Paul Temple And The Gilbert Case

By: Francis Durbridge

Narrated by: Marjorie Westbury, Peter Coke

For thirty years the fictional crime novelist and detective Paul Temple, together with his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after case in one of BBC Radio's most popular series. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, where the women were chic and the men wore cravats - a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul's help with his latest tricky case. Just as Paul and Steve are about to go on holiday, Wilfred Stirling visits with a plea. His daughter Brenda was recently murdered, her body dumped on a bomb site. Her boyfriend Howard Gilbert, seen walking away from the site, has been convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang - but Brenda's father feels sure he didn't do it. In spite of all the evidence against Gilbert, Mr Stirling asks Paul to clear his name and discover the real murderer. If he's to prevent an unjust hanging, Paul has just a week in which to discover the truth. Can he solve the case in time?©2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd; (P)2001, 2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd

An even more implausible plot than usual

In the past couple of months I've gotten really into the Paul Temple dramatizations and I think I've bought all the ones available on Audible. And I have to say that this one was just fine until the 'denouement', which kind of spoiled it for me.

I know you have to take all the Paul Temple stories with a grain of salt: They all have these convoluted plots, mostly involving drugs and blackmail, Paul and Steve almost getting killed about 8 million times per series, and no forensic evidence. And that's okay, because the characters and acting is so good, especially with Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury as Paul and Steve.

However, the plot resolution of this one is just SO unbelievable (I don't want to say too much and give it away, but believe me when I tell you you're going to roll your eyes) that it kind of spoiled it for me in the end.

It's worth buying if you've listened to a Paul Temple show before and like the series, but if you haven't, you're better off starting with The Spencer Affair or The Conrad Case.

Fabulous BBC

The sooner Audible makes all the Paul Temple audiobooks available the better! Well written, suspenseful and a well caried out dramatization makes it a pleasure to listen to these stories