Paul Temple and the Curzon Case by Francis Durbridge, 0563504773, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Not Anthony's fault, but these are a bit dull

Having listened to all of the available full-cast Paul Temple mysteries, I resorted to this read rendition to sate my desire for more. I think I made a big mistake. Francis Durbridge simply doesn't really stand up as a great author without Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury adding the colour. The atmosphere of the recordings simply isn't there and you're left with a naked sub-standard plot. Anthony Head does have a lovely voice well-suited to the period in which this story is set, but without Steve asking 'Where's Charlie fishing?', I think the magic is missing. I struggled to concentrate and have resorted to revisiting the dramatised CDs.

Well worth a look

If you're a fan of the BBC full cast dramatisations please don't be put off by this being read by Anthony Head rather than a full cast.

Head's reading style and voice lend themselves very well to the feel of the Paul Temple stories. I was worried that it might lack the atmosphere and pace of the full cast versions and this simply is not the case. You get sucked in just as easily.

This has a different feel to it simply by virtue of being read rather than acted and in this way it feels less like you are in the thick of it (but at the same time you use your imagination more which gives it a more personal feel) but the quality of the story is exactly the same as the previous mysteries, very good.

Curzon

This Paul Temple adventre isn't as good as the ones which were brocast on BBC radio as it isn't acted out but read by Giles Buffy's watcher from Buffy The Vampire Slayer or the guy form the real old nescafe advert.
The Curzon Caae is a good story besides this fact I stated above if you have the other i would get this or even use this as a starting point the longer books ar far better.

Brilliant reading of a good Paul Temple novel.

Paul Temple and the Curzon Case was broadcast as a serial in 1948 in the days when Kim Peacock was Paul Temple, but even then Marjorie Westbury was of course Steve, and Durbridge novelized the serial in 1972 but it was never reprised with Peter Coke in the role.

Anthony Head is an excellent choice for reader, his voice has a similarity to the Peter Coke BBC adaptations we now know, and also it is light enough to be convincing in female dialogue, he cannot replicate Marjorie Westbury’’s wonderful Steve lilt (in real life she had a quite different voice) but that is asking too much of any male reader. I have a number of Temple novels by various readers and Head is by far the best.

There are a number of novels not available in the BBC dramatizations so please let us have these. This audio book cannot be recommended highly enough.

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