Book description
A riveting new adventure for Jim Stringer, Andrew Martin's
celebrated 'Steam Detective'. It is 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. 'Crime dispatched with a Dickensian
relish . . . Delectable stuff.' Daily Express '[Andrew Martin] is an
original voice and the historical novels are the best I have read this
century.' Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe
Andrew Martin grew up in Yorkshire. He has written for the
Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent on Sunday and Granta,
among other publications. He has been shortlisted for the Crime
Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award 2008 and for the
Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award 2007.
