Dead To The World

by Francis Durbridge

This novelisation of the radio serial Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery also includes a Paul Temple short story, ‘The Ventriloquist’s Doll’.Photographer and amateur detective Philip Holt is asked to investigate the unexplained murder of an American student at an English university. With a postcard signed ‘Christopher’ and the boy’s father’s missing signet ring as his only leads, Holt’s investigation soon snowballs into forgery, blackmail, smuggling … and more murder.Dead to the World is Francis Durbridge’s novelisation of his radio serial Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery, rewriting the Paul and Steve Temple characters as Philip Holt and his secretary Ruth Sanders. This new edition is introduced by bibliographer Melvyn Barnes and includes the Paul Temple Christmas story THE VENTRILOQUIST’S DOLL.

339 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

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

[Will Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began to read this book without knowing anything about it except that it was written by the great Francis Durbridge, he who created the Paul Temple mysteries, most notably on the radio. I love these radio serials and listen to them regularly. I must admit, I was curious about the relatively low score this book received on Goodreads. I was even more surprised when I ended up agreeing with a lot of those ratings, and I'm giving it a three out of five. To begin with, many of the plot points were the same as in a specific Paul Temple mystery. I didn’t realise that’s because this book is a novelisation of a Paul Temple radio play. I wasn’t that bothered, at first, because, as I say, I love Paul Temple. The writing, as always, with Durbridge, is wonderful. The problem with this book for me is that, in novel form, it came across as overly complex and overlong. Interestingly, this work seemed good as a play, but as a novel, it didn’t work as well. It felt like a lot was added, and it could have ended much earlier than it did. I’m still glad I read it, but, in my view, this isn’t Francis Durbridge’s greatest work by a long shot. Still worth a read though, and I’m sure many will find it a better novel than I did.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyably light crime mystery from 1967 which feels as though it could have been written in the thirties with it's collection of rogues and good-humored investigators. it's origins as a radio play perhaps inform on the change of pace towards the end, and whilst not groundbreaking it was an easy read for a few hours. Will be reading more in this recently republished series.

[Ian Potts · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book for £2.50 in an Oxfam bookshop.
Glad I didn’t pay eight quid for it. I’d heard of Paul Temple and Francis Durbridge but never read anything. It’s an awful read, patronising and racist to its female characters. It reminded of The Avengers, the worldly man with his female sidekick. Apparently Durbridge was very successful and you can see why, this a very commercial approach to the genre with no artistic merit, it’s as if Raymond Chandler never existed.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a complicated plot which I found a little confusing and not particularly credible. I can see how it worked better as a radio play but can't quite see why he changed from Paul Temple to Philip Holt.
Disappointing.