Angel Maker: An Unputdownable Scandinavian Crime Thriller With A Chilling Twist (DI Jamie Johansson Book 1)

Angel Maker. It feels different. If you’ve come to this novel first – and it is the first you’ve read of my work, and of Jamie, then I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

It was not the first Jamie Johansson novel, however – it’s actually the fourth. But for me, it feels like the first. The original three are London-set crime thrillers that allowed me to cut my teeth in this genre, and get to know the woman who has haunted these pages. Those three books let me discover who she was and what she could do, and when it came time to put pen to paper for Angel Maker, I felt good about what was to come.

For me, writing is a mode of reflection and revision. I write, I release, I read every review, every comment, and I take it in. Then I re-read, refine, revise, and allow the work to mutate and grow organically, guided by both my own experience and that of the reader. I had always hoped to write a methodical whodunnit police-procedural that was high-concept, taut, and expertly written. But I have quickly come to realise that the last thing on that list was a stumbling point. I began writing in science fiction and dystopia – and through that education, my strengths have revealed themselves to be in the action elements of the work. The fight scenes, the chases, the confrontations – they are where I feel most at home. And so I write in this ebb and flow – an inhale-exhale – fashion that allows the reader to breathe and take stock of the story before being plunged into the next action sequence.

Though I have known and consulted those in the police, and forensics, and psychology, I am not any of those things myself. And so I have let go of that desire to create a deep and realistic procedural novel, and instead lean into my strengths and my more human-focused desires. To create a cast of deep characters driven by their emotions and experiences. And to create a novel that unfurls itself like a rose (excuse the poeticism here but unfurling like an onion doesn’t have quite the same ring to it) to reveal layer upon layer of characterisation. This novel is not a police procedural, it is a thriller novel. A crime thriller, I suppose, as it revolves around that single crime. The fulcrum of the novel is the killing. And the characters move around it like a vortex, closing in until that final convergence, wherein the crime is finally laid bare.

This, in my mind, is how this novel began, transpired, and then ended. It was guided by its genre, but developed organically. And it is truly my hope that you feel this stepping away from the rigour of the procedure involved in policing, and instead placing two humans at the centre of a harrowing mess, and allowing them to write their own story free from convention, has resulted in something that is, at the end of the day, enjoyable to read.

The list of to-dos stretches on when you’re writing a novel. Every sentence and clue and thread needs to coexist with all the others, needs to build towards the finale, and then needs to be tied up. There are many within this novel – bread crumbs, false starts, red herrings, suspects, outliers, misdirects, and finally, a twist that I did my very best to obscure until the final seconds. Did I do that? Did you see it coming? Honestly, I’d love to know. If you did, then when did you think it? This is what I am most curious about.

I could write forever here, and often feel the need to ramble. As it’s a way to decompress after a solid two and a half months of sitting at my desk and churning out words. My writing is borderline fanatical. But I am in love with the idea of it. Not in love with my own writing, but with the concept of writing something that people will enjoy. That aspiration to create something with impact and weight, that people will carry forward. That is what drives me. It is what keeps me up at night and what wakes me in the morning. It is what makes me want to drag myself back to the keyboard after finishing one novel and immediately begin the next.

So this is probably a good place to leave you. Because the next story is calling. And it’s not something I can ignore.

If you did enjoy this novel, you’ll be glad to know that the next one is Jamie Johansson’s next adventure. She has become a character close to my heart, and I can’t wait to torture her a little more. But honestly, I wouldn’t if I didn’t know she could take it.

She’s strong, and she’s about to embark on a journey that I hope will span decades. If you’d like to know what comes next for Jamie, read on. The next book will be out later this year. Until then, stay safe.

All the best,

Morgan Greene

If you enjoyed Angel Maker, please consider leaving me a review in order to help new readers discover the novel.

Read on to discover more about Rising Tide, the next novel in the DI Jamie Johansson Series.