A Voice Like Velvet (Detective Club Crime Classics) Paperback – 29 April 2021

I first came across author, Donald Henderson, when I read the brilliant, “Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper,” and immediately wanted to read anything else back in print. In this re-issue, there is an interesting introduction by Martin Edwards, explaining how this book failed to give the author the success it should have. Given the rather uninteresting title of, “The Announcer,” the publishers failed completely to capitalise on the success of Mr Bowling and, sadly, Donald Henderson died young. Hopefully, though, more of his work will be re-published, as he certainly deserves a new audience.Ernest Bisham is a BBC announcer. He is a slightly portly, rather pompous sounding gentleman, whose good looks and velvet voice has seduced the nation – many of whom wait breathlessly, to hear him on the radio. Among these are his wife, Marjorie, and sister, Bess, an ATS sergeant. For it is wartime and, presumably, the public are grateful for Bisham’s reassuring tone while relating the news.Both Ernest Bisham and his wife, Marjorie, had had earlier, disastrous marriages and have been brought together by Bess. At first, they struggle to make their relationship work but, as the book progresses, we learn how their perceptions of each other change. For Bisham has a secret – he is a, rather unlikely, cat burglar. This began when he was dared to steal something from his headmaster’s office and has progressed to stealing jewels from wealthy people he meets through his position at the BBC. However, really he has no idea what to do with all the jewels he takes and now Hood, from the Yard, is taking an interest in him…Despite the fact that he is a thief, Bisham comes across as a really likeable character and you find yourself really hoping that he, and Marjorie, make a success of their marriage. As well as the fact that Bisham is such an unlikely burglar, I just love Donald Henderson’s writing. A solicitor’s clerk, for example, is described as looking, “rather like a Walt Disney spaniel which had just picked itself up after falling nine hundred feet down a lift shaft.” What’s not to like? This is clever, and amusing, writing; playing on social, and class, assumptions and poking sly fun at ‘Auntie’ in the process. Donald Henderson worked at the BBC himself and there is much humour from the young, eternally ‘browned-off’ Jonas Wintle, the son of a neighbour, who gains an introduction to the BBC through Marjorie and who finds out that the work as an announcer is not as easy as it appears. A joy – I look forward to reading more by Henderson.

A huge disappointment after reading the wonderful "Mr Bowling buys a Newspaper" and "Goodbye to Murder". I simply found this dull and rather pedestrian.The idea is good one, but the characters were not engaging enough. This was yet another book, the plot of which might make a good long story or novella, but which became tedious the longer it went on.

Ernest Bisham is a radio announcer, with the velvet voice of the title making him beloved by the many listeners who, back in 1944, get all their news from the BBC. His picture regularly appearing in the Radio Times means that he is also recognised by the Great British Public wherever he goes. Which makes his second career as a cat-burglar even more risky! We follow along as he takes ever greater risks and comes ever closer to having his identity uncovered...This is a crime novel in the sense that Bisham is a criminal, but there’s no mystery to solve and, although there are some tense episodes, it doesn’t sit comfortably in the thriller category either. According to the informative introduction by Martin Edwards, Henderson’s original publishers put it out as “a novel” under the name The Announcer, and it failed to attract much of an audience. It was his American publishers who changed the title and marketed it as crime fiction, cashing in on the success of Henderson’s earlier crime novel, Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper (note to self: acquire!). I understand where both sets of publishers were coming from because, despite the obvious crime element, this is really much more of a character study of Bisham, and a rather humorous look at the oddities of life in the BBC at the time when it was Britain’s sole broadcaster and still finding its feet in a rapidly changing world. But it’s undoubtedly Bisham’s cat-burgling that gives the book its major elements of fun and suspense.In general, I’ve never been much of a fan of the gentleman thief or indeed of books where the criminal is the hero. But I make an exception for Bisham – he’s an extraordinarily likeable chap and I enjoyed his company very much. He steals for the excitement rather than for monetary gain and has strict rules about only taking from those who can afford the loss and making sure he doesn’t take things of great sentimental value. He’s a bit like one of those birds who steal shiny things just to jazz up their nest a bit. The risk is everything and one gets the impression that for a long time he’s felt his life was so empty he wasn’t risking much.But recently he has married again – a rather placid middle-aged marriage between two people each of whom were burned in their disastrous first marriages and are somewhat cautious about love as a result. A large part of the story is about this new marriage and whether he and Marjorie, his wife, will grow together or apart as they get to know each other better. It’s beautifully done, I must say – I was rooting for both of them all the way, even while I was laughing indulgently at their inner thoughts. And this marriage is making Ernest rethink his criminal activities, realising that now he wouldn’t be the only one who suffered if he is caught. But he finds it very hard to fight the temptation to do just one more job... or maybe two... and meantime the police are patiently waiting for the man whom the newspapers call the Man In The Mask to make a mistake...I found this thoroughly enjoyable – one of those books you read with a smile on your face. It’s not at all certain how it will end, so that there is a steady build-up of tension especially once the police become involved. By that stage I was fully on Ernest’s side, and even more so on Marjorie’s – but I was kinda also on the side of the police, because basically I’m a law-abiding sort and the police detective was a nice chap too! Would Henderson be able to get me out of the moral dilemma he’d created for me? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out...NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.