Francis Durbridge: Paul Temple and the Vandyke Affair

It appears that Paul Temple stories are yet again my current go-to for something light in between other books…or while digesting other heavier ongoing reads.

That is, I have picked the radio productions of the Paul Temple stories right now. The later novelisations don’t really work for me, but I also still have a few of those on stand-by. After all, I still enjoy the setting and dialogue in those…and the ones I have are read by Antony Head, so…

Anyway, The Vandyke Affair was over-long and nonsensical at times, but I love the main characters of Paul and Steve and somehow even the most idiotic plots in this series are presented so charmingly that I can’t not listen to the entire story.

As for the plot,… Well, it follows the same line as every other Paul Temple story: Paul and Steve somehow get roped into what usually is a case of some grisly murder but in this story is the disappearance of a baby, a disappeared nanny, and somehow – after a few more bodies pile up – end up uncovering some international criminal outfit.

Does the plot make sense? No.

Is it plausible that Steve (Paul’s wife) would not recognise that the guy whom she remembers because of his Swiss accent is the same guy that tries to kidnap her? No.

Does it make sense that the untrustworthy South American guy is not investigated by the police? No.

Does it make sense that the police take very little part in this investigation? Absolutely not!

But…I love the characters and the setting, and the radio productions of the stories are fabulous.