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Shoestring's Finest Hour
vg+ 1st BBC TV tie-in 1980 paperback edition, In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
- GenresCrime
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
4 people want to read
About the author
Paul Ableman
49 books5 followersPaul Ableman was an English playwright and novelist. He wrote an eclectic mix of literary novels, erotic fiction, television novelizations, and non-fiction.
Ableman was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, into a Jewish family, and brought up mainly in New York. He later settled in Hampstead, London. His father was a tailor and his mother was a small-time actress.
Ableman was married twice, first to Tina Carrs-Brown in 1958; then to Sheila Hutton-Fox in 1978 until his death in 2006.
Ableman was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, into a Jewish family, and brought up mainly in New York. He later settled in Hampstead, London. His father was a tailor and his mother was a small-time actress.
Ableman was married twice, first to Tina Carrs-Brown in 1958; then to Sheila Hutton-Fox in 1978 until his death in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2018
Way back in 1979 & 1980 I used to watch the excellent BBC crime series Shoestring. It featured private detective Eddie Shoestring (Trevor Eve), a wonderfully multifaceted character who became a Private Ear on his local Bristol radio station. Forward almost 40 years later & there I was watching the newly released DVD box set of the series & enjoying the episodes as much as I had all those years ago. So where next ?
Time to find one of the old Shoestring novels (only two were published) that I hadn't read in a long, long time. The first novel was based on two episodes of the series, so I returned to this original story by Paul Ableman instead.
Having not read it for so long it almost felt like a new story. Ableman captures most of the TV series characters well. There are occasions when he gives Eddie Shoestring dialogue that I didn't feel fitted the character I knew so well. However, the plot moves along at a fast pace & there are plenty of surprises along the way.
It was good to see that the story still stood the test of time after so long. Who says nostalgia isn't what it used to be ?!
Time to find one of the old Shoestring novels (only two were published) that I hadn't read in a long, long time. The first novel was based on two episodes of the series, so I returned to this original story by Paul Ableman instead.
Having not read it for so long it almost felt like a new story. Ableman captures most of the TV series characters well. There are occasions when he gives Eddie Shoestring dialogue that I didn't feel fitted the character I knew so well. However, the plot moves along at a fast pace & there are plenty of surprises along the way.
It was good to see that the story still stood the test of time after so long. Who says nostalgia isn't what it used to be ?!
August 6, 2025
When we moved out of the desert area next to Dhahran, known as Aramco's North Camp, and got permanent housing on Main Camp we tuned into the local TV station which had just started showing Shoestring, a British detective show that followed a youthful sleuth who was rather comical at times.
It was always soothing to watch the antics on that show, in contrast to not only the harsh environment that we had chosen to live in, but also the foreign culture that we had chosen to participate in. We looked forward to the weekly presentation of "Shoestring" which made us forget momentarily where we were living.
I say 'forget', but in truth, our 10-year stint of living in Saudi Arabia was very enjoyable. The Saudis were pleasant and did not make us feel unwelcome. We felt strangely included.
So, when I chanced upon this novel in a Gaithersburg, Maryland bookstore I bought it for frankly nostalgic reasons. For me, it was merely 'meh' but still enjoyable. While I read it, I remembered the times that my wife, two little boys and I all huddled on the sofa in our comfortable air-conditioned surroundings watching the product of Ableman's creation.
It was always soothing to watch the antics on that show, in contrast to not only the harsh environment that we had chosen to live in, but also the foreign culture that we had chosen to participate in. We looked forward to the weekly presentation of "Shoestring" which made us forget momentarily where we were living.
I say 'forget', but in truth, our 10-year stint of living in Saudi Arabia was very enjoyable. The Saudis were pleasant and did not make us feel unwelcome. We felt strangely included.
So, when I chanced upon this novel in a Gaithersburg, Maryland bookstore I bought it for frankly nostalgic reasons. For me, it was merely 'meh' but still enjoyable. While I read it, I remembered the times that my wife, two little boys and I all huddled on the sofa in our comfortable air-conditioned surroundings watching the product of Ableman's creation.
May 14, 2009
Bought this along with the other first book entitled simply Shoestring. Would not have bought it if I had read the first book before hand. Glad I did though as the book was much more to my liking.
It was adapted from an actual Shoestring episode that I had already watched. I felt the lead character was more in tune with the TV series and my expectations.
Book still felt a bit dated but I think I was ready for this from reading the first book.
It was adapted from an actual Shoestring episode that I had already watched. I felt the lead character was more in tune with the TV series and my expectations.
Book still felt a bit dated but I think I was ready for this from reading the first book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews