ryan. That pair really do make me chuckle. Ryan with a sort of reserved stuffiness, Phillips down to earth and jolly. Both absolutely dedicated to their jobs, each other and to the women they love.

As the book approaches its climax and the team close in on their killer, you really feel the pace pick up. There is a real feeling of dread which builds from around 60% in. This culminates in a high octane chase across the city in order for the final showdown to take place at one of the north-east's most iconic and befitting landmarks, The Angel of the North. But it is the final chapter, when you think that the threat may well have subsided, that LJ Ross delivers that killer blow. The one guaranteed to have you racing to book five to see what happens.

I am totally torn. I want to read book five. Am desperate to read it in fact. But I also don't want to. Not yet. I raced through the first four. I want to savour the next because after that ending, I think, no I know, it's going to be a doozy.

A wonderfully vengeful 5 stars from me. (review based on purchase from the store UK)