The Angels Will Not Care (Hardcover)

by John Straley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If Cecil Younger, John Straley's Alaska P.I., plied his trade in the lower 48, he'd probably have to work another job to pay his rent. As it is, he barely ekes out a living chasing chickens as well as two-legged deadbeats in Sitka, where he lives with an autistic roommate and a part-time lover who's a lot more ambitious than he is. So when he's offered a job investigating why so many people are dying on the SS Westward, Straley takes readers along on a luxury cruise in the icy waters of the Inland Passage. L'Inconnue de la Seine is a very unusual travel club--while most of its members are in ill health to begin with, there's something besides coincidence that's killing them before their time. Is it the ship's doctor who's responsible, or are there more sinister forces at work? When Cecil stumbles onto the truth behind the escalating mortality rates, he's rudely put ashore on an island inhabited only by bears. Fortunately for him, his girlfriend is a marine biologist who not only knows how to make a gourmet dinner out of sea slugs but can also talk a hungry bear out of having her and Cecil for dessert. What makes Straley's series so interesting are his extraordinary descriptive talents--if this is as close to Alaska as the reader of these finely wrought novels ever gets, it's almost as good as being there. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Cecil Younger, the Sitka, Alaska, PI who last appeared in Death and the Language of Happiness (1997), is one of the poorer, but often more interesting, investigators in contemporary crime fiction: his current job is trying to catch a chicken thief. It looks as though Cecil might finally catch a break, however, when he's hired to conduct a modest investigation aboard a cruise ship and even gets to take along his long-suffering girlfriend, Jane Marie, as well as his entertaining roommate, Toddy. But the SS Westward is hardly the Love Boat with its motley international crew and its bizarre complement of passengers from the L'Inconnue De La Seine Travel Club. And its two-week cruises have an awfully high mortality rate, which is why the cruise company has asked Cecil discreetly to investigate the ship's doctor. Discretion is not one of Cecil's strong points. Nor, for that matter, is detection. Against the backdrop of onboard games, dances, songfests and whale-spotting, a surrealistic dance of death and mutilation is also taking place. Worse, Cecil finds himself auditioning for the role of victim or scapegoat rather than that of hero. Quirky and quixotic, Straley's hero is a perfect fit for the spectacular landscape he inhabits.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1St Edition edition (August 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553106422
• ISBN-13: 978-0553106428
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,890,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Straley is the "Diamond of the North", September 3, 1998

By A Customer

This is the kind of book everyone who takes a cruise to Alaska should read! The suspense was killing me. My only regret is that this is the last book of his series for now....I've just read all of his books in print, one right after another, and I had never done that with ANY author! I'm passing the books on to my family members down in Southeast Alaska.

(Having been born and raised in Alaska and knowing the places that Mr. Straley writes about is like being there while he's writing. It seems like I know all his characters in person.)

Last year when I picked up my first John Straley book, "The Curious Eat Themselves" I was flying from Ketchikan through the Sitka airport...which tradition tells me to get off the plane, go stand in line at the airport restaurant and get a piece of pie...(my husband the NYer didn't know WHAT the heck I was talking about), after we stood in line, got back on the jet (with pie container in hand); I opened my book to find that John Straley had even included something trivial like that, (trival point to most folks, but a given to us Alaskan's)! I read that part, wiped the pie crumbs from my face and smiled and KNEW "I'm going to like this guy!"

I can't wait for his next book(s)! The only suggest I

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different but fine Alaskan mystery, June 27, 1998

By A Customer

Sitka, Alaska private investigator Cecil Younger has been hired to investigate the incredibly high mortality rate of passengers traveling on the cruise ship S.S. Westward. Believing that this simple case will launch him out of the poor house and give him some luxurious vacation time, Cecil is accompanied on his two week case of cruising by his lover Jane Marie and his roommate Toddy.

As soon as the threesome board the ship, they knew that the crew is strange and the passengers are even weirder. Almost from the time the ship sets sail, Cecil begins his inquiries so he can finish up fast and relax in comfort. He starts his investigation by looking into the activities of the ship's doctor. However, before he can dig too deeply, healthy passengers begin to die. Worse yet for Cecil is that another sleuth accuses him of being the killer. Now besides finding the real culprit, he has to prove his own innocence.

Cecil is a great sleuth, who, along with Jane Marie and Toddy, brings to life an Alaska rarely seen in person, movie, or fiction. As readers come to expect from the Younger mysteries, the story line is offbeat, but extremely entertaining. John Straley is one of the best writers of regional detective stories and his latest book, THE ANGELS WILL NOT CARE, will leave readers caring for the next Cecil Younger tale.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written, wonderful story., November 19, 1998

By A Customer

John Straley's characterizations and beautiful descriptions always appear fresh and unselfconscience. I've read all his books to date and I think this is one of his best. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of the frenetic, artifical world of cruising "fun." An interesting and exciting trip down the Alaskan coast with good mystery and a little love story thrown in. I am looking forward with great anticipation to the next book.