The seventh mystery in the Vinyl Detective series finds our narrator and his Special Forces trained lover, Nevada, hired to find Lambert Ramkin, a quirky but famous performer of 1990s techno and ambient music. Ramkin was the leader of Imperium Dart, a group of three women and himself who are now legends in the musical genre. The search leads from Ramkin’s palatial home in Kent to various vinyl sales sites across England (Ramkin collects vinyl records).
John Fowles’ 1965 novel of bending Reality, The Magus, factors into Noise Floor as strange pranks (I liked the Time Travel one best) happen to the Vinyl Detective and Nevada. Is Lambert Ramkin dead or alive? Who would want to kill a musician from the 1990s? Who would want to dose the Vinyl Detective with psychedelic drugs?
The answers to these questions show up in a surprising conclusion. Noise Floor is one of the best books in this series! GRADE: A-
THE VINYL DETECTIVE SERIES:
1 Written in Dead Wax (2016)
2 The Run-Out Groove (2017)
3 Victory Disc (2018)
4 Flip Back (2019)
5 Low Action (2020)
6 Attack and Decay (2022)
7 Noise Floor (2024)
I’m always interested in suggestions for new detective novels but I’ll pass on this one. I was of the wrong age and musical tastes for techno music. For current detective and crime stories, I’ll stick with Burke, Connelly, and Crais.
Fred, a lot of the Vinyl Detective series concerns record collecting and searching for rare vinyl discs. Andrew Cartmel knows a lot about vintage records! The murders in these books reveal a lot about the record industry.
I liked the first few, as you know, but it’s been a while since I read one, and, like Fred, this music is not for me.
Jeff, but what about the flying saucer?
This made me want to read THE MAGUS again. Would it seem dated now? John Fowles was such a big name fifty years ago. Especially French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Magus and the Collector.
Patti, THE FRECH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN–both the book and the movie–are favorites of mine. In NOISE FLOOR, the character refer to THE MAGNUS as a “masterpiece.”
Wish I could agree, but THE MAGUS was no FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN.
Jeff, I enjoyed THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN more than THE MAGNUS.
I read this last week. I really like the Vinyl Detective series and this is a good entry, I really hated his bookseller mystery because the main character is a thief, forger, burglar and worse. But I will try the second of them later this year based on how well I love this series.
Scott, I share your feelings about both of Andrew Cartmel’s series. I have the second mystery in the paperback collector series on order.