THE VINYL DETECTIVE: WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX (2016) ****
by Andrew Cartmel
This paperback edition published by Titan Books, 2016, 480pp
First published in 2016
© Andrew Cartmel, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-78-329767-2
Blurb: 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 (and rather sinister) shadowy client. Given that he’s just about to run out of cat biscuits, this gets our hero’s full attention. So begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all…
Comment: Andrew Cartmel blends mystery and collectomania into a breezy and consistently entertaining yarn. The book is populated by interesting and likeable characters and the plot, which involves the search for an original pressing of a rare jazz record, the last of a set of 14 that together hold a secret message in the dead wax (the vinyl run-off grooves), is thoroughly engaging. Cartmel’s writing style is so easy and relaxed you find yourself just sinking into his world. Whilst the mystery elements become more obvious as the story unfolds, the humourous dialogue and interactions are enough to maintain interest right up to the final page. This is the first in what has become an ongoing series, seven so far, and if this standard is maintained over the rest of the books I will be investing many more hours into the world of musty vinyl collections and intriguing mysteries.
