Listen free for 30 days
-
The Dead Side of the Mike
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Series: Charles Paris, Book 6
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £15.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Not Dead, Only Resting
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris is, as ever, waiting for a phone call from his agent, and is driven to painting and decorating to make ends meet. A rare evening out at a high-profile restaurant among stars of stage and screen promises a break in the depressing routine. But when the restaurant’s handsome, temperamental chef is brutally murdered, Charles finds himself drawn into the ensuing investigation. At first it seems an open and shut case: the chef’s
-
-
So dated, but amusing in parts.
- By Mary Carnegie on 28-08-16
-
Summer's Lease
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s high summer when Molly Pargeter drags her amiably bickering family to a rented Tuscan villa for the holidays. Molly is sure that the house is the perfect setting for their three-week getaway, but soon she becomes fascinated by the lives of the absent owners and things start to go horribly wrong.
-
-
Excellent on all Counts
- By Kindle Customer on 16-02-20
-
Death of a Ghost
- By: Margery Allingham
- Narrated by: Francis Matthews
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The unrivalled Albert Campion returns to solve another shocking murder - classic crime fiction at its very best. J.S. Lafcadio, the painter, is dead. He wanted lasting fame and he left instructions to his wife for one painting to be exhibited every year after his death. Eight years later in Little Venice, a group of friends and family gather to view the painting. They are treated instead to a murder....
-
-
Albert Campion - Ghost Buster!
- By Roger on 26-07-15
-
Charles Paris: Dead Room Farce
- A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation
- By: Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, full cast, Suzanne Burden
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A three-month run of a new farce is not to be sniffed at by a jobbing actor. Especially when there's the distinct possibility of a West End run. Which is why Charles Paris is standing on stage. However, by the time the troupe reaches Bath a darker mood has set in and Charles' old friend Mark has a drink problem that amounts to a death wish. But it's not the drink that kills Mark - it's somebody in the cast who has a secret that Mark must not be allowed to reveal....
-
-
Bill Nighy well what can you say..
- By Steve Blay on 27-05-18
-
Diamond Dust
- By: Peter Lovesey
- Narrated by: Steve Hodson
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Inspector Peter Diamond is keen to get his teeth into a new case. So, when a call comes in that a woman's body has been found in one of Bath's parks, he arrives quickly at the scene - only to discover that the victim is his wife.
-
-
Super reading and a great story - recommended.
- By Jules on 15-05-08
-
The Strangling on the Stage
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jude agrees to lend her vintage chaise longue for the local Amateur Dramatic Society’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, little does she realise she’ll end up in a starring role. It’s an ambitious play, culminating in a dramatic execution scene: a scene that’s played for real when one of the leading actors is found hanging from the specially constructed stage gallows during rehearsals. A tragic accident - or something more sinister?
-
-
The Fethering ladies tread the boards
- By SnapWriter on 08-11-14
-
Not Dead, Only Resting
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris is, as ever, waiting for a phone call from his agent, and is driven to painting and decorating to make ends meet. A rare evening out at a high-profile restaurant among stars of stage and screen promises a break in the depressing routine. But when the restaurant’s handsome, temperamental chef is brutally murdered, Charles finds himself drawn into the ensuing investigation. At first it seems an open and shut case: the chef’s
-
-
So dated, but amusing in parts.
- By Mary Carnegie on 28-08-16
-
Summer's Lease
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s high summer when Molly Pargeter drags her amiably bickering family to a rented Tuscan villa for the holidays. Molly is sure that the house is the perfect setting for their three-week getaway, but soon she becomes fascinated by the lives of the absent owners and things start to go horribly wrong.
-
-
Excellent on all Counts
- By Kindle Customer on 16-02-20
-
Death of a Ghost
- By: Margery Allingham
- Narrated by: Francis Matthews
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The unrivalled Albert Campion returns to solve another shocking murder - classic crime fiction at its very best. J.S. Lafcadio, the painter, is dead. He wanted lasting fame and he left instructions to his wife for one painting to be exhibited every year after his death. Eight years later in Little Venice, a group of friends and family gather to view the painting. They are treated instead to a murder....
-
-
Albert Campion - Ghost Buster!
- By Roger on 26-07-15
-
Charles Paris: Dead Room Farce
- A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation
- By: Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, full cast, Suzanne Burden
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A three-month run of a new farce is not to be sniffed at by a jobbing actor. Especially when there's the distinct possibility of a West End run. Which is why Charles Paris is standing on stage. However, by the time the troupe reaches Bath a darker mood has set in and Charles' old friend Mark has a drink problem that amounts to a death wish. But it's not the drink that kills Mark - it's somebody in the cast who has a secret that Mark must not be allowed to reveal....
-
-
Bill Nighy well what can you say..
- By Steve Blay on 27-05-18
-
Diamond Dust
- By: Peter Lovesey
- Narrated by: Steve Hodson
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Inspector Peter Diamond is keen to get his teeth into a new case. So, when a call comes in that a woman's body has been found in one of Bath's parks, he arrives quickly at the scene - only to discover that the victim is his wife.
-
-
Super reading and a great story - recommended.
- By Jules on 15-05-08
-
The Strangling on the Stage
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jude agrees to lend her vintage chaise longue for the local Amateur Dramatic Society’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, little does she realise she’ll end up in a starring role. It’s an ambitious play, culminating in a dramatic execution scene: a scene that’s played for real when one of the leading actors is found hanging from the specially constructed stage gallows during rehearsals. A tragic accident - or something more sinister?
-
-
The Fethering ladies tread the boards
- By SnapWriter on 08-11-14
-
The Silver Pigs
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 1
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why.
-
-
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem in First Century Rome!
- By Broadland Wanderer on 25-09-08
-
Mrs Pargeter's Principle
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mrs Pargeter, it is a matter of principle that she should complete any of her late husband's unfinished business. Amongst his many bequests, perhaps the most valuable is his little black book, in which he listed all the people who ever worked for him, with details of their particular skill sets. This means that whenever Mrs P has a crime to solve, she can readily contact someone with the relevant expertise.
-
-
Please make more available!
- By Bookshake on 28-09-16
-
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
- Agatha Raisin, Book 1
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Penelope Keith
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Agatha Raisin, high-flying public relations boss turned village sleuth. After her many years of bullying and cajoling others, her early retirement to a picture-perfect village in the Cotswolds is a dream come true.
-
-
Laugh out loud
- By Louise on 03-07-13
-
Holy Island
- The DCI Ryan Mysteries, Book 1
- By: LJ Ross
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby priory. When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, making her confront her difficult past.
-
-
I can't believe this was published
- By D. S. John on 13-03-17
-
The Edge of Dreams
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Molly Murphy Sullivan's husband, Daniel, a captain in the New York City police force, is stumped. He's chasing a murderer whose victims have nothing in common--nothing except for the taunting notes that are delivered to Daniel after each murder. And when Daniel receives a note immediately after Molly and her young son, Liam, are in a terrible train crash, Daniel and Molly both begin to fear that maybe Molly herself was the target.
-
-
Quite enjoyable, but a few annoying aspects,
- By C21H30O5 on 02-05-22
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters: his fiancée Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions; and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham's novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
-
-
One of my desert island books
- By AReader on 04-02-15
-
The Secret Listeners
- How the Y Service Intercepted the Secret German Codes for Bletchley Park
- By: Sinclair McKay
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before Bletchley Park could break the German war machine’s code, its daily military communications had to be monitored and recording by "the Listening Service" - the wartime department whose bases moved with every theatre of war: Cairo, Malta, Gibraltar, Iraq, Cyprus, as well as having listening stations along the eastern coast of Britain to intercept radio traffic in the European theatre. This is the story of the - usually very young - men and women sent out to far-flung outposts to listen in for Bletchley Park, an oral history of exotic locations and ordinary lives turned upside down by a sudden remote posting.
-
-
The Wartime "Listeners" for the Codebreakers
- By Dinah on 31-12-13
-
The Happy Hoofer
- By: Celia Imrie
- Narrated by: Celia Imrie
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our best-loved actresses, Celia Imrie would rather have been a dancer. As a child she planned to join the Royal Ballet and marry Rudolf Nureyev. Now she has become one of our finest and funniest performers, on stage, TV and screen - adored for her roles in 'Acorn Antiques' and 'dinnerladies', as well as films including 'Calendar Girls' and 'Nanny McPhee'. In her hugely entertaining autobiography, Celia Imrie recounts a life hurtling (not always intentionally) into adventures both on stage and off.
-
-
A delightful book
- By Kirstine on 01-07-15
-
The American Boy
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1819. Two enigmatic Americans arrive in London and soon after, a bank collapses. A man is found dead on a building site; another goes missing in the teeming stews of Seven Dials. A deathbed vigil ends in an act of theft and a beautiful heiress flirts with her inferiors. A strange destiny links each of these events to the American boy Edgar Allen Poe, brought to England by his foster father and sent to the leafy village of Stoke Newington to be educated.
-
-
Excellent!!
- By blueskythinker on 07-08-08
-
Pietr the Latvian
- Inspector Maigret, Book 1
- By: Georges Simenon, David Bellos - translator
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.
-
-
Great start to a series
- By Anfisa on 11-02-17
-
The Case of William Smith
- By: Patricia Wentworth
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who was William Smith? And why was Mavis Jones so horrified to see him? For seven years William had worked as a woodcarver for the local toyshop, ignorant of his true identity. The war had robbed him of his memory, and no one expected him to ever find the answer. So when he took his work to Evesleys Ltd, why was his life instantly in danger? When William makes the frightening discovery that there are people determined not to let his memory return whatever the cost, Miss Silver is called in to investigate.
-
-
A Perfect Patricia Wentworth Audiobookk
- By Highlight on 16-05-15
-
Murder on the Brighton Express
- By: Edward Marston
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the engines finally met, there was a deafening clash and the Brighton Express twisted and buckled, tipping its carriages on to the other line. It was a scene of utter devastation. October 1854. As crowds of passengers rush to make the departure of the London to Brighton Express, a man watches from the shadows nearby, grimly satisfied as the train pulls out of the station. Chaos, fatalities and unbelievable destruction are the scene soon after when the train derails on the last leg of its journey.
-
-
The Railway Detective
- By Robert Humphrey on 06-08-21
Summary
When Andrea Gower’s body is discovered in an editing suite, with gashes in her wrists and two razor blades nearby, the cause of death seems obvious, with the words she spoke only hours before taking on a completely different meaning....
Working as a radio actor for the BBC was all new to Charles Paris: a new kind of work, a new jargon, and a lot of new faces - some of them quite pretty. But Charles, amateur sleuth and fond of the odd tipple, can’t get the dead girl out of his mind. And when the trail leads him to New York and back, by way of a DJ, an American conman, and another dead body, it becomes only a matter of time before the clues start falling into place....
More from the same
What listeners say about The Dead Side of the Mike
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris Stanfield
- 05-11-20
Loved it!
Easy listening and well narrated by the author himself. I highly recommend this audio recording
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joyce Rigg
- 12-06-22
Convoluted
Not up to his normal books for me. I may be being unfair as I have only read his books before, this is the first audio. So maybe that is why I found the story confusing .
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martin G Fisher
- 11-05-22
Terrible narration
Every voice sounds the same. Having enjoyed the full cast versions I will be avoiding these like the plague.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maz Smith
- 11-03-22
fair
I enjoyed the story but for me the narrator was too bland. Chaps and chapesses all sounded too similar. Good story but I much prefer Bill Nighty in the role.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lisa
- 09-02-22
Good mystery
Good mystery with lots of twists and turns, next to no blasphemy or swearing
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nicola
- 06-02-22
Good fun
I enjoy these Paris stories - his insightful thoughts and his human failings - and his very amateurish sleuthing.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lesley
- 30-01-22
delightful
I have always enjoyed 😉 these takes.
loved this and the super reader. Brain 🍬
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 28-01-22
Very witty
It is such a pleasure to listen to the phrasing and humour in Simon Brett’s narrative. Sharp, witty and very well written.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Juniper
- 27-01-22
Boring
Chose this after hearing BBC dramatization ,hugely disappointing on every level. Brett s reading monotone reflected the seemingly endless ,pointless padding of the text. Impossible to connect with any of the characters.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Norma Miles
- 26-01-22
"Radio has nothing to do with communication."
Charles Paris, without the air of his useless agent, is briefly working for BBC radio when the body of a young woman newly returned from the States is discovered. The football match that she was supposedly commentating was still playing. It looked like suicide. Then another death and Charles is convinced that both were murder.
Read by the author, this series is always a delight, at times poignant, always filled with interesting characters - and this is a good who-dun-it? too. Rather a lot of protagonists to absorb in the early pages but with a nice interaction episode with his wife, this is more a mystery solving novel than most of the other Charles Paris novels.
An easy and most enjoyable (stand-alone) read. Recommended.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Norma Miles
- 26-01-22
"Radio has nothing to do with communication."
Charles Paris, without the air of his useless agent, is briefly working for BBC radio when the body of a young woman newly returned from the States is discovered. The football match that she was supposedly commentating was still playing. It looked like suicide. Then another death and Charles is convinced that both were murder.
Read by the author, this series is always a delight, at times poignant, always filled with interesting characters - and this is a good who-dun-it? too. Rather a lot of protagonists to absorb in the early pages but with a nice interaction episode with his wife, this is more a mystery solving novel than most of the other Charles Paris novels.
An easy and most enjoyable (stand-alone) read. Recommended.