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The Vinyl Detective Series
by Andrew Cartmel
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Welcome to the world of The Vinyl Detective and my most guilty of reading pleasures. I say guilty because it’s not exactly highbrow but more a cosy mystery, created by Andrew Cartmel, who has contributed to shows such as Dr Who and Midsomer Murders, so he knows a thing or two about mystery and intrigue.
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The Vinyl Detective makes his living from buying and selling vinyl, sourcing rare records for clients with more money than sense and an almost maniacal passion for LPs. In his endeavours, he is assisted, and at times hindered, by a colourful cast of friends: his super-capable girlfriend Nevada, fellow vinyl junkie Jordon Tinkler and the beautiful, bald, black cab driver (she’s both black and a London cabbie) Clean Head. Oh, and let’s not forget his two cats Fanny and Turk, who feature heavily in every book and at one time actually aid the sleuthing process by passing messages tucked into their collars.
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Add to this eclectic mix a host of jaded and fading rock stars, all with their own shady secrets, along with a bunch of rival vinyl hunters and the plots of each case can take a much darker turn. Indeed our poor hero has been shot at (numerous times), nearly drowned, buried alive, imprisoned in a burning building and drugged all in his pursuit of elusive music pressings, but because this is a cosy mystery, you can relax knowing that he’s going to be all right in the end.
The books are fun, always humorous, fast-paced and loaded with intricate detail to keep audiophiles believing in every word Cartmel writes. Packed with perilous adventure, they span various music genres and geographical locations across the world, ensuring that the second-hand record market has never sounded so sexy. For me, The Vinyl Detective books are as gloriously indulgent as a steamy bubble bath, albeit one with an electric toaster teetering on the edge. Enjoy!
The series so far:
Written in Dead Wax
The Run-Out Groove
Victory Disc
Flip Back
Low Action
Attack and Decay
What are you writing at the moment?
A few years ago the idea for a children's adventure series was born and, like with all new projects, for a while it took over my life. Today, story lines have been plotted out for books three and four, even though the second book is still only in its early draft stages.
The first book, Bell and Ash in The Curse of Thadeus Drake, was shortlisted for the Wells 2020 Book For Children.
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More recently, I have been working on a fictionalised adult memoir dealing with, amongst other things, the not-so-cheery subjects of parental ill-health, dementia and death. It has more laughs than you might expect, given the subject matter, but I felt that with so many of us now facing this situation, it was a story I very much wanted to tell. Here's hoping that it resonates with plenty of would-be readers.
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