Jim Stringer--Steam Detective

I have a confession to make. I have a bit of a soft spot for Jim Stringer. I first met him when he was a rookie railway worker based at the sheds behind Waterloo Station and stumbled across The Necropolis Railway. He then became a fireman (in the world of steam trains, a man who keeps the fire burning rather than extinguishing it) whilst still managing to stumble across evils doings. Eventually, his 'talent' is spotted and he is soon working as a railway detective based at York. But he'd really secretly rather drive railway engines. You can follow his adventures (in order) in The Blackpool High Flyer, The Lost Luggage Porter, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line.

Jim is one of those people who is a lot brighter than he looks. His particular skill is in observing people and finding out what makes them tick, whether criminal or not. Left to his own devices, you can imagine that, like most men, his life would lack stability. But he's fortunate in that his formidable wife, Lydia or rather "the wife" (Suffragette and doyenne of the Cooperative Movement) keeps her wary eye on him. Not that she plays an active part on the novels nor is a cliched battle-axe. You just know that she's there in the background and that Jim is glad she is, even though he never admits as much. He also has a very dry sense of humour, which I suspect comes straight from his creator Andrew Martin. (I've met him and he definitely has an ironic look about him.)

If you enjoy historical novels, crime novels, steam trains and humour--then you can't fail but like Jim's adventures, too. They're a secret addiction of mine. You don't have to read them in order but if you do you'll have the delight of seeing Jim grow and develop as a husband and father without losing too much of his rough edges. You'll also find that for much of these novels you'll be at a loss to know exactly what's going on and that Jim doesn't seem to know what he's doing but don't be fooled. Jim is always thinking and you can be sure he's less in the dark than he lets on.

His latest adventure, set in 1912, The Last Train to Scarborough is structured in a brilliant way. The opening chapter finds Jim not knowing where he is or how he got there and nor do we. It's all very strange and surreal. Then in the following chapter we are sent back a few days and from then on the novel is then told in alternating chapters of past and present until the two come together and eventually everything makes sense. To me, the very best part of these novels, are not the plots, but the settings and atmosphere and the wonderful characters Andrew Martin creates, both mail and female. In this latest novel, the residents of a Scarborough boarding house are as fine as anything Dickens ever created and a lot funnier. Theodore Vaughan and his collection of dubious postcards is a classic as is Amanda Rickerby, dipsomaniac and femme fatale.

But hidden deep beneath the levity, is the readers' knowledge that each novel nudges us closer and closer to war; what will happen to Jim?

PS. If you're not into steam trains, but want to sample Andrew Martin, then do read How To Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts.