The Vinyl Detectives’ love of good coffee, good food, and fine wine are developed more throughout this book as are his relationships with Nevada, Tinkler, Clean Head, and Stinky. It is these relationships that provide the relevant depth and keep you reading/listening. The Vinyl Detective Series is great for anyone who loves a good detective story. If a good old fashioned mystery is your thing then this series is for you. But don’t be fooled by the fact that it is based on a format which for some is a “bit oldfashioned”, the series is very up to date and contemporary. Action It came to me from my father-in-law. He said he thought I’d be interested in this book, “The VInyl Detective,” because it was about collecting records and I love records. “He solves crimes and is really into jazz,” is what I remember him telling me.

Imagine my surprise as I started to gather my thoughts for this review I found that a 6th book is scheduled for release on 5/17/22 a day shy of my 70th birthday celebration. Huh... On the train on the way home, I continued to read and I was not disappointed. This story is simple in its essence, but actually really good. There are so many twists and turns, surprises and unusual, elements to this story. A good old fashioned mystery. Each new story also features a beloved pet. Of course, there is Turk and Fanny, the two cats who are adopted by The Vinyl Detective in the very first chapter of the series after his faithful cat Dizzy is run over (I almost stopped reading at this point). But with each story comes a new and beloved pet of someone. Each has it’s own personality and is a character in their own right. Some of these beloved pets face untimely deaths, usually at the hand of a bad guy, but some, thankfully, are given new and loving homes and new leases of life.

Plot: 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…

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. I have to say, I am confused by the age of some of the main characters, I feel that this is likely done intentionally by Andrew to make his characters ageless. He does not want you to draw conclusions based on age. Something which sadly, we all do at times. 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.This is the fifth volume in The Vinyl Detective series, and I found it to be as entertaining as the previous four. The central character, still unnamed, is a record collector but has developed a sideline as an actual detective. The stories usually revolve around the search for a record, which triggers a series of unfortunate events. Often murder. Usually murders. Plural. There are some genuine ‘ laugh out loud’ aspects to the book and at one point, I actually found myself welling up. It is well written with believable characters who you find yourself loving and hating. I went on to recommend this book to a friend of mine, only to find that she had already read it, and the two sequels and was totally in love with the series as I was.