Older listeners will want to settle comfortably in the best chair as soon as the theme (Coronation Scot) begins. Younger listeners might find that crime serials on radio from the 1960s had most of the best features of today’s TV equivalent together with much more charm.

Each episode is heard in its entirety here (some Paul Temple reissues have joined them all together), the eight episodes occupying 4 CDs. The sound quality is satisfactory for its era. One’s ear soon adjusts to a plain AM signal. I found that some treble boost helped.

BBC Audiobooks are warning that this (seventh) Paul Temple mystery is the penultimate one that will be reissued. This one ends with Paul announcing that he and Steve will now take a holiday in Jamaica, news that prompts Sir Graham Forbes to say, “Come back soon. London isn’t the same without the Temples.”


The end of life as we know it!   May 12, 2004
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Another very welcome dose of Paul and Steve to lift me out of the real world and into a more refined land full of cocktails, screeching cars, foreign trips and "Hello Sir Graham" BUT WAIT - DISASTER - according to the BBC store site this is the PENULTIMATE Paul Temple to be released. Help! write to your MP save us all and ensure that more of these gems are released - if not my decorating will never be tham same again!


As near perfect as a Paul Temple mystery can get!   May 12, 2004
 15 out of 15 found this review helpful

In my opinion, this is probably the best in this series so far. Whilst there are the usual elements present in all the Paul Temple radio dramas - an explosive device, motor accidents and fatal beatings - the Margo Mystery has a more direct plot-line and a quicker pace than some of the other stories. There are none of the annoying characters with accents that grate who take up air-time without really contributing much to the story, e.g. Louis Fabian (Gilbert Case), Wilfred Davies (Alex Affair). Better still, the interplay between Paul and Steve is slicker, more natural and warmer than ever. And - wonder of wonders -Steve gets to do a bit more sleuthing than she is usually allowed! My only gripe is that James Thomason is a bit dry for the part of Sir Graham Forbes, especially after the hale-and-hearty Lester Mudditt in previous stories.

"Absolute heaven, darling!", as Steve would say.