March 4th, 2026.



Newhaven based writer Doug Devaney’s debut novel, Black Vinyl, is set for release on Saturday May the 16th.

Doug, a veteran of the Brighton theatrical scene whose written productions have ranged from one-man shows to pantos, as well as a former stalwart of Impact magazine and once the face of men’s health in the city, has turned his attentions to prose. Now resident in Newhaven, his novel is published by Hawkwood Books of Blackpool.

Black Vinyl, a darkly comic mystery, (with traces of lipgloss), tells the tale of Maxwell Reid, bass player with post-punk darlings La Plage. Once upon a time, he toured the world with the band’s solitary hit single “Kreuzberg Wiedersehen”.

Forty years on, and now a part-time lecturer, part-time Northern Soul DJ, Max finds himself investigating the death of his old lead singer, Jimmy Endicott: a journey that brings him face to face with bitter ex-bandmates, post pandemic cults, corrupt council employees, conspiracy theorists and a messianic club owner.

Helped (or hindered) by Debs Endicott, volatile adult daughter of the deceased, Max discovers that the secret behind Jimmy’s death lies in a past he has mostly managed to forget. Until now.

Told over 45 “tracks”, divided into Side A and Side B and interspersed with illustrations, hand-written notes, interventions from his publisher and occasional tales of the record industry , Black Vinyl is part mystery, part alternative history, part fractured memorial to the ghosts of the 80s music scene, all played out as though on a scratched record that keeps skipping back to the same haunting refrain: “Jimmy Endicott was murdered.”

Black Vinyl is available in paperback and can be ordered from Amazon HERE or from Waterstones or other bookshops.