Paul Temple Intervenes

Paul Temple BBC Serials #4

by Francis Durbridge

The murder of well-known American Myron Harwood, found dead in a small country lane, heralds the start of a series of celebrity murders. Each time, the body is found with a small, square piece of white cardboard bearing the inscription 'The Marquis'.

When the eighth victim, a girl, is picked out of the river with the same card attached to her dress, a note from Paul Temple is delivered to Sir Graham Forbes. The message reads: 'Is it true what they say about Rita?'

Rita Cartwright was a private detective investigating the Marquis murders - and now she too has ended up dead. With the police baffled and the Home Secretary specially requesting his involvement, Paul Temple has no choice but to intervene ...

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, Crime, Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Francis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author born in Hull. In 1938, he created the character Paul Temple for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple.

A crime novelist and detective, the gentlemanly Temple solved numerous crimes with the help of Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist who later became his wife. The character proved enormously popular and appeared in 16 radio serials and later spawned a 64-part big-budget television series (1969-71) and radio productions, as well as a number of comic strips, four feature films and various foreign radio productions.

Francis Durbridge also had a successful career as a writer for the stage and screen. His most successful play, Suddenly at Home, ran in London’s West End for over a year.

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 2024 Lunchtime Listen
Part of the Early Paul Temple years (38-50) audiobook, this is an enjoyable audio story although not of great sound quality - I suppose it is the age !
Anyway as I said 4 years ago below, it is full of twists and turns until Paul Temple breaks the truth to all the interested parties, very a le Poirot.
An enjoyable story , but a little dated now, especially I think the dramatisation.

Garage Listen 2020
So, I just spent the last 30 minutes writing my review and on saving it, GR has eaten it, argh. So here we go again.

Some of my GR friends will know that I have a penchant for Detective Mysterious, and especially for golden age British mysterious. This wonderful dramatisation stars Carl Bernard and Bernadette Hodgson as author Paul Temple and his glamorous wife Steve. Having been called back from the USA especially by the British Govt to investigate a series of high profile murders, they are soon locking horns with the infamous blackmailer and murderer the Marquis. Attacked and threatened they persevere in their investigations. Despite more murders and many red herrings, and aided and abetted by their friend Sir Graham Forbes, The Police Commissioner, they feel they know who their adversary really is and are ready to reveal to the world.

A wonderful audiobook that was made even better as it was free . The website I got it from has literally thousands of audiobooks old and new, so I shall certainly be using it again to hunt out more Paul Temple stories.

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this early BBC full-cast dramatization doesn't have the beloved Coke/Westbury as Paul Temple and Steve, but Carl Bernard and Bernadette Hodgson instead. But they do a nice job. It has a bit more cheesiness that I'd liken to Christie's Hastings uttering, "I say!" in a Poirot, but that's part of its charm. The mystery moves rapidly and charmingly along, as all Durbridge's stories do, and is quite exciting in its own way. A few loose ends pertaining to motive are left unexplained, but overall great fun for Paul Temple fans!

[Muphyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amazing to think that this dramatisation was unearthed from the BBC archives not that long ago, and you can tell... there's some lovely 'crackling' and the sound is 'uneven', and it seems very special to be able to listen to it now after 60 odd years.

However, this story left me with more questions than it answered. It wasn't nearly as thrilling as some of the other ones and I still can't work out why The Marquis murdered all the people he did. I wanted Paul Temple to explain it all at the end as he normally does but he didn't. A bit disappointing.

[P.J. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old fashioned and dated but I loved it. If you like 50's crime with a few twists and turns then there's none better than Francis Durbridge's Paul Temple.

[Caralue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this was a great book, but sadly I wasn't into this genre much. A friend gifted to me this, and well it was a fun read. It made me want to fasten reading because damn, I just wanted to know who the hell the Marquis was! At the reveal, it was completely surprising. Like... Him? Seriously? I'm surprised. He seemed like such a good person, it's a little sad and disappointing for the guy to do the crimes. But I feel like the reveal was kinda unsatisfying, like, it could've been presented better and longer. It seemed rather floppy. Temple's last reveal about Maisie at the end though completely struck me. Last thing: in the whole novel, I feel like Steve was often quite left out. Paul would often talk with the cops peer,, pages of it, and then suddenly Steve is asked or smth. I realise I'd forgotten she was actually there! I don't know if that's a writer fault or simply realistic, as one does feel left out sometimes from the partner's buds.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating between 3 & 3.5

A fast moving thriller that has all the hallmarks of his temple series.
A limited circle of suspects, several murders, a police officer suspected, criminal contacts of temple who seem to always meet their maker rather earlier than they expected, and a denouement at a cocktail party.
On the face of it and after decades of successive authors using some or all of the same tropes, these novels can almost read like a pastiche rather than an original idea.
They certainly pass the time quickly and can be read in only a couple of sittings if you wish. It is no surprise that the characters and author kept readers and listeners entertained for so long.
So a good read I feel, entertaining, fast moving and worth the time.

[Morgan Giesbrecht · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audio quality is a bit rough, but that’s because it’s from the ‘30s-‘40s and a rare archive recording. The voices were often hard to differentiate between as many of the men sounded the same.

I love how Paul treats Steve as an equal in their marriage and partnership. Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence were much the same way. Plus, Paul and Steve have the best banter; they’re just adorable!

Okay, and can we take a moment and establish that about a dozen people were dead within the first half of the the story?! According to my dad, that’s worse than my stories. 😏

I’m starting to detect a pattern in the endings. All the suspects gather, Temple expounds, the murderer pulls out a gun, and threatens to shoot. Murderer commits suicide or is apprehended.

Content: mild language

[Nicky Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Scotland Yard once again baffled by a series of murders Sir Graham Forbes calls for Paul Temple to help.
Temple & Steve go up against a master criminal calling himself The Marquis but they soon run him to ground & Temple reveals his identity at a cocktail party

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable Caper featuring the enigmatic Paul Temple.

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are generally fun to listen.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same, and great fun.

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a one-star for me. The book is mainly wished fulfilment for the author, the main character is just a Mary Sue and the mystery is just mah. Not worth the read sorry

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing the radio dramas first I could picture and hear every line in the book as if done by the cast. Fabulous!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The oldest surviving Paul Temple serial -- steam radio at its finest! For some reason the episodes are rather shorter than usual, but it's prime Durbridge in the writing, though delivered with rather fruitier performances than the Coke/Westbury run. Fans of Old Time Radio should enjoy this.

[Brian Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always awful, but also awfully funny. An early one so the music, sound-effects and performances were even more dreadful than usual, but this made it all the better fun.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but nothing special.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a Paul Temple novel. Always a little bit predictable, but not enough to REALLY be predictable at all.