3 Questions for ‘Vinyl Detective’ Novelist Andrew Cartmel
With LP sales poised to surpass CD sales, perhaps this is the perfect time for a fictional detective who makes a living by ferreting out rare records — while solving the occasional murder, of course. Andrew Cartmel has created just such a crate-digging hero in the Vinyl Detective series. His light touch keeps the dialogue sharp-tongued and the narrative moving right along, so the non-expert reader just might feel right at home in a world populated by vinyl maniacs, audiophiles, and cats. These are among the funniest detective novels ever written. Cartmel is also a TV screenwriter of note, having served as Script Editor for three seasons of the long-running BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who. The four Vinyl Detective novels (Titan Books) run from the introductory Written in Dead Wax (paperback, Kindle) to the latest entry, Flip Back (paperback, Kindle). The next in the series, Low Action (paperback, Kindle), is due in May 2020. The author’s other works include several Doctor Who-related novels and one based on the classic TV series The Prisoner. He has also written comic books and audio books. His blog is Narrative Drive.
Can you name a certain LP that changed your life?
Casino Royale by Burt Bacharach, the original RCA pressing in a mono Canadian cut-out copy which I bought cheap and owned when I was a little kid. I didn’t know what I had, but I knew I adored the music — and also the unforgettable cover art. That album presaged many of my passions which endure to this day. I still love the music of Bacharach, a genius and one of the great composers of songs and soundtracks. “The Look of Love,” performed on the LP by Dusty Springfield, is one of the finest and most moving — and sexy — songs of all time. And the RCA pressing of that record is considered to be an audiophile masterpiece. Though of course I had no idea of any of that at the time. Oh, and the cover art is by Robert McGinnis, who remains another of my heroes.
Assuming infinite spending power, what component in your hi-fi system would you most like to upgrade — and to what?
The cartridge. I think once the rest of the system is where I like it, the cartridge remains the simplest and most interesting element to change and experiment with. I’d go for a really, really high end Koetsu model. That’s always been a dream of mine.
You were a script editor for Doctor Who in the late ’80s. What do you think of Jodie Whittaker as the first woman Doctor?
I’ve admired her work ever since I saw her in the film Venus, and I think she’s terrific.
