Angel of Death
Ben Cheetham
Would you break the law to see justice done?
A former prostitute turns to murder in order to take revenge on the men who abused her.
Sheffield: a bankrupt businessman has murdered his family. It seems like an open-and-shut case: a desperate man resorting to desperate measures.
Middlesbrough: a woman named Angel is heading south. She is a woman alone. A prostitute. Now a murderer. And she has only one thing on her mind: revenge.
Two crimes, a hundred miles apart, but a terrible secret connects them. And although the courts may not agree, DI Jim Monahan has all the proof he needs to bring down justice on a group of particularly vicious criminals...
A fast-paced stand-alone novel that kicks off a three-book story-arc.
The charred remains of a married couple are discovered in a burning mansion on the outskirts of Sheffield, their children barely alive. Was this the desperate act of a bankrupt businessman? Maybe, but this house fire belies a terrible secret that is partly revealed on a video found amongst the wreckage. The footage depicts a sickening fifteen year old crime, one that has devastating consequences for all concerned.
The second of Ben Cheetham’s Steel City series follows Angel, a prostitute focused on revenge most unlawful. She flees Middlesbrough after killing a violent punter and returns to Sheffield with his gun and murderous intent. Picking apart the carnage is DI Jim Monaghan. Like many a fictional veteran detective he has martial and boss issues, sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of putting away the bad guys. In this case the criminals are hiding the darkest of crimes behind their authority and facades of respectability.
Parental influence and the damage caused by abuse is examined in this entertaining, violent and gritty tale. A thriller and a whodunit (just who is the Chief Bastard?) in which the nature of justice and its moral ambiguities are cleverly explored.
About Ben Cheetham:
Ben Cheetham is an award-winning writer and Pushcart Prize nominee. His writing spans the genres, from horror and sci-fi to literary fiction, but he has a passion for dark, gritty crime fiction. His short stories have been widely published in magazines in the UK, US and Australia.
Ben lives in Sheffield, UK, where - when he's not chasing around after his two-year old son - he spends most of his time locked away in his study racking his brain for the next paragraph, the next sentence, the next word.