I enjoyed the first one well enough, when I suspended critical reading. But on book three I can say for sure that they are incredibly repetitive, the tropes and less realistic aspects grow larger, and the humor stops making up for that in these very long stories. I mean, the part of the writing that's appealing remains fairly appealing, but it can't carry the whole series. ( )

Andrew Cartmel is a very deft storyteller. Unquestionably he uses some familiar tools to craft his mystery novels, and for that reason I suppose his books wouldn’t be classed as “high literature,” but anyone who would dismiss these mysteries as formulaic would be missing out. The Vinyl Detective still doesn’t have a name, and I suppose the first person narrator doesn’t really need one. He does have an occupation and a calling, and a tight crew who works with him to solve musical head scratchers. Each story works interesting details of musical history into a mystery. This time, the daughter of an acclaimed children’s book author hires the detective to hunt down copies of recordings of a band her father played with during World War II, in order to fill out the collection of a museum she wants to open in his honour. The story sprawls through topics including wartime big band rivalries, the execution of a band member for a crime he may not have committed, skinheads stalking and beating people up, seemingly for no reason, badger eradication, and murder, but it all pulls together in classic British murder mystery style. Totally satisfying. ( )

Another joyous entry in the Vinyl Detective series. These books are needy, funny, fun and griping in way that makes them perfect entertainment. There’s definitely a formula behind them, but it’s one that’s so enjoyable you can’t argue with it. ( )

I inadvertently read this third book in the Vinyl Detective series first, but once I realized it was the third and not the first, I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't want to stop and start over with the first one. Now that I have read it, you can bet I'm going to do just that with Books 1 and 2. This book was so much fun, and it was about two of my own major interests, so it made it even more fun for me. The book is told in the first person, and the narrator is the Vinyl Detective himself. His smart and upbeat narration made the book move fairly quickly along its plot path and increased the suspense and enjoyment. This book, and I'm assuming this series, is made for audiophiles. Lots of famous music names and music lingo dropped throughout. And it also covers the Second World War as well as present-day. Our intrepid hero and his quirky girlfriend Nevada are on a quest for some old war music discs for a wealthy client. Little do either of them know that there is much more to this music and to the musician's life than some old war-time swing discs. Our trio of sleuths find themselves in some hot water as they pursue their commission. The dialogue in the book is fresh and as quirky as the characters. The whole book is like a breath of fresh air in detective writing. And I learned a lot about pre and post-war recordings, 78 rpm shellac records, and some interesting wartime trivia as well. I can't wait to read the two previous books in this series. ( )

Full review to come! ( )