| Synopsis: |
Crime novelist and detective Paul Temple made his first appearance on BBC Radio in 1938. He 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 Temple's help with his latest tricky case. The radio serials proved so popular that Francis Durbridge was inspired to write a succession of novels featuring the smooth sleuth. In this, the very first, read by 'Buffy' and 'Little Britain' star Anthony Head, Paul is on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves - aided by the pretty, vivacious reporter Miss Steve Trent. A wave of mysterious robberies is sweeping the country, and fifty thousand pounds' worth of diamonds has been stolen in six months. During the fourth raid, a nightwatchman is attacked with chloroform, and just manages to gasp out 'The Green Finger' before he dies. Chief Inspector Dale has heard the enigmatic phrase before: it was the last utterance of a drowning man wanted in connection with another robbery. But with no further leads, the police are baffled. The cry goes out in the popular press: 'Send for Paul Temple'!The great radio detective lives again in another brand new reading by Anthony Head. |