Jim Stringer – serie

'Genuinely gripping ... A brilliant evocation of Edwardian working-class life - the sort of thing DH Lawrence might have written had he been less verbose or been blessed with a sense of humour.' Peter Parker, Evening StandardThe second Jim Stringer adventure, The Blackpool Highflyer is a superbly atmospheric thriller of sabotage, suspicion and steam. 'Unique and important ... There is no one else who is writing like Andrew Martin today.' Ian Marchant, Guardian'Evokes Edwardian Yorkshire and Lancashire, their great industrial prosperity and singular ways of living, quite brilliantly in a historical whodunnit which for its fresh and stealthy approach to past times deserves the adjective Bainbridgean.' Ian Jack, Guardian (Books of the Year)'A steamy whodunnit ... This may well be the best fiction about the railways since Dickens.' Michael Williams, Independent on Sunday

York, Winter, 1906 - two brothers have been shot to death. Meanwhile, Jim Stringer meets the Lost Luggage Porter, humblest among the employees of the North Eastern Railway company. He tells Jim a tale which leads him to the roughest part of town, a place where the police constables always walk in twos. Jim is off on the trail of pickpockets, 'station loungers' and other small fry of the York underworld. But then in a tiny, one-room pub with a badly smoking fire he enters the orbit of a dangerous, disturbed villain who is playing for much higher stakes . . .

When railwayman Jim Stringer moves to the garish and tawdry London of 1903, he finds his duties are confined to a mysterious graveyard line. Perplexingly, the men he works alongside have formed an instant loathing for him. And his predecessor has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Can Jim work out what is going on before he too is travelling on a one-way coffin ticket aboard the Necropolis Railway? A gripping detective story, fabulously rich in atmosphere and period detail, The Necropolis Railway steams toward an unexpected conclusion.

A train hits a snow drift in the frozen Cleveland Hills. In the process of clearing the line a body is discovered, and so begins a dangerous case for struggling Edwardian railway detective, Jim Stringer. Jim's new investigation takes him to the mighty blast furnaces of Ironopolis, to Fleet Street in the company of a cynical reporter from The Railway Rover, and to a nightmarish spot in the Highlands. Jim's faltering career in the railway police hangs on whether he can solve the murder - but before long the pursuer becomes the pursued, and Jim finds himself fighting not just for his job, but for his very life as well.

It's the sweltering summer of 1911, and one Friday evening a young aristocrat arrives into the custody of detective Jim Stringer, a man recently found guilty of murdering his father in the sleepy village of Adenwold. He warns Jim of another murder likely to happen in the same village - that of his brother, a reclusive intellectual. When Jim and his wife Lydia arrive at Adenwold they encounter a host of likely suspects and the intended victim, and suddenly Jim has one weekend in which to stop a murder and unravel a conspiracy of international dimensions...

One night, in a private boarding house in Scarborough, a railwayman vanishes, leaving his belongings behind...It is the eve of the Great War, and Jim Stringer, railway detective, is uneasy about his next assignment. It's not so much the prospect Scarborough in the gloomy off-season that bothers him, or even the fact that the last railwayman to stay in the house has disappeared without trace. It's more that his governer, Chief Inspector Saul Weatherhill, seems to be deliberately holding back details of the case - and that he's been sent to Scarborough with a trigger-happy assistant. And when Jim encounters the seductive and beautiful Amanda Rickerby a whole new personal danger enters Jim's life...

On the first day of the Somme enlisted railwayman Jim Stringer lies trapped in a shell hole, smoking cigarette after cigarette under the bullets and the blazing sun. He calculates his chances of survival - even before they departed for France, a member of Jim's unit had been found dead. During the stand-off that follows, Jim and his comrades must operate by night the vitally important trains carrying munitions to the Front, through a ghostly landscape of shattered trees where high explosive and shrapnel shells rain down. Close co-operation and trust are vital. Yet proof piles up of an enemy within, and as a ferocious military policeman pursues his investigation into the original killing, the finger of accusation begins to point towards Jim himself . . .

Baghdad 1917. Captain Jim Stringer, invalided from the Western Front, has been dispatched to investigate what looks like a nasty case of treason. He arrives to find a city on the point of insurrection, his cover apparently blown - and his only contact lying dead with flies in his eyes. As Baghdad swelters in a particularly torrid summer, the heat alone threatens the lives of the British soldiers who occupy the city. The recently ejected Turks are still a danger - and many of the local Arabs are none too friendly either.For Jim, who is not particularly good in warm weather, the situation grows pricklier by the day. Aside from his investigation, he is working on the railways around the city. His boss is the charming, enigmatic Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, who presides over the gracious dining society called The Baghdad Railway Club - and who may or may not be a Turkish agent. Jim's search for the truth brings him up against murderous violence in a heat-dazed, labyrinthine city where an enemy awaits around every corner.

'Andrew Martin has recreated an extraordinarily convincing world . . . Terrific.' Daily TelegraphDecember, 1909. A train hits a snowdrift in the frozen Cleveland Hills. In the process of clearing the line a body is discovered, and so begins a dangerous case for struggling railway detective Jim Stringer, a case which will take him from the Highlands to Fleet Street to the mighty blast furnaces of Ironopolis.Jim's faltering career hangs on whether he can solve the murder, but before long Jim finds himself fighting not just for his job, but also for his life . . .'A wonderful evocation of Edwardian Britain . . . Tough, scary and funny, this is a novel for anyone who loves a page-turning detective story.' Independent on SundayPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'The period detail is wonderful . . . The story builds up a good head of steam early on and rattles along nicely to a satisfying conclusion.' GuardianIt's the summer of 1911, and as Britain is gripped by paranoia about German spies and secret preparations for war, railway detective Jim Stringer decides to set out for a much-needed holiday.But before he can leave he finds himself escorting a young aristocrat, Hugh Lambert, who is on his way to be executed for the murder of his father. When Hugh warns that a second murder is imminent in his isolated village, Jim sees a chance to kill two birds with one stone. And so, as he visits the village with his wife Lydia on the pretext of holidaying, Jim finds he has one weekend in which to stop another murder and unravel a conspiracy of international dimensions . . .'Eccentric and engaging.' Sunday Times'Enough historical details and rural oddbods for a BBC serial, a baffling plot and - most importantly - good writing.' Scotland on SundayPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'A thoroughly engaging and entertaining read. All aboard.' Sunday Express'Terrific.' Daily TelegraphIt's March 1914, and Jim Stringer is uneasy about his next assignment.It's not so much the prospect of a Scarborough lodging house in the gloomy off-season that bothers him, or even the fact that the last railwayman to stay in the house has disappeared without trace. It's more that his governor, Chief Inspector Saul Weatherhill, seems to be deliberately holding back details of the case - and that he's been sent to Scarborough with a trigger-happy assistant.The lodging house is called Paradise, but, as Jim discovers, it's hardly that in reality. It is, however, home to the seductive and beautiful Amanda Rickerby, a woman evidently capable of derailing Jim's marriage - and a good deal more besides.As a storm brews in Scarborough, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Jim will ever ride the train back to York.'Like all the Jim Stringer adventures, The Last Train to Scarborough bewitches with its detail, dry humour and laid-back ruminations, but the strangeness of the plot and the originality of the murder method puts this latest book into a weird class of its own.' ObserverPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'A brilliant murder mystery set in Edwardian London about a railway line that runs only to a massive cemetery.' Daily Mirror'An ingenious and atmospheric thriller.' ExpressWhen railwayman Jim Stringer moves to the garish and tawdry London of 1903, he finds his duties are confined to a mysterious graveyard line. The men he works alongside have formed an instant loathing for him - and his predecessor has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Can Jim work out what is going on before he too is travelling on a one-way coffin ticket aboard the Necropolis Railway?'A murderous conspiracy of a plot graced with style, wit and the sharp, true taste of a time gone by.' Independent on SundayPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'Jim Stringer, Steam Detective, rides the footplate again in this hot-as-coals whodunnit. Sabotage, sleuthing, suspicion and steam combine with Edwardian England and railways to create a detective novel in the grand tradition of detective novels.' Express'This may well be the best fiction about the railways since Dickens.' Independent on SundayA superbly atmospheric thriller of sabotage, suspicion and steam, The Blackpool Highflyer brings a new twist to tales of Edwardian England and amateur sleuthing. Assigned to drive holidaymakers to the seaside resort of Blackpool in the hot summer of 1905, Jim Stringer is happy to have left behind the grime and danger of life in London. But his dreams of beer and pretty women are soon shattered - when his high-speed train meets a huge millstone on the line . . .'A clear winner in literary crime writing . . . Dazzling attention to detail and quality writing from one of our best.' Daily ExpressPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'A cracking good thriller.' Independent on Sunday'Unerringly sharp and pioneeringly original, it locks the reader in from start to finish.' Andrew Barrow, SpectatorWinter, 1906. It's Jim Stringer's first day as an official railway detective, but he's not a happy man.As the rain falls incessantly on the city's ancient streets, the local paper carries a story highly unusual by York standards: two brothers have been shot to death.Soon Jim enters the orbit of a dangerous, disturbed villain - and discovers that the two murders are barely the start of his plans . . .'The atmosphere of neglected streets... dingy saloon bars, suppers of boiled bacon and pickles, and dismal, unceasing rain are splendidly evoked ... if you're fond of a stroll through Edwardian working-class life and the innards of steam engines, these might seem to be transports of delight.' TelegraphPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

WINNER OF THE ELLIS PETERS AWARD'Superb.' Lancashire Evening Post'Richly satisfying.' Sunday TelegraphOn the first day of the Somme enlisted railwayman Jim Stringer lies trapped in a shell hole, smoking cigarette after cigarette under the bullets and the blazing sun. He calculates his chances of survival - even before they departed for France, a member of Jim's unit had been found dead.During the stand-off that follows, Jim and his comrades must operate by night the vitally important trains carrying munitions to the Front, through a ghostly landscape of shattered trees where high explosive and shrapnel shells rain down. Close co-operation and trust are vital. Yet proof piles up of an enemy within, and as a ferocious military policeman pursues his investigation into the original killing, the finger of accusation begins to point towards Jim himself . . .'The real achievement of The Somme Stations is the bravura picture the reader is given of men in war - a war receding in time as the last participants die, but which Martin subtly allows to stand in for all conflicts.' Barry Forshaw, IndependentPraise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

'Martin handles this theme with the skill of such illustrious predecessors as Graham Greene - and there is no higher praise than that.' Daily ExpressBaghdad, 1917. Captain Jim Stringer, invalided from the Western Front, has been dispatched to investigate what looks like a nasty case of treason. He arrives to find a city on the point of insurrection, his cover apparently blown - and his only contact lying dead with flies in his eyes. As Baghdad swelters in a particularly torrid summer, the heat alone threatens the lives of the British soldiers who occupy the city. The recently ejected Turks are still a danger - and many of the local Arabs are none too friendly either.For Jim, who is not particularly good in warm weather, the situation grows pricklier by the day. Aside from his investigation, he is working on the railways around the city. His boss is the charming, enigmatic Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, who presides over the gracious dining society called The Baghdad Railway Club - and who may or may not be a Turkish agent. Jim's search for the truth brings him up against murderous violence in a heat-dazed, labyrinthine city where an enemy awaits around every corner.Praise for the Jim Stringer series:'Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam - and the odd spot of real ale - and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet... you're in historic railway territory again.' Manchester Evening News'Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.' Daily Express'This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.' ObserverReaders love Jim Stringer, railway detective:'It's hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.' Independent'An unlikely sleuth - ingenuous, naive and a little anxious - but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who'd be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.' Telegraph'The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.' Independent on Sunday

North East India, 1923. On the broiling Night Mail from Calcutta to Jamalpur, a man is shot dead in a first class compartment. Detective Inspector Jim Stringer was sleeping in the next compartment along. Was he the intended target? Jim should have known that his secondment to the East Indian Railway, with a roving brief to inspect security arrangements, would not be the working holiday he had hoped for. The country seethes with political and racial tension. Aside from the Jamalpur shooting, someone is placing venomous snakes - including giant king cobras - in the first class compartments of the railway. Jim also has worries on the home front: his daughter has formed a connection with a Maharajah's son, who may in turn have a connection to Jim's incredibly rude colleague, the bristling Major Fisher. Jim must do everything he can to keep his family safe from harm, as he unravels the intrigues that surround him...

North East India, 1923. On the broiling Night Mail from Calcutta to Jamalpur, a man is shot dead in a first class compartment. Detective Inspector Jim Stringer was sleeping in the next compartment along. Was he the intended target? Jim should have known that his secondment to the East Indian Railway, with a roving brief to inspect security arrangements, would not be the working holiday he had hoped for. The country seethes with political and racial tension. Aside from the Jamalpur shooting, someone is placing venomous snakes - including giant king cobras - in the first class compartments of the railway. Jim also has worries on the home front: his daughter has formed a connection with a Maharajah's son, who may in turn have a connection to Jim's incredibly rude colleague, the bristling Major Fisher. Jim must do everything he can to keep his family safe from harm, as he unravels the intrigues that surround him...

York railway station, December, 1925. Detective Inspector Jim Stringer is enjoying a pint in the Parlour Bar before accompanying his wife, Lydia, to a charitable function. But when the couple meet at their regular spot near the footbridge, Jim is alarmed to see a man pointing a revolver in his direction.His thoughts go spinning back to a hot day at the end of August, when he attended the York Summer Gala in company with his boss, Superintendent Saul Weatherill, aka 'the Chief'. The Chief, a lover of guns, had insisted on taking Jim into a Wild West sideshow. The star of the show was a moody young sharpshooter called Kid Durrant, who spoke like someone who'd come from Arizona via Sheffield (or vice versa).As Jim watched Durrant displaying his deadeye skills, he little realised how this would be the start of his most dangerous investigation yet.POWDER SMOKE heralds the return of Andrew Martin's much-loved railway policeman, Jim Stringer.