Misfits Audio, March 2013
Raymond Chandler and Dashiell
Hammett have a lot to answer for. Their particularly intense style of detective-thriller writing was a sensation in
its time - the mid-twentieth century - but spawned a legion of pastiches, parodies and imitations.
Pawn Quest is one such
pastiche. Suffice to say that it is set in an American small town where all the streets are named after sandwiches.
The action takes place in a local pawn-shop, where friends Ozzie Green (Russell Gold) and Birch Wilson (Tom Chalker) are always
looking for new mysteries to solve. The complicated plot in this episode revolves around daytime robberies, a good night's
sleep and sandwich fillings.
Pawn Quests has its fair share of good jokes about detective thrillers, radio drama
and clues that happen to turn up for no particular reason. However I did admit to feeling a little tired by the end:
maybe I'm just too much of a fan of the real thing (unadulterated Chandler, I mean). But my reaction should not
detract from the efforts of the hard-working cast, including John Tadrzak, Glenn Hascall (who also directed) and Natalie
Stanfield Thomas (as the narrator).
