He is a record collector -a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the “Vinyl Detective” and some people take this more literally than others. Like the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealthy, yet shadowy, client. So begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all… Basically, ever since I could read books I’ve wanted to write books. I’ve never wanted to be anything other than a writer.

Erik Make Loud's new girlfriend Helene Hilditch was a member of the pioneering all girl punk bank The Blue Tits. There have been attempts to kill her and in desperation they turn to the Vinyl Detective for help and to find an original copy of their first album which was pulled for being too good. On the train on the way home, I continued to read and I was not disappointed. This story is simple in its essence, but actually really good. There are so many twists and turns, surprises and unusual, elements to this story. A good old fashioned mystery.

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Overall, I think Low Action is the best book in the Vinyl Detective series so far. It has all the the things that made the previous books so enjoyable (cats, humour, music nerdiness, cats, coffee, quirky characters, cats) while at the same time improving on the one outstanding criticism I had with them: believability. As with ‘Written in dead Wax’ the story begins simply with the Vinyl Detective finding a disc (well actually, his cat finds it), a rare disc, and the story begins from there. The Vinyl Detective series hooked me on the simple fact that the books are fun. The series follows an unnamed narrator­–referred to only as the Vinyl Detective (VD)­–who hunts down rare records for money. It would normally be a boring business full of charity shops and annoying record nerds, but somehow the VD always finds himself on a harrowing adventure. Every job he takes is full of surprise twists, close calls, and most often, murder. Or should I say, “MMMuuuuurrrduuurr?” The Vinyl Detectives’ love of good coffee, good food, and fine wine are developed more throughout this book as are his relationships with Nevada, Tinkler, Clean Head, and Stinky. It is these relationships that provide the relevant depth and keep you reading/listening. It appeals to me as it is a classic adventure story where the main characters are pulled along and swept up into an adventure before they really know what is going on.

Chandler and Hammett may have come to my attention by way of the Bogart movies ( The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon) although they may well also have come to me through comic books. That sounds odd. But an interest in old comics led to a fascination with the pulp magazines. And both Hammett and Chandler started out writing for the pulps. Come to think of it, so did John D. MacDonald. (By the time Thomas Harris – The Silence of the Lambs – came along, though, the pulps were long gone). He also writes regularly for the London Jazz News. A fact which merely adds authenticity to his stories and the subject matter which the series, is based on. Plot: When one of his cats accidentally discovers a rare Victory Disc, the Vinyl Detective and his girlfriend, Nevada, are whisked into the world of big band swing music and a mystery that began during the Second World War. Plot: He is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective, and some people take this more literally than others… A book about a vinyl detective, doesn’t seem exciting, but this book is full of intrigue and action, you will fall in love with the characters within a few sentences of being introduced, and then you will be invested. Once invested, you’ll be hooked. **Spoilers**

The Vinyl Detective Series Book 1 – Written In Dead Wax

But the term ‘Vinyl Detective’ had already escaped into the wild, so to speak, and it sprouted up in several other places. I just accepted this philosophically. I still believe I was the first to come up with it, though. (Of course.) Not gritty, but who cares when it's so much fun, with suspects coming from everywhere - music industry, TV industry, even Helene's school as a child. And the characters in this book are just spectacular. Nevada and Agatha are two of my favorite female characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading (and I maintain that Gail Ann Dorsey should play the latter if this ever gets adapted for the screen), and every book brings around a new cast of characters that are wildly interesting. The Blue Tits reminded me so much of The Slits, and to center the story around a female punk band just makes my little feminist heart sing. I loved the clear send-up of the Pistols on the Bill Grundy show in the 70s, and the phrase “Goat Aid” is not one I was expecting to read, but I’m hilariously amused that I did. Five stars all around, as per usual. The crime mysteries that the Vinyl Detective becomes embroiled in all have a music connection - and enough twists, turns and red-herrings to keep the reader fascinated. But in the end they are fairly standard "Midsommer Murder" type of crime stories. However it is the characters that provide the colour - and invariably each book provides one or two new additions to the stable. It is a long book split into two halves. Why? Because there are two distinct stories within this one book, both surrounding the same characters. If you like there are two distinct cases which the vinyl detective takes on, all be it that they are connected.

Top new mystery adventure game OXENFREE II: Lost Signals. The long-awaited sequel from Night School … Read more As I was not only a couple of people away from the front of the queue, I decided to put this feeling to one side and carry on with the signing and I have to say, they were both on great form. So friendly and chatty with everyone who came up and presented them with any number of items to sign. Books from each of them, graphic novels they’d written on, Dr. Who posters and other memorabilia, and they signed it all, no restrictions, no limitations and the spoke to everyone in front of them, with interest in their items and their lives. They are genuinely nice guys. Written in Dead Wax story Violent deaths, a nameless protagonist, murderous villains who favour creepy matching outfits, millionaire Japanese benefactors, sex, drugs, rare jazz albums, and a pair of cats. I wasn’t looking forward to this one as much as the previous two. Not because I didn’t want more Vinyl Detective, but more because I spent so much of my adolescence studying The World Wars, that anything to do with them immediately turns me off. It is the reason that I haven’t read or watched ‘War Horse’ or ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’.On the other hand, on occasion I found my thoughts drifting in other directions, to areas that are largely untouched. It's becoming downright improbable that our hero never encounters any officers of the law, or really anyone in authority, really. And what about young people, are there any left? I would just love to see the LP Sleuth take on the travails of a boy-band, for example, or a talent show winner perhaps; anyone with a career in music that was still active, basically. (Okay, I know earlier episodes have touched on that, lightly.) Pandora loves books. She enjoys reading, writing, and editing them. She started this blog to highlight some of her favourite books, and review some new and old books along the way. ❤️📘 I was horrified that a character of Ben Aaronovitch's (a renowned crony of the author) Rivers of London Series had a cameo in this story. (Catch her if you can!) I’m trying hard not to imagine a Rivers of London/Vinyl Detective crossover. Fortunately, there was no magic involved other than the Vinyl Detective's stupendous serendipity.

His introduction to Nevada sparks his career as a detective, not only of vinyl but of the stories behind some of the rarest and sort-after vinyl in existence. Sound interesting? It makes for prismatic, quixotic reading – especially if you’re a music lover with a vinyl LP fetish. The fact that the newest Vinyl Detective novel came at such a perfect time that it’s the book that finished off my reading goal for the year is maybe the best thing that’s happened to me in weeks.As I'm listening to this on an audio book, a word about the narrator. He does a brilliant job of holding my attention. As for basing characters on real people, there is always a little — or a lot — of the author in the characters that he or she writes. There can’t help but be. We all see the world through our own eyes and express our own experience. And then there’s also the low hanging fruit principle — when it came to making up the world of the Vinyl Detective books it was easy and useful to use my local environment. It meant the descriptions were solid, authentic and consistent. It also saved a hell of a lot of time on research. As usual, the sort is narrated by the Vinyl Detective himself - a man who locates rare records for his clients, but also ends up solving crimes along the way. Nothing is ever simple when The Vinyl Detective is on the hunt. Within a few weeks of the hunt beginning, Stinky Stanmer finds a way to mess things up and ruin any chances they have for finding a copy at a reasonable price.