Book review : City of Fallen Angels - Paul Buchanan

I love reading crime fiction and will frequently pick up a selection of random titles that appeal to me when browsing the local bookshops. It is a total pain to be launched into the middle of a series though, as the books usually have numerous flashbacks to the previous episodes or some just don't bother describing the main character's personality and physical description to newcomers to the series at all. City of Fallen Angels by Paul Buchanan is the perfect choice for avoiding these problems because it is the first book in a brand new series, featuring PI John Keegan. A second novel, Valley of Shadows, is due for release in 2021.

The book transports us back in time to LA in the summer of 1962 - a summer which saw the streets scorched by a suffocating heatwave. We are introduced to PI John Keegan, a guy who worked for twenty years covering crime in the Los Angeles Times and who is currently living in his late mother's house. His secretary tells him about a new potential client and, after meeting up with him, he is offered a small fortune if he seeks out a beautiful woman who is pictured in a series of photographs. With background information exceedingly thin on the ground,  it seems decidedly suspicious to him and he turns it down. 

To his surprise, the woman, called Eve, shows up on his doorstep the very next day. She happens to be the niece of his late mother's neighbour and, arriving at his door with a bottle of wine, she claims that she is being watched and fears for her safety. It all sounds a bit paranoid, but Keegan lends her his gun to protect herself. His gun, which is very soon used to commit a murder, leaving him well-and-truly in the firing line.

But who is out to get him and why? How can he prove his innocence? As all the proof seems to start stacking up against him, he needs to figure out what is going on and clear his name.

Heading back into the 1960's is a real, nostalgic step back in time - I was born in the early seventies and I love the classic crime fiction setting and atmosphere that I remember from all the cop TV shows. Think Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Kojak, Columbo ... they all ooze out the same machismo and sense of self-reliance There are no mobile phones, internet and hi-tech gadgets to help them. The cops and PIs have to use their brains to get answers, talking to the man on the street, keeping their guns close at hand and boozing as they work. In this book, Keegan seems to be the classic, dependable male investigator, while Eve (as her biblical name possibly suggests) is the sultry, vulnerable woman in need, leading the men to their potential doom.

I really enjoyed it, for the interesting characters, the nail-biting story of deceit and betrayal and the slightly sleazy and hopeless setting of LA. I'm looking forward to catching up with the next book next year.

*** Due to the logistical challenges caused by current circumstances (Covid-19, I'm looking at you !), the print release date of this book has been pushed back to 1st June, but it was released as an ebook on 1st April. ***

CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS - PAUL BUCHANAN

ISBN (Paperback): 9781789559811 

ISBN (Ebook): 9781789559804 

Pub Date: 1st April (digital), 1st June (print)

Price: £8.99 (Paperback) £4.99 (Ebook) 

Extent: 272 pages

Format: 198x129mm

Check out what everybody else thought of the book in the blog/Insta tour ...