1957 audio thriller by Francis Durbridge, in 8 parts. Paul is asked by
a theatrical impresario to look into the death of his daughter, who
was training as an actor.
The last of these I heard was 1961's The Margo Mystery, and
alas this has rather too much in common with it: as I said then,
"criminals who waste their effort on trying to mislead Temple rather
than simply ignoring him, and thereby dig their own graves; and a cast
practically all of whom seem to be in on the plot at one level or
another". I was particularly amused by the way that nightclubs, which
have never been a part of my life, are here considered to be both pits
of depravity and a perfectly reasonable place for a chap to take his
wife out to dinner. At least this time the criminals are mostly
dealing in stolen goods rather than the Durbridge standby of Drugs.
As sadly usual, Paul rides roughshod over everyone, including his
wife, who gets very little to do here. Don't you know he's a white
middle-class man? Of course everyone must do what he wants, and only a
villain would object. The traditional post-arrest revelation of what
was really happening does its best to hang a lampshade on some of the
grosser improbabilities ("but why would a villain do this obviously
self-defeating thing?") and almost manages it.
It's all right, but there have certainly been better in the series.
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