Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Curtain Call
    Unavailable
    Curtain Call
    Unavailable
    Curtain Call
    Audiobook12 hours

    Curtain Call

    Written by Anthony Quinn

    Narrated by Lucy Paterson

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    On a sultry afternoon in 1936 a woman accidentally interrupts an attempted murder in a London hotel room. Nina Land, a West End actress, faces a dilemma: she's not supposed to be at the hotel, and certainly not with a married man. But once it becomes apparent that she may have seen the face of the man the newspapers have dubbed ‘the Tie-Pin Killer' she realises that other people's lives could be at stake.On a sultry afternoon in 1936 a woman accidentally interrupts an attempted murder in a London hotel room. Nina Land, a West End actress, faces a dilemma: she's not supposed to be at the hotel, and certainly not with a married man. But once it becomes apparent that she may have seen the face of the man the newspapers have dubbed ‘the Tie-Pin Killer' she realises that other people's lives could be at stake.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateMar 5, 2015
    ISBN9781471284342
    Unavailable
    Curtain Call
    Author

    Anthony Quinn

    Anthony Quinn (b. 1971) is an Irish author and journalist. Born in Northern Ireland’s County Tyrone, Quinn majored in English at Queen’s University, Belfast. After college, he worked a number of odd jobs—social worker, organic gardener, yoga teacher—before finding work as a journalist. He has written short stories for years, winning critical acclaim and, twice, a place on the short list for the Hennessy Literary Awards for New Irish Writing. His book Disappeared was nominated for the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel, and Kirkus Reviews named it to their list of 2012’s Top 10 Best Crime Novels. Quinn also placed as runner-up in a Sunday Timesfood writing competition. Border Angels is his second novel, the sequel to Disappeared, which also features Inspector Celcius Daly. Quinn continues his work as a journalist, reporting on his home county for the Tyrone Times. 

    More audiobooks from Anthony Quinn

    Related to Curtain Call

    Related audiobooks

    Historical Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Modern Families

      Jun 27, 2021

      Modern Families
      2 min read

    • Article

      For Snow Queens Who Have Considered Suicide Because Paul Newman in the First Twenty Minutes of Paris Blues Is Too Much

      Jun 14, 2022

      But I start with the great Sidney Poitier because his stardom was an established part of the Freedom movement in 1964, and he was to be the chaperone of my inner awakening that dramatic year. Indianapolis, my hometown, had some brave marches and two

      10 min read

    • Article

      The Lighter Side of Dan Chaon

      Apr 11, 2022

      I had a dystopian idea in the beginning, and in the end the dystopia caught up with me. The post The Lighter Side of Dan Chaon appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      King Charles’s Ruthless Revenge

      Sep 29, 2022

      IN ACT OF OBLIVION, Robert Harris brings his unrivalled ability to create vivid historical characters within tightly-honed plots to the turbulent Civil Wars and Restoration of mid-seventeenth century Britain and America. It is 1660 and Charles II has

      3 min read

    • Article

      HOW I WRITE Lucinda Riley

      Jun 17, 2019

      Irish-born Lucinda Riley is the bestselling author of over 20 novels. Her Seven Sisters series has topped the charts the world over, and has been optioned for a TV show. I have to write my first draft in total solitude. As we have four kids and our

      1 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Mahmoud, Davidson, and More

      Oct 26, 2021

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from Doma Mahmoud, Craig Davidson, and more—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Mahmoud, Davidson, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Celebrity Shelfie

      Mar 2, 2020

      Natalie Portman is reading Normal People by Sally Rooney. The award-winning novel is a portrait of Connell and Marianne’s relationship, from their life as teenagers in a small Irish town to when they move to Dublin for uni. ■

      1 min read

    • Article

      Eve’s star power BONO’S MY DAD!

      Mar 14, 2021

      Eve’s star power BONO’S MY DAD!
      4 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Dec 4, 2020

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      Everyone But Me Wrote This

      Sep 5, 2023

      Everyone But Me Wrote This
      5 min read

    • Article

      About The Author... J.P. Pomare

      Dec 27, 2020

      He grew up on a racehorse farm in Rotorua, left home at 15 and dropped out of university before finishing his degree. He now lives in Melbourne, where he worked in marketing while building his writing career. His real name is Joshua and this is his t

      1 min read

    • Article

      Quiet on the Set: William Boyd on His Latest Novel

      Nov 18, 2020

      I think of a novelist as a magpie rather than a scholar. Anything bright that catches your eye can be brought into the work. The post Quiet on the Set: William Boyd on His Latest Novel appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Re-Covered: The Mischief

      Dec 2, 2019

      Re-Covered: The Mischief
      8 min read

    • Article

      Jenny Diski's Curious Women

      Jan 25, 2018

      Jenny Diski's Curious Women
      5 min read

    • Article

      About Ed

      Jun 14, 2022

      I walk into the orchid show with Ed. As soon as I see the tumultuous hall I know he won’t last long. Ed walks like an old man though he is forty. After ten minutes on his feet, he vomits on some purple phalaenopsis. I get him outside through a fire e

      18 min read

    • Article

      ‘Starling Days’: Featured Fiction from Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

      Apr 7, 2020

      In today's edition of featured fiction, we present an excerpt from Rowan Hisayo Buchanan's latest novel, Starling Days. The post ‘Starling Days’: Featured Fiction from Rowan Hisayo Buchanan appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      March’s BOOK CLUB

      Feb 2, 2023

      Other Women by Emma Flint (£16.99, HB, Pan Macmillan) Bea Cade can’t resist the charms of Tom Ryan. Any time the attractive and enigmatic salesman visits the offices where Bea works she goes weak at the knees. But Tom is married to Kate. While it’s

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Deesha Philyaw

      Dec 1, 2022

      Deesha Philyaw reflects on 2022 through the books she read. The post A Year in Reading: Deesha Philyaw appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Curtain Call

    3.5/5

    37 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      This begins as if it's going to be a murder mystery/crime thriller but, as the story continues, the tiepin murderer fades into the background only reappearing at the end for a very underwhelming climax. However, the more enjoyable parts of this novel are the 1930s setting (Mosleys' blackshirts on the march, the impending abdication) and the louche theatrical and artistic background. Most of the characters verge on the stereotypical but are portrayed in enough detail to remain interesting and mostly engaging. The risky, then illegal, world of the homosexual is another strong element in the novel.
    • 3/5
      A light crime romp with some nice historical detail thrown in. But it stretched credibility too far - there seem to only be about 6 people living in 1930s London. Overall the author uses too many coincidences to move the plot forward, making it a less satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      This came tantalisingly close to being a splendid novel. The characters were very well developed, the historical context finely drawn and the plot was engaging and convincing.The story is set in London in the 1930s, against the backdrop of constitutional uncertainty as the King's relationship with Mrs Wallis Simpson became more widely known. When not stirring public outrage about the King's dalliance, the tabloid papers are full of prurient coverage of a series of murders perpetrated by a villain dubbed 'The Tiepin Killer'. Stephen Wyley is a successful painter who has been establishing himself as a society portrait artist. He is having a secret affair with up and coming stage actress Nina Land who is currently starring in 'The Second Arrangement' at the Strand Theatre. While leaving after having enjoyed an illicit liaison in a hotel in Russell Square, Nina hears screams coming from a room on the lower floor. Her knock on the door seems to interrupt a vicious attack, and a woman manages to escape from the room and run away. Nina realises that she may have disturbed the Tiepin Killer.Meanwhile ageing theatre critic Jimmy Erskine is living beyond his means, caught up in a cycle of decadence reminiscent of his great hero, Oscar Wilde. The vignettes of his grotesque entertainments are hilarious, though they also leave Erskine exposed to danger as he darts between the higher echelons of society down to the darkest back alleys. His secretary and majordomo is Tom Tunner, a shy epileptic who has been trying for years to disentangle himself from Erskine, although somehow, he never quite manages to escape. As the story develops Tom meets and falls in love with Madeleine Farewell, who turns out to be the victim saved by Nina Land's fortuitous intervention. Like everyone else in this novel, Madeleine has a closely-guarded a secret.The plot moves forward very deftly, and the story is strewn with vignettes of historical people such Oswald Mosley and William Joyce (who would later become infamous as Lord HawHaw). Quinn weaves a very effective story, and has a fine ear for history.
    • 4/5
      Curtain Call – A Stylish Crime Romp.Anthony Quinn’s Curtain Call is a stylish crime romp set in the decadent but politically intriguing year of 1936. This is one of the most delightful crime reads in a long time even though set in the 1930s it is not a pastiche of that era’s crime stories. There is a fantastic eye for the details that others forget in historical facts, laws and language all of which is rich makes for a carefully crafted suspense which places Curtain Call in a class of its own. Quinn has written a compelling story with a cast of characters whose separate stories are eventually linked together. It is very clear that at some point or points throughout the story we will meet the Tie –Pin Killer but not actually know he is until the reveal.The actress Nina Land is having an assignation with her friend society portrait artist and married man Stephen Wyley at the Imperial Hotel when she interrupts an attempted murder in one of the rooms and the girl runs away. Soon Nina released that she had interrupted the Tie-Pin Killer and that she would need to go to the police with a description to stop him killing more women. She gets Wyley to sketch the Jimmy Erskine is an experienced theatre critic of many years standing writing for The Chronicle, who consistently puts his livelihood by taking risks meeting young men in dangerous places in the darker areas of London nightlife. Erskine’s life is managed and edited by Tom his secretary whose accidental meeting with Madeleine Farewell is who ties the storyline together. Madeleine also happens to be the woman who was being attacked at The Imperial Hotel, when Nina Land interrupted the Tie-Pin Killer.The way in which Quinn writes draws the reader in to the story and in turn makes us care for the characters and what eventually happens to them. The story and characters set firmly in the tumultuous world of Soho and theatre land when London was at its hedonistic nadir, when being gay meant happy and being queer meant arrest. Home grown fascism was at its rampant best and again examples are in the story reflecting the terror they had brought to the streets of London. Also the big event of the year the eventual abdication of King Edward for the love of a woman, the book ends on a positive with the Coronation of King George VI.Curtain Call is stylish well written even when reverting to the language of 1930s English the prose is crystal clear the storylines are neat and the characters are well developed. As you read through you will appreciate the incisive wit, the attention to the language of the period and more importantly the aesthetics of the period. This book is nothing but a pleasure to read that I cannot recommend highly enough.
    • 5/5
      The King died at the beginning of 1936 and so this crime thriller is set firmly against that year: not only is there the scandal of the king-to-be's affair with the American Woman, and lurking in the background a gruesome murderer who has already claimed three victims; but Hitler and Mussolini both menace on the European horizon. The popularity of Moseley and Fascism are growing apace throughout the country, anti-Semitic sentiment grows in London society, while other institutions cling to the old ways, homosexuality is condemned and punishable by gaol sentence when detected, and the Crystal Palace burns down.The plot has at least three bases that feel their way towards each other. The historical background is wonderfully well done, without losing sight of the characters whose lives play out in the foreground.An excellent read.