Murder In The Title: A Crime Novel (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Unfortunately at the moment Goodreads has presented both the original Simon Brett novel and the modernized full-cast radio drama as a single entry forcing me to combine my thoughts on the two versions of the story.While the radio play does make some slight changes to the material they are for the most part cosmetic, such throwing some references to Twitter into Maurice's dialog as well as some more topical theater references (as well as changing the name of the controversial play in the story to something a little edgier). Certainly with regards the mystery the set-up and solutions are broadly similar which makes sense as the tale is one of the least dated of Brett's set-ups (as opposed to other stories from the series like A Comedian Dies or Corporate Bodies which feel more tied to the eras in which they were written) and the plotting is pretty solid.The only truly significant changes occur in the subplots. As with the other radio plays the character of Gerald Venables is eliminated and, to be honest, he isn't missed much. More crucially there are significant changes to the Frances subplot, reflecting the different order that the books and adaptations have taken and the toning down of Charles' womanizing tendencies in them. Without wanting to spoil the subplots too much, in each Charles becomes jealous of a man spending time with his wife (in the novels he has been separated from her for some time while in the audio play he has been out of work for a year and Frances is frustrated with him). The two plots end up playing out quite differently and I enjoyed each. If forced to choose however, I did marginally prefer the lighter touch of the radio adaptation and the scenes in which Charles is forced to interact with the man he suspects of being his wife's lover.As with all Brett's work, the novel is quite a quick read. One aspect I did not particularly care for however were the chapters which featured chunks of the tired old play that Charles is performing in. While this material certainly helps give an impression of the play I found these parts to slow down the story, often at key moments. Though these are the sorts of touches that can make these books such fun, here they just run on too long and I never found them engrossing enough to read them carefully (though for those who do care, they will be glad to know the ending to the book also ties up the play itself).The radio play however is well paced, trimming sequences of the play down to odd lines (which are all the more dynamic in any case for being performed). This helps the flow while still giving a sense of the tone of the piece. As with other entries in the series the cast is strong and all give good performances, particularly Bill Nighy who remains a delight as the washed up and irresponsible actor-sleuth.In summary, of the various Paris stories released to CD so far I do think this is the one which is most similar to the source material meaning that I think you cannot go wrong picking either version. This novel is one of the least dated (sadly the difficulties faced by provincial theaters are just as great as they were twenty five years ago) which means I think it remains quite accessible so I think the only real divide is that of the pacing, which I think is better in the radio version, and the handling of the Charles-Frances relationship, which is taken more seriously in the novel and played more humorously in the radio serial.For those who have enjoyed other entries in the series I would certainly recommend either version of the title.
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