Angel Touch (37 page)
Authors: Mike Ripley
Tags: #london, #1980, #80s, #thatcherism, #jazz, #music, #fiction, #series, #revenge, #drama, #romance, #lust, #mike ripley, #angel, #comic crime, #novel, #crime writers, #comedy, #fresh blood, #lovejoy, #critic, #birmingham post, #essex book festival, #death, #murder, #animal rights
Thoughtful old Sal.
âIt's in the bottom left-hand drawer of your wardrobe,' I said. âI noticed it when Fenella was tidying up during the week.'
âOh, fine. Thanks.' He made to go. âWhat is it anyway?'
âKeep it wrapped. Let Salome surprise you.'
âOkay. See you around.'
I let him get to the door before I said: âHey, Frank. Does the hospital have any spare beds?'
âWhy?' he said over his shoulder. âNot feeling well?'
âI'm fine, Frank. I was thinking of you.'
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Mike Ripley is the author of 16 novels, including the
Angel
series which have twice won the Crime Writers' Association Last Laugh Award for comedy. He was the co-editor of the legendary
Fresh Blood
anthologies, a scriptwriter for BBC TVs
Lovejoy
and served as the
Daily Telegraph
's
crime fiction critic for ten years. He currently writes a regular column for the popularÂ
Shots
crime and thriller e-zine (www.shotsmag.co.uk) and regularly talks on crime fiction at libraries and festivals.
After 20 years of working in London, he decamped to East Anglia and became an archaeologist. He was thus one of the few crime writers who regularly turned up real bodies.
In 2003, at the age of 50, he suffered a stroke and regained the use of his left hand and arm by bashing out a book on an old portable typewriter on the kitchen table. He now works part-time for the charity Different Strokes and is the author of
Surviving AÂ Stroke
(White Ladder Press, 2006).
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