I’ve been a big fan of The Vinyl Detective series for almost a decade. You can read my reviews of the previous books here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Underscore (Titan Books, 2025) is the eighth book The Vinyl Detective series. The Vinyl Detective and his girlfriend, Nevada, are approached by Chloe Loconsole–a record producer– with a dual proposition: find a rare copy of the soundtrack to Murder in London (aka, Bikini of Blood, The Black Dog Murders, The Mermaid Murders, and The Doberman Murders) from 50 years ago. Murder in London was shot in London but the movie was aimed at an audience of movie goers in Italy.

The gifted composer, Loretto Loconsole–Chloe’s grandfather–created a brilliant soundtrack to Murder in London with the best British musicians of the 1960s. But, just as the soundtrack was about to be released, the body of one of the lady frogman from the film was found murdered. Loretto Loconsole–who was having an affair with the stunt woman–was accused of the crime. But Loretto was able to provide an alibi which cleared him of arrest. But, the scandal caused the record company to cancel distribution of the soundtrack. Loretto had distributed copies of the soundtrack to the musicians working on the record, actors in Murder in London, and a few copies to record reviewers.

The Vinyl Detective realizes that finding a 50-year-old vinyl record that was never released by a record company was a nearly impossible task. But he and Nevada accept the challenge and actually find some clues to where the soundtrack might be found. But one of the record reviewers of Murder in London gets attacked by a Doberman–just like in the movie. A podcaster, who is investigating the murder of the lady frogman, gets bashed in the head. Someone is trying to silence any links with the murder.

If you have any interest in vinyl records and a twisty plot with some humor thrown in, give Underscore a try. GRADE: B+

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) 
8 Underscore (2025)