If you’re a record fan, you’re going to love Andrew Cartmel’s clever The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax. The Vinyl Detective lives in a London flat with his two cats and spends his time searching thrift shops for old record albums. He’s approached by a beautiful woman named Nevada who works for a wealthy Japanese businessman. For a considerable amount of money, the Vinyl Detective agrees to find a rare Jazz album called Easy Come, Easy Go. The search starts out as fun, but sinister forces are at work. Someone else wants the rare LP, too, and is willing to kill for it. Along the way, author Andrew Carmel displays his knowledge of popular music. Cartmel worked on Midsomer Murders and Torchwood as well as serving as a script editor on Doctor Who. I have the second Vinyl Detective mystery on top of the Read Real Soon stack so you’ll be reading that review soon. The Vinyl Detective: WRitten in Dead Wax gets the series off to a solid start. GRADE: B+
Will have to try one. The library here has the. Don’t much care for Jazz though.
Steve, the Jazz references are fun, but not essential to the plot. The thrill of the chase is at the core of the book.
I agree. Good one. I’m eagerly awaiting the second in the series.
Jeff, I should have the review of THE VINYL DETECTIVE; THE RUN-OUT GROOVE up on this blog next week.
I’ve enjoyed both books in this series. Apparently Cartmel had a tough time selling them. I’m glad he persevered.
Bill, I’m looking forward to the third volume of THE VINYL DETECTIVE series to be published in 2018.
I’m looking forward to the second one too, as I liked this one a good del (oops).
Rick, I plan to start reading the second volume in THE VINYL DETECTIVE series in a few days. I’m busy finishing up some Big Fat Books right now.
Thanks, George. This sounds so good. I’ve never heard of it before. Who published it?
Reminds be a bit of the Biederbacke tapes. I think there were 2 or 3 books in the series, probably from the 80’s. I did see a show either on bbca or pbs a couple of years ago, but I didn’t think it captured the humor I had a vague recollection of. (have quite a few vague recollections as I age, approaching my 50th high school reunion
Maggie, Titan Books published THE VINYL DETECTIVE: WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX. Diane and I will be attending our 50th High School Reunion this Summer.
just put a hold one the first. library doesn’t have the 2nd yet
Maggie, the second volume in THE VINYL DETECTIVE series will be published in May 2017. I have an ARC.
George –
I read and reviewed this one last year. I really enjoyed it a lot. I’ll be looking for the next one soon.
Scott, I loved the hunt for the rare record in THE VINYL DETECTIVE. I’ve had that feeling while hunting for books!