The Run Out Groove

The Vinyl Detective, Book 2

By: Andrew Cartmel

Narrated by: Finlay Robertson

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

When a mint copy of the final album by Valerian - England's great lost rock band of the 1960s - surfaces, all hell breaks loose. Finding this record triggers a chain of events culminating in our hero learning the true fate of the singer of Valerian, who died under equivocal circumstances just after...or was it just before the abduction of her two-year-old son?

Along the way the Vinyl Detective finds out what happened to the missing child, and it wasn't what anyone expected - or wanted - to hear.

©2017 Andrew Cartmel (P)2017 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A quirky mystery of violent death and rare records." ( The Sunday Times)

Disappointed

(Does NOT stand alone)

After loving the first story, my expectations were high for this one, but sadly not met. Only a couple of likeable characters here - including the driver Clean Head, who figures in one scene, but is otherwise scarce. Tinkler came off as self-centered to the point of narcissism at times.

Basically, it's repeated run-ins with various creepy characters from the 60s who had interaction with Valerian and the group. I'd have a hard time believing anyone could guess the killer's identity (no, she did not commit suicide), while the resolution of her child was a clever idea in theory that struck me as over-the-top on the page.

Audio narration was okay with one glaring exception! Their client had left England for America in his twenties back in the day. The narrator has given him a very heavy nasal American accent that one would not have picked up if not a native speaker; the longtime expats I've known have pretty much retained most of their original accent, perhaps softened to a Mid-Atlantic type after some decades, but they don't have anywhere near such (stereotypical) native American speech.

Great 2nd Installment

Really enjoyed this book they certainly picked up the pace in this second installment.Great story lots of twists, turns and quirky characters. A bit of a twist at the end which I did not see coming. Fantastic narrator does a great job. Looking forward to the next book .

Tired American Character Cliche's

Let me begin by explaining that I LOVE British, Scottish and Irish literature and have read through several authors and series. Although this is entertaining, Mr. Cartmel consistently falls into the Xenophobic and mildly insulting American stereotypes in both this and the first Vinyl Detective novel. His American characters are obnoxious, violent and rude- I guess what he thinks all Americans are like? I'll skip the rest of this series- it's not bad, but not good enough to suffer through more overused, tired stereotypes. Pity he didn't take more from his Doctor Who days and put in a little more thought and a little less of the casual banalities. Can't we all just get along?

Great story but not the best performance

Although a really good story I have to make a comment about the performance. It is well read but it does not compare to the performance
By Ben Allen who read the first book. He brought out the characters by how they sounded and acted and it made them individuals and therefore more lifelike. In this second book the characters all seem to sound the same and therefore it seems to spoil a great story for me.

Best book in ages

Also check out written in dead wax.

Awesome captivating read with sublime description. Great scenes of jazz record shops and boutique coffee houses, took me right there.

2nd time around

I loved the 1st book. The characters were great and the link in with music and vinyl worked well. This 2nd book carried on for another adventure and was a really cool mystery. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope a 3rd book comes out!!

Bit quirky but fun listen

What other book might you compare The Run Out Groove to, and why?

Can't think of a book but ...a bit of a low key Colin Bateman, which means funny in a dry way and rather addictive

What does Finlay Robertson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Didn't notice the reader which means he must be good!

Any additional comments?

Easy to listen to in a good way

Even better than the first Vinyl Detective Mystery

Would you listen to The Run Out Groove again? Why?

This was one of those books that I couldn't wait to finish but regretted it when I did. It was great fun from beginning to end and had me chuckling out loud on several occasions. I was surprised to find how much I had come to regard the characters as friends.

An easy and rewarding listen - well written, equally well narrated, and definitely one of my favourite audiobooks.

another good installment

Great story again. Shame it's not the same narrator as the first one. but still looking forward to the third one.

not as good as the last one

Shame this didn't match up to the last book for me. The story wasn't as good. I will check out the next one, as long as the Author drops the Cleanhead nickname, it's worn thin in this book and used too often

Poor performance

I was so looking forward to listening to the second book in the series after enjoying the first so much. Unfortunately I could not get past the third chapter as the narrators were chalk and cheese. “You didn’t think I would buy him the original did you” said Nevada. But the narrator got the inflection so wrong the sense was the opposite of what was intended. Much loved characters lost their sense of identity and fun. Such a shame as I’m sure the story would have been just as good

loved it!

this book is peopled with intellent characters and a twisting story line and a good punch at the end.

Quirky- a recommended listen.

A good follow up to the first novel that involves the same characters but a different and equally captivating plot line. Think vinyl, cats and charity shops!!
The narrator maintains the right level of lightheartedness.