Angel's Cove [Paperback]

Pedrazas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

Private investigator and beachside pub owner Harry Rice makes an all-night drive to Angel's Cove after a frantic call from his bartender, Carla. The woman's father was the victim of murder, and Harry's investigation is not appreciated by the police, the medical examiner, or the fish militia where Harry pokes his nose--and finds that something stinks. Martin's Press.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A good bartender is hard to find, so when Harry Rice's day help, Carla Meadows, leaves town for an unnamed relative's funeral and forgets to come back, shamus/bar-owner Harry tracks her to Angel's Cove, the Florida panhandle's answer to Gilligan's Island. Nobody could need Harry's help more, since Carla's father Charlie evidently phoned her warning that he was sending a package ($$$$) some four hours after the Medical Examiner says he died. And when Carla--who's already been scared by a hanged cat and attacked by a giant albino--makes an issue of the mystery, the M.E. sags, indicating that he can't be sure just when or how (heart attack? drowning? blow to the head?) her father died, and that it's too late to investigate further now that the body's been cremated. He then skedaddles. Nor do any of the other colorful fauna of Angel's Cove--a profit-minded mortician, a crusading non-revivalist, the activist fisherfolk who've been molded into a ragtag militia, the troglodyte officers of the law- -seem inclined to regret Charlie's passing or help his daughter and Harry take care of the stolen money Charlie sent his daughter, the pitched battle between net fishers and sport fishers, or the looniest development scam you've ever seen. Quixotic Harry has toned down his patter since his striking debut (The Harry Chronicles, 1995), but Pedrazas plots as generously, if even more raggedly, than before. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Worldwide Library (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373263023
• ISBN-13: 978-0373263028
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,160,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good who done-it, November 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Angel's Cove (Harry Rice Mystery) (Hardcover)

Former private eye Harry Rice enjoys owning a Florida beachbar. Hisbest bartender, Carla Meadows, has temporarily gone to ANGEL^RS COVE, Texas because her father, Charlie, abruptly died there. Carla quickly realizes that she last spoke to her father after the official time of death. Her inquiries only lead to someone threatening her life if she does not back off from her search.

Desperate, Carla calls to ask her employer to help her learn what happened to Charlie. However, she abruptly hangs up on his answering matching without completing her request and never calls back. A worried Harry travels to Texas to see if he can assist Carla. He quickly learns that Charlie, who was a very honest individual, was unwelcome by the eccentric townsfolk. He also knows that some person wants to insure that the truth behind Charlie^Rs death (and that of the police chief) remains buried.

The second novel in the Harry Rice series is a very good who-done-it, but fails to live up to its incredible predecessor. Harry is a strange interesting duck, but, at times, can get on reader^Rs nerves. The secondary characters are all delightful and the murder mystery is well designed and fun to read. Bottom line is ANGEL^RS COVE is a good book, but Allan Pedrazas^R debut, novel, THE HARRY CHRONICLES, a lot more.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars poor, March 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Angel's Cove (Harry Rice Mystery) (Hardcover)

The Harry Chronicles was a most promising first novel by a talented author. Angel's Cove does not bring back the Harry that we enjoyed in Pedrazas first book. In Angel's Cove we get an existential Harry revisiting puberty. Throughout a completely predictable plot, we see only glimpses of the talent Mr. Pedrazas displayed so liberally in Harry Chronicles. Carla's character development was one of just a few bright spots in the book. Pedrazas rallies toward the end of the book and sets the scene for a big ending. Unfortunately the ending that he uses is weak. Overall, the book was bad enough to make me dig out my copy of The Harry Chronicles to make sure I hadn't overreacted to that book. The good news here, however, is that if you go back and re-read Harry Chronicles, it's just as good as the first read.