On some days, New York is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
This was one of the other days…
Melody Malone, owner and sole employee of the Angel Detective Agency, has an unexpected caller. It’s movie star Rock Railton, and he thinks someone is out to kill him. When he mentions the ‘kiss of the Angel’, she takes the case. Angels are Melody’s business…
At the press party for Railton’s latest movie, studio owner Max Kliener invites Melody to the film set of their next blockbuster. He’s obviously spotted her potential, and Melody is flattered when Kliener asks her to become a star. But the cost of fame, she’ll soon discover, is greater than anyone could possibly imagine.
Will Melody be able to escape Kliener’s dastardly plan – before the Angels take Manhattan?
“A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.” ― Raymond Chandler A Raymond Chandler pastiche, with a plot that prequels ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’.Melody Malone aka Riversong is a pure, comic, wisecracking delight in a fast-paced novelette that nicely sets the scene for the Doctor’s entrance with only a few knowing hints to the reader that this is something more than a 30’s pulp detective thriller. Enjoy – I did!
Disappointingly, not actually the book from the episode I was a bit disappointed to find that this is not actually the same book as the one that The Doctor and Amy are reading in the episode “The Angels Take Manhattan”. It being advertised as such, and having the same cover and all, I was for the first half of the book constantly waiting for Rory to suddenly show up and the real story to kick off. But that never happened.Instead it reads more like a prequel to the episode, establishing the character of Melody Malone in New York in a completely separate story, involving movie stars who mysteriously keep forgetting who she is. Or they may just be acting. Then again, it wouldn’t be a Melody Malone Mystery if there wasn’t something very sinister going on behind the curtains…It’s nice for what it is – a pulpy 1930s style mystery detective story starring Melody Malone – and quite funny in places, but I was expecting to read the actual book from the episode, detailing the adventures of Melody Malone as she meets Rory, Amy, and The Doctor and they run around Angel-infested New York, dealing with the timey-wimey-ness of the book appearing in its own story. It would have been brilliant if it had been. It leaves me wishing that it were.