The Angel of Death
The Forensic Mysteries
Alane Ferguson

Puffin (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-14-241087-X (014241087X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-14-241087-5 (9780142410875)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $6.99

Review: Do you like CSI, NCIS, Numbers or Law and Order? Then The Angel of Death by Alane Ferguson is the book for you. This book is a medical mystery about a young girl Cameryn whose dad is a coroner. She likes to go with him on calls because she wants to become a forensic scientist. Angel of Death is the second book in a series of three to date.

Cameryn, a high school senior, goes to school with Kyle, who is also a senior. One day Kyle goes looking for his teacher and scout master Mr. Oakes, who is late for a camping trip. He goes to Mr. Oakes’ house and finds him dead. The weird thing about all this is that Mr. Oakes’ eyes are missing. Kyle who didn’t really know Cameryn before now must help her try to find the person behind Mr. Oakes’ baffling death. Cameryn is allowed to watch the autopsy performed on Mr. Oakes by her father and Dr. Moore. They conclude that her teacher had been on fire mysteriously from the inside, and that’s what killed him. But the weird part is that there is no evidence of the killer. Will they be able to find the killer? In addition Cameryn and Kyle start to date. Kyle is also helping Cameryn find the killer and telling them about Mr. Oakes’ personal life. Is Kyle who he says he is? Will Cameryn be able to deal with all that is going on, or will she break down?

What I really like about this story is that Cameryn is a normal kid with a life that is explained in detail. Some books you read you never know what the character is really like. One more thing I love about this book is that Cameryn has this mom she never got to know. Now her long lost mom is coming to see her and explain to her what happened and why she left. However, her dad has no idea that her mom is coming to visit Cameryn. In this book the characters are real, you think you are in the book with them, and you can feel for them. Alane Ferguson did a great job putting the characters together. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was the way Mr. Oakes died. I think that a killer would have a hard time coming up with something like that. I feel this book could have been more believable with a different way of killing.

Out of 10 points I will give this book an 8.5. I think that the characters had great thought put into them when they were being made. I enjoyed how Cameryn gets so connected to the character Kyle. What I didn’t like was the way Mr. Oakes died, and that the plot spun around Cameryn. I think the plot was a little too focused on her, and all of her emotions, instead of the death of Mr. Oakes.

Review written by Tim, Grade 8. Date of review: July 2009.

Review: Twists and turns, mystery, and utter amazements. All these words describe the plot of the book The Angel of Death by Alane Ferguson. Cameryn is the main character. She is a 17-year-old girl who works as an assistant to the coroner. The Angel of Death is the second book in the series. The first book is The Christopher Killer and the third book is The Circle of Blood.

Cameryn is the assistant to her dad who is a coroner. When Kyle O’Neil finds their English teacher murdered in his own bed, he is shocked. Everyone in the city knew Mr. O’Neil as a nice and friendly guy. Who would kill him? As Cameryn teams up with a friend, Kyle, a boy that goes to school with Cameryn, gets drawn into her life. Will she be too wrapped up with Kyle that she won’t find the killer, before it’s too late?

I personally enjoyed The Angel of Death for many reasons. It was a great mystery that always kept me reading and turning the pages. I kept thinking that the murderer was one person but then a twist in the story would change who I thought the murderer was. It kept going on like that until I found out who the real murderer really was. It was a great experience.

Throughout the entire book, it was always filled with descriptive words that enhanced the readers’ visualization abilities. Another thing I really liked was that when it went from chapter to chapter, it flowed extremely well. One thing that I didn’t like is that the book was too short and I wanted to read more. I also liked that when I read the title, I would have no clue why the author would choose that title, but at the end of the chapter it was revealed to be a key part in the chapter.

In conclusion, The Angel of Death is a great and descriptive book that will keep you turning the pages. I would give this book a total thumbs up! Go read it!

Review written by Devin, Grade 7. Date of review: May 2009.

Review: Angel of Death is a great book by Alane Ferguson. It is part of the “Forensic Mystery Series”. It is the second in the series. In this book, Cameryn Mahoney shows great bravery while dealing with a murder like never seen before. She has many problems in her own life, but is still willing to solve a mystery that can completely destroy her emotionally. Alane Ferguson brings in a great twist in the end that will leave you speechless with your mouth hanging open.

This mystery is about a murder that leaves forensic scientists, the coroner, and the coroner’s assistant desperately searching for clues. Cameryn’s old English teacher is found dead in his own bed. But, there is something exceptionally weird about his body. It seems as if he had been cooked alive. His eyes were missing from its sockets, but it seems that they exploded right out of the sockets. Cameryn had seen a dog’s carcass similar to this earlier that day. She believed this had something to do with the dog. The boy who had discovered the body was Kyle O’Neil, the most popular kid in school. Through the case, while Cameryn is interrogating Kyle, she starts to like him and he starts to like her. The romance continues and their feelings for each other increase. Cameryn’s best friend Lyric encourages her to go out with Kyle. This turns out to be a bad choice. In many ways it is wrong. Lyric’s relationship with Cameryn weakens during this case and while going out Kyle. The romance between Kyle and Cameryn causes her to reveal the secret that her mother had vanished and is now in contact with her again. Soon Cameryn finds herself suspecting Kyle’s father for the murder. She snoops around Kyle’s house while he is away. She finds bones in a chicken coop that belongs to Kyle’s father. She sends a picture of the bones to a forensic scientist who reveals that they are animal bones. He sees something in the picture and asks Cameryn to send him a picture of it. She does that and soon finds out she may be staring at the murder weapon used to kill her old English teacher. It is a giant microwave beam called a klystron tube. It can fry anything through anything. The killer could have killed the man from outside the house. Suddenly, Cameryn feels a hand touch her shoulder …

This book was great because the mystery keeps pointing to different places. First it seemed someone had done it, Then, when Cameryn is about to finalize this assumption, it points to someone else. Finally in the end Cameryn only finds the killer with luck, and by luck I mean bad luck. The description was fantastic. You feel as if it is your job to solve the mystery. Your mind will try to piece together the mystery while you are reading the story. In the end, the twist will boggle your mind leaving you speechless. I thought this book is going to be like a typical mystery book, but I was proven wrong.

Review written by Vaibhav, Grade 7. Date of review: April 2009.

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