OriginalBarbas reviewed Written in dead wax by Andrew Cartmel
An unexpected finding
5 stars
For a book whose main plot is the finding of rare vinyls in small shops in London, the book itself it's one of these unearthed gems.
Without spoiling much of the book, it starts with the protagonist (the Vinyl Detective) looking for a rare jazz album for a mysterious client. Then the book continues with this plot, but adding classical elements from the mystery genre ("accidental" deaths with the worst timings possible, mysterious strangers following the protagonists, layers of plot threads to unravel) mixed with a commentary on the history of Jazz and the exploitation of its musicians.
I love Jazz, I also have a terrible musical ear and I am a cheapskate with my audio equipment, so a lot of the technicalities in the text I wasn't able to fully understand. But it is fine, as most of the characters also didn't get them.
Like any good mystery novel, …
For a book whose main plot is the finding of rare vinyls in small shops in London, the book itself it's one of these unearthed gems.
Without spoiling much of the book, it starts with the protagonist (the Vinyl Detective) looking for a rare jazz album for a mysterious client. Then the book continues with this plot, but adding classical elements from the mystery genre ("accidental" deaths with the worst timings possible, mysterious strangers following the protagonists, layers of plot threads to unravel) mixed with a commentary on the history of Jazz and the exploitation of its musicians.
I love Jazz, I also have a terrible musical ear and I am a cheapskate with my audio equipment, so a lot of the technicalities in the text I wasn't able to fully understand. But it is fine, as most of the characters also didn't get them.
Like any good mystery novel, the characters are well rounded, with many depths and very interesting to follow.
Also, the book, like vinyls, has a Side A and a Side B and that is great, as there is a big overarching plot but also individual plots to each side.
I think I will try to buy the next books on the series sooner rather than later.