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  • Written in Dead Wax

  • The Vinyl Detective, Book 1
  • By: Andrew Cartmel
  • Narrated by: Ben Allen
  • Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,745 ratings)
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Written in Dead Wax cover art

Written in Dead Wax

By: Andrew Cartmel
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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Summary

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)

What listeners say about Written in Dead Wax

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Slow burner but worth it

I nearly bailed on this three or four times in the first hour or so. The pace was slow and I wasn't overly enamoured of the narrator's slightly comedic intonations for some of the characters. However... really pleased I didn't. It turns into an absorbing yarn with some interesting twists. The narrator also grows on you and by the end I was quite fond of his style. Definitely worth giving it a go.

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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A real entertaining change

I loved this audio book. The narration was good and the storyline different and engaging. I liked the characters and thought it a good listen and made a refreshing change on the usual crime/detective story. Nothing too gory or especially brain warping but overall an entertaining book. Would recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Story got lost in the middle

This book started off very well and the subject was a refreshing one and not in the familiar vein of thrillers. Seemed to me that the story wasn't worked out completely so somewhere in the middle it lost pace and became difficult to believe. The author is clearly a cat lover and everything about the cats rang true even though they were not really essential to the story line. Love all the cat bits. The background about the value of original vinyl records was interesting but somehow the story itself petered out. Performance was pretty good.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mystery with a musical twist

Different way of dealing with a crime, do it via old music shops and vinyl records. As a one time collector of 45s and 78s and enjoying Saturday afternoons browsing record stalls in the market with teenage mates, this was a reminiscence of the 60s and 70s. Brought to life with a few murders and mysterious intrigue. And you learn a lot about vinyl. Enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant fun

absolutely loved this book. I couldn't get enough of it. really good humour. storyline was so good. so many twists and turns. the narrator was great. good job I have a credit for the second one 🤣🤣

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining & well written

A very entertaining novel by Andrew Carmel , my first audible book & I thoroughly enjoyed it. A slightly over complicated plot but the comedy & intrigue were maintained throughout. A great selection of characters who were easy to distinguish & full credit to the narrator for his selection of accents!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Enjoyable Listen

I did worry, to begin with, that I wouldn't be able to stand the narrator long enough to get into the book. Ben Allen began quite stiff and hesitant. I'm glad I persevered though because he does relax into the job and he has an excellent repertoire of voices that totally give the characters life.
The story is a nice take on the detective genre and I'll be reading more. It was light and amusing without trying too hard, but thoroughly engaging. I know zero about jazz but I enjoyed learning.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this book

As a fellow crate diver I mean digger I loved the book and have downloaded book 2 immediately

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great premise well written

I look forward to the rest of the series. I hate jazz, but really enjoyed this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

original quirky novel.

A quirky original novel. Includes fascinating information aboutl Vinyl through which the plot unexpectedly winds itself. Great fun.

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