Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case (Dramatized)

By: Francis Durbridge

Narrated by: Peter Coke, Marjorie Westbury, Full Cast

Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

From 1938 to 1969 crime novelist and detective Paul Temple and his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve solved case after case in one of BBC radio's most popular serials. They inhabit a sophisticated, well-dressed world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, where the women are chic and the men still wear cravats. And where Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard always needs Paul's help with a tricky case.

Just as Paul and Steve are about to go on holiday, Wilfrid Stirling visits with a plea. His daughter Brenda was recently murdered, her body dumped on a bomb site. Her boyfriend Howard Gilbert, seen walking away from the site, has been convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang, but Brenda's father feels sure he didn't do it. In spite of all the evidence against Gilbert, Mr Stirling asks Paul to clear his name and discover the real murderer.

If he's to prevent an unjust hanging, Paul has just a week in which to discover the truth. Can he solve the case in time?

©2001, 2003 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2001, 2003 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Fabulous BBC

The sooner Audible makes all the Paul Temple audiobooks available the better! Well written, suspenseful and a well caried out dramatization makes it a pleasure to listen to these stories

An even more implausible plot than usual

In the past couple of months I've gotten really into the Paul Temple dramatizations and I think I've bought all the ones available on Audible. And I have to say that this one was just fine until the 'denouement', which kind of spoiled it for me.

I know you have to take all the Paul Temple stories with a grain of salt: They all have these convoluted plots, mostly involving drugs and blackmail, Paul and Steve almost getting killed about 8 million times per series, and no forensic evidence. And that's okay, because the characters and acting is so good, especially with Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury as Paul and Steve.

However, the plot resolution of this one is just SO unbelievable (I don't want to say too much and give it away, but believe me when I tell you you're going to roll your eyes) that it kind of spoiled it for me in the end.

It's worth buying if you've listened to a Paul Temple show before and like the series, but if you haven't, you're better off starting with The Spencer Affair or The Conrad Case.