The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels: A Novel

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (2023) is a mystery crime novel by Janice Hallett. It follows true-crime author Amanda Bailey’s pursuit of the truth behind the Alperton Angels, a cult whose members died under mysterious circumstances. As Amanda digs deeper, she unravels a web of secrets and lies that challenge her understanding of the case. Hallett is the author of The Appeal (2021) and The Twyford Code (2022).

This guide refers to the 2023 e-book edition published by Viper.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, graphic violence, death by suicide, emotional abuse, child abuse, addiction, and substance use.

Plot Summary

The entire novel consists of fictional documents, including emails, WhatsApp messages, and transcribed interviews, which are the research materials of true-crime author Amanda Bailey, who is writing a book about the Alperton Angels case.

The Alperton Angels members were four men (Gabriel, Michael, Elemiah, and Raphael) and two teenagers (Holly and Jonah) who believed that they were angels. The cult’s leader, Gabriel Angelis, convinced Holly and Jonah that their baby was the antichrist and must be protected until “the alignment,” the optimum time to destroy it. In December 2003, the bodies of the adult Alperton Angels were discovered in an empty warehouse after appearing to have cut their throats. Gabriel was initially thought to be among the dead but escaped and was later arrested. Holly, Jonah, and the baby survived. Gabriel received a life sentence for the murder of his neighbor, Harpinder Singh, and the mutilation of his fellow angels.

Amanda’s former assistant, Ellie Cooper, transcribes her interviews. Intent on locating the baby, who will soon turn 18, Amanda pressures social worker Sonia Brown for leads. However, most information is redacted. Amanda turns to fictional narratives inspired by the case, including My Angel Diary by Jess Adesina, an unproduced screenplay by Clive Badham called Divine, and White Wings by Mark Dunning. Mark dies in a car crash just as Amanda tries to contact him.

Author Oliver Menzies is also writing a book about the Alperton Angels, and Amanda’s editor instructs them to research together. Amanda first met Oliver 20 years earlier on a newspaper’s trainee scheme. Amanda left the scheme early after Oliver deliberately gave her the wrong location for after-work drinks. Alone in a dangerous area of London, she was attacked, leaving her sight impaired. Oliver receives silent phone calls at 4:44 every morning. He is convinced that the calls are from the “mad squaddie,” a solider whose memoir he wrote. Oliver ridicules Holly and Jonah for believing in Gabriel’s angel narrative.

Amanda interviews Don Makepeace, a retired chief inspector. Don first encountered Gabriel when he arrested him for fraud in the 1980s. He claims not to know the baby’s whereabouts. Interviewing police officers and social workers, Amanda learns that on December 10, 2003, police officers picked Holly up from an empty warehouse after she called emergency services. The officers took Holly to the hospital, unaware that she had a live baby in her bag. Afterward, the bodies of the adult angels were found in the same warehouse; Jonah clung to Gabriel’s body. Holly and Jonah were taken to a children’s center, and two police officers took the baby away. News reports identified the dead angels as Michael, Gabriel, and Elemiah. It later emerged that Gabriel had escaped, and Christopher Shenk was identified as the dead angel “Raphael.”

Amanda receives an email from an angel therapist, who tells her that white feathers indicate that an angel is nearby and that repetitive number sequences like 444 are messages from the “divine.” Amanda realizes that Oliver gave the therapist her details as a joke. Later, Oliver receives an email from Paul Cole, a spiritual counselor who claims that Oliver is connected to the spiritual realm. Oliver guesses that Amanda gave Paul his details, and they agree to a truce. Amanda and Oliver visit several locations associated with the case, and Oliver experiences dizzy spells. They visit Jonah, who is now a monk. Jonah remains convinced that Gabriel is an archangel.

More key witnesses die before Amanda can talk to them. An anonymous witness describes seeing Christopher at the police station when he allegedly died at the warehouse. Amanda learns that media depictions of Harpinder as a penniless waiter were misleading. A paramedic reveals that the angels died from “execution-style” bullet wounds behind the ear. Their throats were cut post-mortem.

Amanda realizes that Gabriel brainwashed two young women whom he both called Holly. The second Holly was Lady Georgina Ogilvy, who spent time in foster care. Learning that Lady Louise Windsor is soon turning 18, Amanda believes that Prince Edward may have adopted Lady Georgina’s baby. The first Holly’s real name was Ashleigh, and she escaped the cult in the 1990s after reporting Gabriel for credit card fraud. Years later, Ashleigh realized that the second “Holly” and her baby were in danger and pretended to be an angel to help her.

Amanda’s request to visit Gabriel in prison is refused, but Oliver’s is accepted. Oliver emerges from the interview visibly shaken. He sends an audio of the interview (file 444) to Ellie, which consists of white noise. Afterward, Oliver emails Paul, describing the physical symptoms (racing heart, sweating, and an energy surge) he experienced when meeting Gabriel and at other sites associated with the angels. Paul suggests that they confirm Oliver’s connection to the spiritual realm.

Special forces agent Marie Claire warns Amanda to stop her investigation. Supernatural theories increasingly grip Oliver. He believes that the early calls are from angels and interprets his dizzy spells as dark forces preventing him from locating the antichrist. Amanda withholds information that she has learned. The cleaned audio file of Oliver’s prison visit reveals that Gabriel told Oliver that he was an angel and that an orchard would play a significant role in his fate.

Lady Georgina contacts Amanda, revealing that she is married to Jess Adesina. Amanda declines her offer of £300,000 to give up writing the book. Lady Georgina confirms that My Angel Diary is a fictional reinvention of her experiences as Holly. She also wrote Divine, but it was never published. Amanda realizes that Clive stole the script from Lady Georgina.

Amanda works out what happened in December 2003. Gabriel devised a kidnapping plot with two other criminals, Michael and Elemiah. Holly abducted Don’s baby son, Connor, believing that he was the antichrist, and Gabriel demanded a ransom. Don used his special forces contacts to arrange his son’s retrieval and the kidnappers’ assassination, placing Marie Claire in charge of the operation. Marie Claire shot Michael, Elemiah, and Gabriel, but Gabriel survived and fled the scene. Holly escaped to the warehouse’s second floor with the baby and called the police. Special forces operatives cut the throats of Michael and Elemiah and mutilated their bodies to detract from their real cause of death. Don and Marie Claire waited until Holly, Jonah, and the baby were delivered to a children’s center and collected Connor. 

In a separate operation, Christopher was the prime suspect when undercover police officer Harpinder was murdered. Police officers beat Christopher to death in custody and transported his body to the warehouse, passing him off as Raphael, a fourth cult member. Gabriel was then framed for Harpinder’s murder.

Amanda shares this with Oliver. She reveals that his early-morning calls have been traced to a decommissioned public toilet programmed with Oliver’s number. She also admits to posing as Paul and dosing Oliver with caffeine to cause dizzy spells. Oliver is unaffected, insisting that his divine purpose is to destroy the antichrist. Later, he messages Amanda, saying that he is on the Orchard Building’s roof at Lady Louise’s school with a gun. Amanda drives there to intervene and mails a package to Ellie.

News reports claim that Oliver shot and killed Amanda when she arrived. Lady Louise’s security team then shot and killed Oliver. However, Ellie learns that Lady Louise was not at the school and suspects that a special forces officer killed Oliver and Amanda.

Ellie receives a key to a safe deposit box containing Amanda’s research materials, including pages from her book. The pages reveal that Jonah and Holly killed Harpinder, believing that he was a “dark force.” The box also contains two white feathers.

Ellie discovers that social worker Sonia is Ashleigh, the first girl Gabriel brainwashed. Sonia works with Don to ensure that Gabriel is never released from prison. Ellie writes a book about the Alperton Angels but does not expose the cover-ups. Instead, she tells Amanda and Oliver’s story, revealing how their obsession with the Alperton Angels destroyed them.

The novel ends with a message from Ellie. Amanda’s research materials reveal that Gabriel was wrongfully convicted and that Harpinder’s killers escaped justice. However, they also demonstrate that, if freed, Gabriel poses a danger to other vulnerable individuals. Ellie has replaced Amanda’s papers in the safe deposit box. Now, the reader must decide what to do with them.