Tag: Paul Panting

Beware of the Trains

Beware of the Trains

by Edmund Crispin (Gollancz, 1953)

audiobook read by Paul Panting (Collins Crime Club, 2023)

Book cover: “Beware of the Trains” by Edmund Crispin (Gollancz, 1953); audiobook read by Paul Panting (Collins Crime Club, 2023)

Gervase Fen proves more palatable in the shorter form, though still exhibits little personality beyond brusque impatience and a Sherlock-like propensity for the conjurer’s reveal. Crispin’s mysteries—generally of the impossible type—are intellectual studies as much as sops to reader enjoyment.

The Case of the Gilded Fly

The Case of the Gilded Fly

by Edmund Crispin (Victor Gollancz, 1944); audiobook read by Paul Panting (HarperCollins, 2017)

Book cover: The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

Crispin’s quasi-humorous style (satirically intended but sordidly directed) comes across merely as tiresome. The mystery’s ‘ingenious’ solution proves elusive mostly due to being ludicrously improbable and thoroughly reliant on coincidences. Gervase Fen, though a striking protagonist, doesn’t appear for the first quarter.

Derelict Space Sheep