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27th out of 54 books
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The Lost Luggage Porter (Jim Stringer #3)
The story is set in winter in 1906. After his adventures as an amateur sleuth, Jim Stringer is now an official railway detective, working from York Station for the mighty North Eastern Railway Company. But he's not a happy man. As the rain falls incessantly on the city's ancient, neglected streets, the local paper carries a story highly unusual by York standards: two broth...more
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I loved reading The Lost Luggage Porter. The writing took me straight into the book, right to winter 1906 in York where I totally lost myself in the story. 1906 York, with it’s dark, cobbled, gas-lit streets and down-and-outs, gives the perfect setting for a detective novel. Between Andrew Martin’s period writing and having been to York a few times, I was able to picture the scenery quite vividly (I don’t think the centre of York has changed much over the years, to be honest).
The chara...more
The chara...more
This is the third of the Jim Stringer mysteries, and I must say they are really good -- particularly this last one. To refresh your recollection, Jim is a young man working for the English railroad in the very early 1900s. Jim is somewhat of a naif, and in the first two books he sort of stumbles on to some nefarious events and manages to sort them out. In this case, he has been made a railroad detective, and assigned to a particular problem. The dialogue is a little loopy, and the langua...more
Luuuuuuved this book! The tone/voice and the atmosphere--fabulous, completely original! There was one moment early on, when the detective has a conveniently chance meeting with the men who ultimately become the murder victims, which I was a little disappointed with. But then what Martin did with that moment... luuuuved it. So unpredictable, authentic, suspenseful, and entertaining. Can't wait to read more of this series.
This third (my first) Jim Stringer mystery finds Stringer with, and conflicted about, an appointment to the railway police, following his discharge from fireman due to an accident, which he feels was not his fault. Stringer's new Chief has Stringer working undercover on a series of thefts from the railway, having Stringer insinuate himself into the gang. Crooked railway employees, bent cops, and various other murderous villains combine to make Stringer's assignment challenging. Nonetheless, I fo...more
This is the first of the series about a Railway Police officer in the Edwardian era. It is a beautifully described recreation of the period with well fleshed out characters from the detective himself (who did not want to take the job but got fired as a locomotive driver due to an other man's fault), his wife (about to have a baby and expressing worries about losing her self and becoming 'just' a mother and wife, his chief (slightly pompous but good natured) and a host of criminals. You really fe...more
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An evocative picture of Edwardian York from a railway standpoint. The atmosphere of the railway sidings are admirably captured and the action switches from York to Paris and back before Jim Stringer eventually works out what is happening, nails his men and solves the mystery. The Paris episodes are as good as any in the book but, particularly early on, the mystery is difficult to follow. However, it works out fine and on further reflection, the book may prove to have been better than presently r...more
I liked this Jim Stringer better than the first two. Jim has just become a member of the York Railway Police. He goes to the lost luggage to retrieve some railway magazines he lost. The porter suggests he meet at a railway platform where he observes a man robbing a passenger. In the followup, he goes undercover and gets involved in a big heist, and has trouble getting away from the perpetrators in order to report them. He is required to stay with the two culprits on their getaway to Paris w...more
I like trains, the romance of them, their history. I haven't read a mystery in a long time, so when I saw this book at my local library, I thought I'd give it a go. It was a fun read, well paced and I could tell well researched. The story takes place in England in 1906, in and around the steam trains of the era. I could smell the steam and smoke, hear the rain falling on the station roof, all the while hoping our hero has gets himself out of a dangerous situation with the bad guys. Man, the...more
A period detective story, as a railway detective tries to slip into a criminal gang to learn their secrets. Even for this politer age, he seemed far to honest for his own good (worried when he lied and when he essentially had to break the law in the line of his duties) and incredibly naive.
I agree with the 3 star rating - entertaining read especially when you know the area (York) concerned. I'm still not sure I like the feel of the series tho...and probably wouldn't have read if not set in areas I know.
All the ingredients were there for a good read - historical, murder mystery and set in yorkshire but.... This was just not well written at all. Totally lacked cohesion.
#3 in Jim Stringer Mysteries. Historical railway story compares to Patrick O'Brian's naval stories. Great historical and train-related details.
A decent mystery, well written, with some early 20th century steam engines thrown in.. Not exactly Hogwarts Express, but fun if you like trains.
Another excellent read from Andrew Martin in the Jim Stringer series. These stories and the Edward Marston railway dectective series are good easy tom follow reads but with plenty of description. Good old fashioned detective series
I love reading mysteries but here was one I could not make myself even finish. I found it nothing but boring and confusing!
Great review in the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/...
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/...
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Andrew Martin (born 6 July 1962) is an English novelist and journalist.
Martin was brought up in Yorkshire, studied at the University of Oxford and qualified as a barrister. He has since worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications w...more
More about Andrew Martin...
Andrew Martin (born 6 July 1962) is an English novelist and journalist.
Martin was brought up in Yorkshire, studied at the University of Oxford and qualified as a barrister. He has since worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications w...more
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