The Vinyl Detective - Flip Back

It’s all Tinkler’s fault. If it weren’t for his obsession with the 1970s electric folk band, Black Dog, none of this would have happened. At the height of their success, the members of Black Dog invited journalists to Holy Island, a desolate island off the northeast coast of England, to an infamous publicity stunt: they burned a million pounds on an enormous bonfire. 

But the stunt backfired, and tensions between the band members exploded, splitting the band for good, and increasing the value of their final, recalled album tenfold. It is this album that Tinkler’s got his eye on. The Vinyl Detective and Nevada accept the challenge to hunt a copy down for Tinkler, but soon realise that the search for this record is going to be their most dangerous yet. 

Narrowly avoiding a killing spree, negotiating deranged Black Dog fans, and being pursued by hack journalist Stinky Stamner and his camera crew, they discover that perhaps all was not as it seemed on Holy Island – and that in the embers of that fire are clues of a motive for murder…

‘One of the most innovative concepts in crime fiction for many years…once you are hooked into the world of the Vinyl Detective it is very difficult to leave.’ – Nev Fountain

‘An enthralling mystery with a wonderful gallery of grotesques.’ – Ben Aaronovitch on Written in Dead Wax

Author Biography

Andrew Cartmel is a novelist and screenwriter. His work for television includes Midsomer Murders and Torchwood, and a legendary stint as Script Editor on Doctor Who. He has also written plays for the London Fringe, toured as a stand-up comedian, and is currently co-writing with Ben Aaronovitch a series of comics based on the bestselling Rivers of London books. He lives in London.