The Vinyl Detective - Written in Dead Wax (Vinyl Detective 1) (Vinyl Detective Mysteries): A Vinyl Detective Mystery 1

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Sound interesting? It makes for prismatic, quixotic reading – especially if you’re a music lover with a vinyl LP fetish.

When I finished reading book 4 on December 7th of 2021, I was hesitant to start book 5 knowing, from publication dates, that it was the last in the series.

There are some genuine ‘ laugh out loud’ aspects to the book and at one point, I actually found myself welling up. It is well written with believable characters who you find yourself loving and hating. 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 the second in a series, this book could easily have fallen short of its predecessor. I am pleased to say that it does not. The mystery of Valerian and the missing child provide a good base for the story.

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… With a rare pressing of the Blue Tits’ first album to find, the Vinyl Detective and Nevada are called in to help. But this time the question is who isn’t a suspect. With a long list of enemies, the people who could want Helene dead includes her ex-bandmates, their former producer turned record label mogul, the TV presenter that Helene got fired – even their old roadie could be in on it. As the killer’s attempts on Helene’s life get more and more ambitious the Vinyl Detective and Nevada are in a race against time to find the killer, before it’s too late. I enjoyed this latest Vinyl Detective story, I 'Liked it' but-for me-it didn't reach the heights of earliest instalments in the series. I felt a nagging desire for something more.

A run in with some of the band members then almost ends with our hero, and a few other regular characters, being shot down by a masked assailant. Then they end up on the infamous island where the money was burnt all those years ago. It is on this island that secrets are revealed, lives are lost and a demonic pig finds a new home. 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.) 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. The very first chapter lays out the overarching mystery of Valerian, her suicide and the missing child.

I have to say, I am confused by the age of some of the main characters, I feel that this is likely done intentionally by Andrew to make his characters ageless. He does not want you to draw conclusions based on age. Something which sadly, we all do at times. This book really took me by surprise. On the face of it, this is a book about a guy hunting for a record. Thrilling right? Well, you’d be surprised, I was!This is the fifth volume in The Vinyl Detective series, and I found it to be as entertaining as the previous four. The central character, still unnamed, is a record collector but has developed a sideline as an actual detective. The stories usually revolve around the search for a record, which triggers a series of unfortunate events. Often murder. Usually murders. Plural. As with anything Second World War based, there is a dark evil lurking beneath, an evil which permeates through the ages and manages to put our heroes at risk in modern times. 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'm not a record collector - but through building and organising my library of physical books, ebooks and audio books over the years I have some sense of the outward nerdiness of the true obsessive collector, I can also appreciate the inner joy that the collector experiences when enjoying or adding to their collections. The true enthusiast - the one whose obsession brings real and heartfelt happiness - is usually far from being a nerd - they are in fact some of the coolest people on the planet. 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… This charming mystery feels as companionable as a leisurely afternoon trawling the vintage shops with a good friend.”

I had strongly considered taking the off-ramp from The Vinyl Detective saga after book 4, but was a) in the mood for another silly romp, b) intrigued by the mention of a cameo by a character from the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, which I follow ardently.