#Review - Death in Fine Condition by Andrew Cartmel

Death in Fine Condition  
Andrew Cartmel
Titan Books, 6 June 2023 
Available as: PB, 336pp, audio, e  
Source: Purchased
ISBN(PB): 9781789098945

Fans of Cartmel's Vinyl Detective stories will feel at home with The Paperback Sleuth - not only does she (the Sleuth, Cordelia) live the same slightly raffish, hedonistic London lifestyle - there are plenty of descriptions of nice lunches and other activities here - but the story is set in the same universe, her path crossing with  those of familiar characters from the series.

The setup is thought slightly different. While the Detective tends to stumble on mysteries which sidetrack him from his vocation of sourcing rare records, pretty much everything that happens here arises form Cordelia's own, shall we call it, imaginative approach to property rights in the paperbacks which she craves (and deals in). We see this early when she's adding an author signature to a copy she plans to sell, but there's plenty more chicanery to come and it's this that places threatens Cordelia's safety, an outcome signalled several times in the book.

I loved Cordelia as a character, even if one can't approve of all (or much!) that she does. Her knowledge of classic pulp paperbacks is impeccable, as it her determination once she fixes on a goal. There's also a sense of naivety about what she might be getting into - Cartmel often lets the reader get a step or two ahead of her so there's the fun of seeing her catch up when things turn nasty and this does ramp up the tension. It's also fun seeing how she deals with several characters from Vinyl Detective, her relationships with them adding depth and nuance to the portrayal we're familiar with from those books. 

The Detective himself gets short shrift, dismissed as the unmemorable boyfriend of a woman that Cordelia rather fancies - as well as her passion for paperbacks, she's also got her eye an another woman, The Woman (do keep up!) who's seen, mysteriously, out and about as Cordelia goes about her business. She's as ruthless in that pursuit as she is with the books, the two strands providing plenty of entertainment, surprises and twists as the story moves towards its climax.

Overall, an engaging book which builds on the success of Vinyl Detective without simply becoming a cone of those stories.

For more information about Death in Fine Condition, see the publisher's website here.