Written in Dead Wax

The Vinyl Detective, Book 1

By: Andrew Cartmel

Narrated by: Ben Allen

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.

For example, 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. And so begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all....

©2016 Andrew Cartmel (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"The Vinyl Detective is one of the sharpest and most original characters I've seen for a long time." (David Quantick)

"Marvellously inventive and endlessly fascinating." ( Publishers Weekly)

Interesting tale with excellent narrator.

This book is really well written. If you are a vinyl hound it is especially interesting. What really makes the title is the narrator. Brilliant work by Ben Allen.

Fun story

Fun story and characters. A few plot holes but more of a slight distraction than anything else. I feel like I gained an education and appreciation for records.

excitingly , funny and sweet

a good story well read. All the characters are fully flush out. the kitties are a bonus.

Anyone who worked at a record store will enjoy

Very nice and entertaining. Started a little slow and steadily increased the excitement. I will be going after the rest of the series.

Great new quirky series

This is a new series to me with lots of promise.I loved all the characters and the story arc.However I did think it was overlong a bit of editing might have picked up the pace a bit in the middle section. The narrator was great but again he did pause a bit in dialogue between characters found that a wee bit annoying. Overall really enjoyed this and look forward to listening to the next one .

over complicated ending...

great characters/ concept. got a bit in the weeds at the end... lovely first outing

I'm hooked...

I picked this up on Plus as an afterthought. After listening to it, I am impressed. The story has some wonky moments, but it's relatively well done. The narration is superlative. I am now stuck waiting for a sale so as to gather the rest of the collection.

Audiophile theme good, crime OK

Maybe Cartmel's skills as a script doctor could be put to better use. I'm hoping the next in the series cuts down on the repetition of facts in evidence. Such as [a person walks into a room holding a book] person #1: "What's that?" person #2: "What?" #1 "In your hand" #2 "Oh you mean this?" #1 "Yes that." #2 "Oh. Its a book." I'm sure that plays well in a TV episode, especially if both characters are mind-alteringly beautiful, hip and sexy, but it's tedious in a book. Better editing would yield a better story, told in 11 hours.

Cartmel introduces us to the wonderful world of the audiophile, which isn't too far different from a bibliophile's. Searching for a mint pressing of old vinyl isn't that far from seeking a rare book. We've all been in bookshops that are similar to the record shops Cartmel creates, so we should be able to relate. Audio is just the same. *And* it has equipment!

I may try the next in the series... it'll depend on whether I miss the characters enough.

LPs not Vinyl

I loved this book! I can’t wait to listen to the rest of the series.

Quirky and unique with unexpected twists

I liked that the mystery centered on Jazz and Vinyl records but that I did not need to have prior knowledge to enjoy the story. Some plot points I saw coming but others caught me off guard. There could have been more interior information on the female characters but they are definitely strong. This would make an excellent movie.