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One Dead Hen (The Mangel Series)
 
 

One Dead Hen (The Mangel Series) [Kindle Edition]

Charlie Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Product Description

The town of Mangel has always been a rough place, but rough turns to nightmarish when headless corpses begin piling up. The police are desperate for a suspect, and Royston Blake, the former pub doorman-turned-recluse is prime for the taking. He’s hauled in for questioning, but to no avail: this is one crime Blake didn’t commit. Yet the interrogation is enough to shake up his paranoid world. He realizes that, instead of hiding from the ills of the world, he should be fighting them. So begins Blake’s quest to score the unlikeliest of jobs for a guy like him: becoming a copper in Mangel. Considering his violent past, everyone—cops, criminals, even his ex-girlfriend—tries to dissuade him. But Blake’s a tenacious bloke, and what better way to convince the naysayers of his crime-fighting skills than to catch the butcher plaguing his town? As per usual, nothing goes according to plan in Blake’s attempt to turn over a new leaf, leaving him to slog through plenty of blood and muck in the deliciously suspenseful fourth instalment of Charlie Williams’s darkly comic series.

About the Author

Charlie Williams was born in Worcester, England, where he still lives with his wife and two children. His novels include Deadfolk, Booze and Burn, King of the Road, and Stairway to Hell, and have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 448 KB
  • Print Length: 279 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1935597507
  • Publisher: AmazonEncore (9 Aug 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0047O2S50
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #7,829 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, funny and easy to read 25 Nov 2011
By H. B. Hosegoood TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
By the time I was a few chapters into this book, I was already debating who to lend it to first and imagining how my friends would laugh at certain sections, and I can't really offer more praise than that for a book. Not your usual kind of hero, the main character is dumb, rude, treats women like trash and murders people by accident, but for some reason he's lovable and I not only wanted to find out what would happen to him, but I wanted him to come out all right in the end. If I met Blakey in real life, I wouldn't want to get within three feet of him, but reading about him is different as he's just so funny. If you like Withnail And I [1986] [DVD] then you will like this book too. It could develop quite a following because it's such an unusual book. Here's a small quote or two so you get the idea:
While digging up a shallow grave - 'I sang a song as I worked. The song were 'Whistle While You Work' by Snow White and the Midgets, or whatever. It were a good and happy tune and it kept us going, and the moon sang along too.'
Later, with his girlfriend, Blakey muses - 'I found it amazing how she could talk and have her tit felt at the same time. Me, I couldn't even do two things at once. That's the difference between birds and fellers.'
Now maybe those bits don't sound funny to you, but, as with Withnail and I, the more you get into the spirit of the thing, the funnier it becomes. I didn't award five stars because although the ending is funny and quite tidy in its way, it didn't entirely work for me, but really I think I would give this four and a half stars if I could.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Original Entertainment 17 Aug 2011
By Dubin
Format:Paperback
OK, clearly Charlie Williams Mangel novels aren't for everybody. Several of the reviews here are from people who just don't get it: a novel narrated by someone who hasn't got the least idea what's going on most of the time. It takes a clever author to pull off this trick and, unlike Henry James (who does the same thing in 'What Maisie Knew') also make it brilliantly entertaining. Not just entertaining, laugh out loud funny.

One correction to the positive reviews here - it really doesn't matter what order you read the novels in. As the rave review in the Guardian pointed out, even the narrator can't remember what happens in the previous books! Blakey is a brilliant series character and this is the best plotted of the Mangel books, a satisfying read on every level. I hope there are many more.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What is there to say about Royston Blake? You certainly wouldn't want to bump into him for fear that you'd find yourself on the floor holding your face. However you would cross the road, without making eye contact of course, and just keep watching.

One Dead Hen is the fourth `Mangel' novel by Charlie Williams and continues the story of Royston Blake, aka "Blakey". This time Blakey's taking his hand to becoming a man of the people, a community pillar if you like, with the goal of tidying up crime and anti-social behaviour in Mangel once and for all. He's obviously not the man for the job, but Blakey's on a mission with hilarious consequences that'll have you shaking your head in disbelief.

Full of dark, dark humour, plot twists and casual violence, Charlie Williams delivers once again following the brilliant Dead Folk, Booze & Burn and King of the Road.

Be prepared to be shocked, appalled and yet still laughing; Royston Blake is the ultimate anti-hero... here's looking forward to next one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Masterpiece in the Mangel Series!
Having read Charlie's first 3 Mangel books, and having fallen in love with Royston Blake (in a non-gay way of course - woss you sayin??? Read more
Published 4 months ago by MarkyC
5.0 out of 5 stars Royston's back for more murder, mahyem and mystery
Royston Blake is back and with him comes murder, mayhem and mystery. One Dead Hen (fourth in series) has a hint of supernatural and a whiff and the 'other' about the plot - which... Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. A. Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Great thoroughly enjoyed it, the best of the series about Royston Blake, Mangel's premier doorman. I really lost myself in this one, something I haven't done with a book in a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by K. Nixon
4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome back to Mangel!
Ever wondered why someone does something 'awful'? Awful to one person may well be totally justifiable to another, especially if your name is Royston Blake. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Emicloke
1.0 out of 5 stars Overated at One Star
I really do not like giving One Star ratings. This book has been reviewed by several others who absolutely do not share my view and as stated very well by them it may be that "I... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Alec
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for yer Swede
A serial killer is stalking the shadowy streets of Mangel. Who can stop this killer they call the Reaper? Who is man enough to track him down? Read more
Published 18 months ago by Grooydaz39
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
The blurb for this book is quite intriguing - "The town of Mangel has always been a rough place, but rough turns to nightmarish when headless corpses begin piling up. Read more
Published 19 months ago by T. Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars laugh out loud
the fact that this is the 4th book of a trilogy should perhaps prepare you for the unexpected. It should also indicate that 3 books was just not enough for fans of the ficticious... Read more
Published 19 months ago by smutters
4.0 out of 5 stars Murder in Mangel!
This murder mystery centres on character Roysten Blake, a well built, uneducated, rough diamond, who is well intentioned, but a `few cents short of sixpence'. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sue H
4.0 out of 5 stars Horribly amusing
I enjoyed this book, the first of Charlie Williams's that I have read. As other reviewers have said, not everyone will agree, but if you share its sense of humour as I did then it... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sid Nuncius
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