Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery

Paul Temple BBC Serials #19

by Francis Durbridge, Toby Stephens (Narrator)

The coat was expensive. A woman's cashmere coat with the maker's name 'Margo' prominently displayed, it was dropped into the back of Paul Temple's car—possibly by the people responsible for the kidnapping of his wife.

A little while later a second 'Margo' coat surfaced—literally. Sodden and stained, it was worn by a woman who had been brutally strangled and thrown into the Thames.

'Ask her about the coat,' were the words that puzzled Temple. Words spoken in terror by a dying man...

Toby Stephens reads this complete, full-length Paul Temple novel, by Francis Durbridge.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Fiction, British Literature

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1961

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

[Brian W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankly, the plots of the Paul Temple mysteries are ludicrous and borderline nonsensical, but the top-notch, stylish voice work smooths out all the rough edges and makes these stories delightful. Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury have perfect chemistry--like radio's answer to William Powell and Myrna Loy--and the supporting actors are always great, too. I'm happy to devote a few hours to driving around in the English countryside (Look out! Someone's trying to shoot out the windscreen! Third time this week!), partaking of a dry martini (or four), and questioning not-so-innocent shopgirls (who invariably turn up dead by the third episode) with Paul & Steve.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Temple is an excellent diversion. That's it. That's the tweet.

[Macky · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️3.4/4⭐️

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3

An enjoyable enough late entry to the series of novels following Paul and Steve.
Had more in common with the radio serials tone and story wise than the earlier novels did.
Still a surprising amount of death considering these are considered usually as a tame/middle of the road thriller series.
For some reason a throwaway comment about the butler/housekeeper Charlie being with them for a long time made me wonder what happened to the previous occupant of that role the ex wpc Kate - cannot remember when she leaves and Charlie enters - just wondered.

An okay read through and a recommendation for both new readers of PT and long time readers completing the series

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back on track after the dire 70s outings. This is old school Temple, although it was published in the mid 80s. Steve is back as a former reporter rather than graphic designer, Temple is suavely elegant and Charlie has been restored as the faithful retainer. Thankfully, Durbridge seems to have remembered who and what Paul and Steve actually are.

[MaggyGray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Höre mir momentan nochmal alle meine Paul Temple Hörbücher an. Eine ausführliche Rezension, die eigentlich für alle Fälle steht, gibt es hier: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mein erster Paul Temple, den ich mir auf CD gekauft habe.

[Morgan Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I listen, the more complex the stories get. This is the fifth one, and it has tripped me up the most. I nearly missed the right bad guy…this one was probably closest to an Agatha Christie in terms of complexity and the large suspect list. I was on the right track but didn’t have all the finer details smoothed out enough in the end. The plot lines rather fantastical plot line but it’s fun.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting Paul Temple story - very dated but great fun

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auf dem Rückflug von einer Lesereise in NY, lernt Paul Temple Mike Langdon kennen, der alles andere als begeistert ist, dass seine Tochter Julia den Sänger Tony Wyman heiraten will. Steve, die Paul auf dem Flughafen abholen will, wird von Unbekannten entführt und erst am Londoner Bahnhof wieder freigelassen. Auf dem Rücksitz ihres Autos findet sich ein Mantel der Firma Margo, der jedoch nicht Steve gehört. Steve erzählt Paul, dass diese Entführung als Warnung gedacht war, damit er die Finger vom Fall Margo lässt, von dem er so gar keine Ahnung hat, vor allem weil Paul gerade gar keinen Fall hat.
Kommissar Raine bittet Temple ihm bei einem Fall zu helfen, bei dem es sich um einen Einbruchsring handelt, während Mike Langdon Paul darum bittet Erkundigungen über den Freund seiner Tochter Julia Kelburn einzuholen. Als Steve Nachts einen Anruf von Mrs. Kelburn erhält, dass ihre Stieftochter Julia ermordet werden soll und am nächsten Morgen tatsächlich tot aus der Themse gefischt wird, in einem Mantel der Firma Margo.

Dieser Fall lässt sich mit einem Wort beschreiben: Verworren. Statt sauberer, nachvollziehbarer Ermittlungen, werden einem hier wieder einmal viele Verschiedene Personen, teils unter verschiedenen Namen präsentiert und die wirkliche Funktion und die wichtigsten Informationen bis zum Showdown vorenthalten, so dass man keine Chance hat, den Fall selber zu klären oder zu durchschauen, um was es tatsächlich geht. Mehrere Verbrechen werden ziemlich wirr miteinander verquickt (OK, das ist noch realistisch), aber genauso wirr ist eben auch die Ermittlung der Temples, die eher von Aktion zu Aktion schlittern und weniger ermitteln, als irgendwie verwickelt werden.
Peter Coke spricht erneut Paul Temple und Marjorie Westbury Steve. Das Hörspiel wurde das erste Mal 1962 vom BBC gesendet und strahlt dementsprechend auch das übliche 60er Jahre Flair aus, ist somit auch ein etwas verrauschtes Mono Hörspiel.

[Henni · Rating 3 out of 5]

"En god gammel krimi" det tror jeg er mest rammende for denne bog (og de andre af Durbridge jeg har læst), i nutiden er den ikke specielt hæsblæsende, nervepirrende eller overraskende men den er et fint tidstypisk billede på hvad der var noget af det bedste engang.
Og så er jeg nok også præget af at en af mine favorit-historier på Radioteater også er et "Poul Temple mysterium"'
Hurtigt læst hyggelig bog.

[Laura Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Durbridge's forte is radio and TV serials, but I find him mediocre in novel form.
For me, the Temples inhabit the '40s/50s, so the modern references (this novelization is from the '8os) such as skinheads and Paul flying in on the Concorde just seemed wrong. Since I already know the radio play, there wasn't much new (although I did learn Charlie is a regular listener to Woman's Hour.) Pretending I hadn't heard the superior radio-play, I'd give it 3 stars; otherwise it's 2 stars.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...

[Littleadele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first Paul Temple radio plays I listened to and I live it. The characters sound exactly as I expect them to for this spiffing period piece.