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. But the term ‘Vinyl Detective’ had already escaped into the wild, so to speak, and it sprouted up in several other places. I just accepted this philosophically. I still believe I was the first to come up with it, though. (Of course.) The story centers around the Vinyl Detective searching for, and ultimately finding, several records, each of which is unique, rare and valuable, but each part of a bigger mystery.

AC: “When I finished the book I realised it was overlong and I quite ruthlessly excised about 30,000 words. Once I’d done that I was satisfied with it. So it was ready about five years before it was actually published — but that’s just the nature of the business. Andrew has also written a couple of books under the title, The Rupert Hood Spy Thrillers, as well as several Dr Who Novels, Novellas and comic books.Geographically, I do try and do fairly scrupulous research and use real locations. Since I’ve established my heroes as living in my own neighbourhood, that is generally pretty easy (the low hanging fruit principle again), but they do also go roving further afield. And when they do, I’ll research the area, at the very least on Google Maps. If possible, I will visit the locations. My most recent Vinyl Detective novel, Low Action, had to be written in a hell of a hurry, so I set it around Epsom in Surrey. This isn’t far from London, where I live, and I had friend who was a local there who very helpfully drove me around to scout locations. This gave rise to some terrifically vivid sequences in interesting and memorable places. The music part was a fascinating addition and I liked to read about punk and the age of Sex Pistols. As I'm listening to this on an audio book, a word about the narrator. He does a brilliant job of holding my attention. I was horrified that a character of Ben Aaronovitch's (a renowned crony of the author) Rivers of London Series had a cameo in this story. (Catch her if you can!) I’m trying hard not to imagine a Rivers of London/Vinyl Detective crossover. Fortunately, there was no magic involved other than the Vinyl Detective's stupendous serendipity. 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.

On top of that, there is a shift from the Vinyl Detective (we still don't know his name) being hired as a record hunter to actually being hired in the capacity of solving a potential crime, with the hunt for a record just being a secondary objective to get him to take the job. In short, he is hired by Helene Hilditch, former member of the short-lived but rather successful Punk band The Blue Tits and Erik Make Loud's new girlfriend, to investigate what she and Erik suspect to be attempts on her life. Since the police don't seem to believe that this is the case, they turn to the Vinyl Detective and his partner/girlfriend Nevada. One of the most innovative concepts in crime fiction for many years. Once you are hooked into the world of the Vinyl Detective it is very difficult to leave.” Nev Fountain And the characters in this book are just spectacular. Nevada and Agatha are two of my favorite female characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading (and I maintain that Gail Ann Dorsey should play the latter if this ever gets adapted for the screen), and every book brings around a new cast of characters that are wildly interesting. The Blue Tits reminded me so much of The Slits, and to center the story around a female punk band just makes my little feminist heart sing. I loved the clear send-up of the Pistols on the Bill Grundy show in the 70s, and the phrase “Goat Aid” is not one I was expecting to read, but I’m hilariously amused that I did. Five stars all around, as per usual.I think this might be my favorite of the Vinyl Detective series so far! As always, this was extremely funny and full of acute observations. As it combines several of my favorite things- records,mysteries, & dry humor I’m probably about as close to it’s target audience as could be imagined but I definitely enjoyed.