underscore: the vinyl detective

The Vinyl Detective plunges into the world of Italian movie soundtrack music in his eighth adventure that is sure to delight those who love whimsical British cosy crime. Expect laughs, LPs, cats and the return of fan favourites, Nevada, Tinkler, Stinky Stanmer and more.

Some of the greatest (and grooviest) music ever committed to vinyl has come out of Italy in the form of soundtracks--especially for that variety of lurid thriller known as a giallo. The maestros who composed these masterpieces include Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni, Armand Trovajoli... And Loretto Loconsole.

No one disputes that Loconsole was a genius, but was he also a murderer?

When his mistress was brutally killed in 1969, on location in Cool Britannia for a giallo called Murder in London, there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute him. But Loconsole died in the shadow of disgrace. Now, his granddaughter Chloë has come back to England to hire the Vinyl Detective. She wants him to find an immaculate vinyl copy of Murder in London...

And to clear her grandfather’s name.

Can the Vinyl Detective and the gang--Nevada, Tinkler and Agatha--find out the truth of what happened in Swinging London more than half a century ago? And can they stay alive when there’s someone out there who’d prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried--and is more than willing to kill to keep it that way?

Andrew Cartmel was born in London and grew up in midwestern Canada where, among other things, he learned the meaning of the words ＂wind chill factor.＂ The fine public libraries of his childhood provided a rich feast (Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, the Oz books) and Andrew never wanted to be anything except a writer. On returning to London to study at university, his game plan was to support himself writing for television while getting established as a novelist. This led him into a detour -- and down a rabbit hole -- which included a distinguished sojourn script editing Doctor Who for three years (search ＂Cartmel masterplan＂). At the same time, he began writing for comics and today he co-writes the Rivers of London graphic novels. A playwright and crime novelist, Andrew created the Vinyl Detective while listening to a lot of music, most of it good. Most of it very good. Andrew Cartmel lives in London with too many books, too many records and just enough cats.