Title: The Vinyl Detective: Victory Disc by Andrew Cartmel
Pages: 432
Published by: Titan Books
Publication date: 8th May 2018
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones
Synopsis:
When one of his cats accidentally discovers a rare Victory Disc, the Vinyl Detective and his girlfriend Nevada are whisked into the world of big band swing music, and a mystery that began during the Second World War.
Hired to track down the rest of the highly sought-after recordings of the Flare Path Orchestra, our hero will discover that the battles of the last world war aren’t over yet. And if all this sounds simple, it’s only because we haven’t mentioned drive-by shootings, murderous neo-Nazis, or that slight case of being buried alive…
My review:
A huge thank you to Titan Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book was such a blast! It was a great addition to this hilarious series and I’m so impressed at how entertaining these books are. Despite there being three books in this series already, the author makes every book unique and different from the last. I also really love the cover designs, I think each cover is really great and eye-catching. It immediately piques my interest and makes me want to read the book. Plus the synopsis is so funny, it sounds like some serious stuff goes down in this book but the synopsis is like oh well, just another day in the life of our Vinyl Detective! You know it’s going to be such a funny read and it definitely does not disappoint!
What I still love is that three books into this series, we still have no idea what our Vinyl Detective’s name is or what he even looks like! But strangely, this doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would! Each book I read, I become so engrossed in the story that I completely forget that this character isn’t fully fleshed out!
I mentioned in my review of the second book that I was severely disappointed with Nevada and what had become of her character. She went from being a badass shooter to a housewife who just washed dishes and fed the cats. She also became the possessive and jealous girlfriend! I was so shocked at the downfall of her character and couldn’t believe what the author had done to her. Fortunately, she vastly improves in the third book and retains some of her badass self from the first book! There is one scene where she has to save The Vinyl Detective from a kidnapping/attempted murder and it was awesome! A female character taking out the bad guys and coming to the rescue of the male character is everything I wanted! She was amazing! Seems like every book their lives are threatened and they are just so upbeat about it! They just shrug it off and go after the bad guys again like “Guess who’s back!” I love them.
I thought the plot was great! I loved how it was focused on events that happened during the Second World War! It added a great twist to the series and really held my attention throughout. I thought it was awesome how in searching for rare recordings, he ends up getting pulled into dangerous territory. The third book is definitely filled with a lot more danger as there are shootings, murders and kidnappings. It was very exciting and suspenseful! I was constantly on the edge of my seat, eagerly awaiting to see how it all played out. I love how the Vinyl Detective and Nevada went around and spoke to surviving members of the band! It was so cool seeing how they were able to help piece together what really happened during their time in the war and how this led to the murder of an innocent young woman.
The pacing was very good. Not very fast but not slow, either. It moves along fairly quickly as they jump from one danger to the next. I think it definitely has a sense of urgency compared to the first two. The first book was tedious and slow, the second had a lot of mystery which made it very engrossing. But the third one, possibly because the Second World War is incorporated into the story, is definitely more urgent and a race against the clock. Plus they are being hunted by mysterious masked figures so they are constantly trying to stay one step ahead of them!
The ending of this book was so good! I did not see it coming at all. Like I said, they end up stumbling across a murder that happened during the Second World War and the person who was convicted may or may not be guilty and that is something the Vinyl Detective and Nevada have to work out. I love how it ended up being like a betrayal among the band members when they find out what really happened. I love how all the loose ends are tied up and it’s another chapter closed. The fourth book Flip Back, is out next year and I can’t wait to get my greedy little hands on it! I am so ready for another book in this series!
Divine World of Books 