Paul Temple and Steve are asked to perform a favour for a friend and deliver a pair of glasses that were left behind to their rightful owner in Tunis. Somehow this leads to murder and other crimes that Paul and Steve get to investigate.

To cut it short, this story was not great. It was really slow-moving and much of it just made no sense. 

Part of the charm of the Paul Temple stories is that they are all rather similar and all follow the same formula. So, in East of Algiers we get the usual plot, too. Paul Temple stories always require the suspension of disbelief. 

What I found absolutely ludicrous in this story was the way Durbridge wrote about the investigations in Paris and Tunis. 

While in Paris, they collaborate with the local police in the investigation.

However, when they get to Tunis, they somehow seem to bypass the local police and the investigation seems to be led by their friend Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard.

While Sir Graham does make mention of his being asked to work on the case by Interpol, the lack of local police involvement made it look like it was perfectly fine for foreign authorities to take control of matters that really would be outside of their jurisdiction. 

The sense of Imperialism at work here spoiled some of the book for me.

To be fair, tho, the story was not exactly interesting otherwise either, but Anthony Head's narration saved the book for me. 

Oh, and why call the story East of Algiers, when the story is set in Tunis? Algeria or any other part of Algeria don't feature. I mean, sure, Tunisia is east of Algiers. That is true. But why not make reference in the title to something that actually has some relevance to the story?

These questions are entirely rhetorical, of course. I'm moving on to the next book.

The Sheltering Sky was not good. Not good at all. So now I need something entertaining and light and most of all ... delightful. 

Bring on a Paul Temple story read by Anthony Head...and set in Algiers, I assume.

Due to the extensive longevity and strength, metal roofing material is often preferred by most of the house owners. The Palin family was no different. Mr. Palin says, “due to its durability and easy maintenance process we opted for metal roofing for our house. But, we knew that oftentimes multiple issues occur during the installation process. Thankfully the Temple City roofing contractors that we hired was pretty amazing with their skills and knowledge.”

The installation process of any roofing material plays a crucial role in terms of deciding the longevity of the roof. That’s why expert knowledge and skill is required here. As Mrs. Palin says, “we knew we needed an expert. Only they could take proper care of the installation process. So, we called Mike Roofing expert as they are one of the leading roofing contractors here.” Now let’s take a look at the common issues people face while installing a metal roof,

1. Metal Sheets Overlapping

When the contractor lays out the sheets, these must overlap the other ones. But, sometimes the wind blows towards one side of your house. The overlapping should be headed towards the wind’s direction. Otherwise the wind may tear off the sheets. Mr. Palin says, “The contractors took extra precaution while laying out the sheets. One of the experts told me that they made sure that the wind never blows into the overlaps. I was really surprised to see their detailed focus.”

1. Nailing Without Gasket

While installing the metal roof the primary things a contractor needs is a gasket and a washer. The gasket plays the role of a water barrier whereas the washer grips the gasket in place. If the contractor accidentally misses to tap in a screw without the gasket or washer then the entire sheet will become loose. Also, the faulty screws should be banned from using as it increases the chances of a poor quality installation.

1. Unparalleled Sheet

Only the professional roofing contractors in Temple City like Mike Roofing can make sure that the sheets are being laid out on a parallel way. If the contractor has failed to maintain the precision here, the sheet will be crooked and increases the chances of getting damaged easily by wind and rain. Mr. Palin says, “The Mike Roofing team performed the installation process very precisely. They took the time to align each sheet perfectly. If the first one is not aligned then others will be misaligned too. So the expert took time to complete the entire installation process. Fortunately they gave us our dream house too with a solid installation process.’

There are other problems too that can arise only if your contractor is not skilled enough to take care of the installation process. These were some of the common issues that people complain about. But, in case you hire a tyro the problem may increase as the contractor will lack knowledge. So, hire the professional Temple City roofing contractors like Mike Roofing to provide you the best solution.

After spending much of this afternoon and evening reading non-fiction about various crimes against humanity, and given that watching the news at the moment is equally depressing, I'm in need of another bit of comforting distraction: I have turned to Wallace and Sayers over the last week, so just for a change, I'll throw in some Durbridge. 

I came across these fabulous compilations of the old BBC Radio productions. I finished the first installment (The Early Years) last year and enjoyed it very much. These collections come with some additional material - material that is no longer viable to publish/release because the quality has deteriorated or it is incomplete, etc. 

It's probably material that only appeals to fans of the series, rather than new listeners, but I appreciated it. 

This second installment in the collection turns to the 1950s and contains five complete radio dramas:

- 'The Gilbert Case' (1954)

- 'The Lawrence Affair' (1956)

- 'The Spencer Affair' (1957)

- 'The Vandyke Affair' (the 1959 remake), and

- 'The Conrad Case' (1959)

I won't listen to them all back-to-back so this will be a longer-term project, but I love that these radio productions are available again. 

If anything has been a measure of my inability to focus this week, it has been my bedtime "reading". 

I specifically picked a Paul Temple audiobook because it is so undemanding - and yet tremendous fun. 

Still, I managed to get to the 50% and retain some sort of memory of what is going on in the story only because I must have listened to the first half of the book 3 times all in all. 

I cannot wait for the "weekend". 

Loving the audiobook, tho. It's a fun story. Bonkers, but fun.