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Jim Stringer #5
Death on a Branch Line
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...
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2008
3 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Martin
192 books104 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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 while writing novels, starting with Bilton, a comic novel about journalists, and The Bobby Dazzlers, a comic novel set in the North of England, for which he was named Spectator Young Writer of the Year. His series of detective novels about Jim Stringer, a railwayman reassigned to the North Eastern Railway Police in Edwardian England, includes The Necropolis Railway, The Blackpool Highflyer, The Lost Luggage Porter, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line. He has also written the non-fiction book; How to Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts.
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 while writing novels, starting with Bilton, a comic novel about journalists, and The Bobby Dazzlers, a comic novel set in the North of England, for which he was named Spectator Young Writer of the Year. His series of detective novels about Jim Stringer, a railwayman reassigned to the North Eastern Railway Police in Edwardian England, includes The Necropolis Railway, The Blackpool Highflyer, The Lost Luggage Porter, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line. He has also written the non-fiction book; How to Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 4, 2025
Another thoroughly entertaining entry (the fifth) in Andrew Martin’s Jim Stringer series. This time, Stringer, having left it too late to book a few days holiday in Scarborough with his wife, finds himself instead staying at a country inn in a small village on a branch line north of York. It’s the long hot summer of 1911 and Jim and his wife soon find themselves caught up in a mystery surrounding the recent murder of the local lord of the manor, for which his youngest son has been sentenced to hang. Convinced of a wider conspiracy (a somewhat esoteric one relating to special railway timetables being developed for troop movements in the event of war with Germany), Stringer soon finds himself in more danger than he could have imagined.
These books work so well because Martin is so skilled at creating a sense of time and place, and at presenting a thoroughly entertaining cast of characters. The gruff Yorkshireman and railway historian that he is shines clearly through his prose. His ear for the way Yorkshire people speak to each other and his ability to present that in prose is extraordinary and one of the great joys of this series, although reading some other reviews it looks like it causes some confusion and consternation among non-Yorkshire readers!
These books work so well because Martin is so skilled at creating a sense of time and place, and at presenting a thoroughly entertaining cast of characters. The gruff Yorkshireman and railway historian that he is shines clearly through his prose. His ear for the way Yorkshire people speak to each other and his ability to present that in prose is extraordinary and one of the great joys of this series, although reading some other reviews it looks like it causes some confusion and consternation among non-Yorkshire readers!
October 19, 2018
The events in this story take place over the course of a sweltering weekend in North Yorkshire in 1911. Instead of a good, fast-paced narrative the plot was like a slow train. This reader was dragged around the countryside, shunted off into various side- tracks and held back, before finally picking up steam and arriving at their destination.
March 6, 2014
G:\AUDIO BOOKS\to read\Death_on_a_Branch_Line
Read by.................. Richard Burnip
Abr/Unabr.............. Unabridged
Genre................... Fiction - Mystery
Synopsis(blurb):
It's the sweltering summer of 1911, and one Friday evening a special train rolls into York station. It carries a young aristocrat recently found guilty of murdering his father in the sleepy village of Adenwold. He is briefly entrusted into the custody of railway detective Jim Stringer, and he warns of another murder likely to happen in the same village - that of his brother, a reclusive intellectual. Jim and his wife Lydia take the train along the near deserted branch line to Adenwold. Here they encounter a host of likely suspects and the intended victim, as Jim has one weekend in which to stop a murder and unravel a conspiracy of international dimensions.
I am listening (in stops and starts) on audio file. It may be because I'm not exactly taking a good run at it, or it may be the insipid reading style but it's not exactly doing much for me and I'm halfway through. *shrugs* Edward Marston's fayre is to be preferred.
Read by.................. Richard Burnip
Abr/Unabr.............. Unabridged
Genre................... Fiction - Mystery
Synopsis(blurb):
It's the sweltering summer of 1911, and one Friday evening a special train rolls into York station. It carries a young aristocrat recently found guilty of murdering his father in the sleepy village of Adenwold. He is briefly entrusted into the custody of railway detective Jim Stringer, and he warns of another murder likely to happen in the same village - that of his brother, a reclusive intellectual. Jim and his wife Lydia take the train along the near deserted branch line to Adenwold. Here they encounter a host of likely suspects and the intended victim, as Jim has one weekend in which to stop a murder and unravel a conspiracy of international dimensions.
I am listening (in stops and starts) on audio file. It may be because I'm not exactly taking a good run at it, or it may be the insipid reading style but it's not exactly doing much for me and I'm halfway through. *shrugs* Edward Marston's fayre is to be preferred.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2018
I have not read these books in order and it doesn't seem to matter. On the plus side, I would say this story was atmospheric and the author has a knack of describing places. It seems fairly authentic although sometimes the detectives language seems a bit off and it's not accurate that he would be surprised by a man having the name of Jocelyn in those days - it was far more conmonly male then. If you love trains, you will probably love the details given about the locomotives. As a non rail enthusiast, I felt these descriptions were less wearying than in previous books. My main criticism is that the detective Jim seems too passive. His wife is more proactive and seems the more interesting character. There is quite a good twist at the end but it didn't all feel totally credible.
September 17, 2017
I have never read any of these books before and so starting on book five of the series might not have been the best one to start with. It was an okay story and of course being set in 1911 meant rules of society were very different to nowadays, letting potential murderers socialise at parties!
it got confused with all the various characters so I think I know why the murder was committed but not entirely!
wouldn't rush to read the others but passed the time
it got confused with all the various characters so I think I know why the murder was committed but not entirely!
wouldn't rush to read the others but passed the time
July 25, 2014
Dull, poorly-paced and filled with cardboard cutout characters. If you're looking for an engaging mystery with the 'rural oddbods' one of the blurbs promises, try 'Buried For Pleasure' by Edmund Crispin.
January 13, 2017
As reliable as ever, with the winds of war starting to blow across Europe, Jim Stringer yet again puts together the clues that you can't see to solve the crime! Enjoyable reading nonetheless, to immerse yourself in the world of 100 years ago, when life was simpler and branch lines still existed!!
November 27, 2021
I really enjoy these Jim Stringer Steam Detective novels....they really capture the gritty,dirty,hard working life many people had in the years they're set ( this one being 1911 )....I wouldn't say they are murder mysteries....there is crime.....murders ...but there isn't much of a mystery about the plots...they are just so enjoyable to read ...this one being another fab one....the only strange thing in them I find is Jim's wife ...she's a real cool character with very little saving graces.....it's a wonder they are still together.....but all in all a very enjoyable read with some interesting plots....here's to the next one....
July 22, 2017
I was tempted to give this just two stars, but I think that I felt the way I did about this book because of being female. I am sure that there will be many people out there who will truly enjoy this read.
It really pains me to say that I didn't enjoy the book, due to being female and I have never-in a very long history of being an avid reader-felt this way about a book or even been particularly aware of whether a book was directed more towards females than males. A disappointing read and I won't be hunting down the others in the series.
It really pains me to say that I didn't enjoy the book, due to being female and I have never-in a very long history of being an avid reader-felt this way about a book or even been particularly aware of whether a book was directed more towards females than males. A disappointing read and I won't be hunting down the others in the series.
July 6, 2025
A murder mystery set on a quiet branch line in Yorkshire, before WW1. The local squire dead from a gunshot wound, his son found nearby and condemned and due to hang.
Jim Stringer sets out to save the condemned man, who doesn’t offer much help.
The atmosphere of a sleepy village and station on a hot summer day is well conveyed. The characters are perhaps a bit cut out but all fits together and is duly resolved. It’s a page turner and an enjoyable summer read.
Jim Stringer sets out to save the condemned man, who doesn’t offer much help.
The atmosphere of a sleepy village and station on a hot summer day is well conveyed. The characters are perhaps a bit cut out but all fits together and is duly resolved. It’s a page turner and an enjoyable summer read.
November 30, 2021
Wow this is, in my eyes, a massive improvement on the other books. This is a proper mystery book with a good plot and lots of red herrings set in a well developed world with some good characters. This is exactly what i wanted this series of books to be
March 5, 2019
Gave up after 77 pages .....
March 8, 2017
I'm having a little trouble with this book, and I can't tell whether it's me tiring or the author who's getting tired. What I rated as a virtue in the first couple of novels, Stringer's non-centrality to the action, is present here as well, but in this case it becomes problematical. First, he is a this point actually with the police (rail police, yes, but he has a warrant card and arrest powers) and is enough older to be less of a bumble-puppy than in his first outings. There is, though, the same sense of not just being on the outside looking in, but discovering most of the blinds are drawn. That's fine when the real McGuffin of the work isn't actually any of his business, but here it is his business AND he's made a committment to look into it.
There's also a couple of what are objectively minor technical errors. At p. 17 there is a pistol earlier described as an American-style revolver, which when The Chief is asked why he wasn't afraid of being shot when he took it away from the holder, he explains it was a single-action Luger which he saw was not yet cocked. "Luger" can only be the German P08, which is an automatic; you can't tell if it's cocked OR if it's in battery. I checked to see if perhaps he meant Ruger, a US-based company, but it didn't begin production until 38 years after the events in the story.
As the climax comes upon us, it becomes necessary to use a rifle which happens to be at hand to shoot a telegraph machine free of its mountings. Two shots in rapid succession, from the standard arm of the the British forces of thirty years earlier, the Martini-Henry. This bugged me because that rifle might have a lever-action, but all it does is open the breech to allow the swapping of the spent cartridge for a fresh one; it's not a repeater (as they said at the time) but the way the action is written suggests it is.
There's also the dubious presence of some pump-action shotguns in the armoury of an upper-class sporting type (not an anachronism, but not the sort of thing the sporting set usually goes for). I spent a lot more effort on these bits of trivia than they're really worth, but the petty irritations they represent added to the general sensation of not being able to quite see the stage.
There's also a couple of what are objectively minor technical errors. At p. 17 there is a pistol earlier described as an American-style revolver, which when The Chief is asked why he wasn't afraid of being shot when he took it away from the holder, he explains it was a single-action Luger which he saw was not yet cocked. "Luger" can only be the German P08, which is an automatic; you can't tell if it's cocked OR if it's in battery. I checked to see if perhaps he meant Ruger, a US-based company, but it didn't begin production until 38 years after the events in the story.
As the climax comes upon us, it becomes necessary to use a rifle which happens to be at hand to shoot a telegraph machine free of its mountings. Two shots in rapid succession, from the standard arm of the the British forces of thirty years earlier, the Martini-Henry. This bugged me because that rifle might have a lever-action, but all it does is open the breech to allow the swapping of the spent cartridge for a fresh one; it's not a repeater (as they said at the time) but the way the action is written suggests it is.
There's also the dubious presence of some pump-action shotguns in the armoury of an upper-class sporting type (not an anachronism, but not the sort of thing the sporting set usually goes for). I spent a lot more effort on these bits of trivia than they're really worth, but the petty irritations they represent added to the general sensation of not being able to quite see the stage.
March 19, 2016
Jim Stringer is a detective for the railroad. As he escorts Hugh Lambert to a prison for hanging Stringer begins to feel that Lambert is innocent of murdering his own father and he learns that there might be another murder over the weekend. After delivering Lambert, Stringer and his wife Lydia head to Lambert's small village for a short holiday. Once there Stringer begins to look into the death of Lambert's father. What he finds is a whole village of possible suspects, some of whom are not very nice at all and some who seem frightened of something. With Lydia's help, though unwanted, Stringer begins to piece some things together. What he learns is more than he ever expected.
A good story if a little slow going. I like Stringer and his wife. She is a real character who is undaunted in her belief that women deserve to be more than just household managers.
Will probably read more in this series...........eventually.
A good story if a little slow going. I like Stringer and his wife. She is a real character who is undaunted in her belief that women deserve to be more than just household managers.
Will probably read more in this series...........eventually.
August 15, 2016
I'm giving this 3* although it should be nearer 2.5 I think. I liked the railway ambience - there really was a branch from Pilmoor to Malton with about 3 trains a day. I wonder how this and other similar lines ever made money. As to the story itself, it was all a bit of a muddle and the denoument unbelievable. I did like the way the characters spoke, however. I'm sure the f word was in as common use between males a hundred years ago. The character of Stringer's wife is also very likeable. The author brings out well the long hot summers that we are told preceded the outbreak of war in 1914. There is also plenty of topical colour - strikes, suffragettes and the Agadir crisis. Perhaps it would have been better for the author to have concentrated less on these and more on his narrative flow (it doesn't usually take me 4 days to read a book like this) and his plotting.
May 17, 2014
A very interesting read.
Hugh Lambert has been convicted of patricide, but something about the man convinces detective Jim Stringer that something just does not add up. Hugh is being transferred to Durham goal to hang when he encounters Jim.
The execution to to take place in 48 hours. Jim, convinced of Hugh's innocence follows him to the scene of the crime, and the intrigue of 1977 Britain. Even then the specter of WW I looms and preparations are under way to protect the realm. Can Jim prove Hugh's case in time? Is Hugh's railway timetable master brother willing to blackmail the nation to save him? Can Jim get the message out int time, despite the special forces arrayed around trying to catch the traitor and preventing information leaking to Germany?
Hugh Lambert has been convicted of patricide, but something about the man convinces detective Jim Stringer that something just does not add up. Hugh is being transferred to Durham goal to hang when he encounters Jim.
The execution to to take place in 48 hours. Jim, convinced of Hugh's innocence follows him to the scene of the crime, and the intrigue of 1977 Britain. Even then the specter of WW I looms and preparations are under way to protect the realm. Can Jim prove Hugh's case in time? Is Hugh's railway timetable master brother willing to blackmail the nation to save him? Can Jim get the message out int time, despite the special forces arrayed around trying to catch the traitor and preventing information leaking to Germany?
January 17, 2012
Railway detective Jim Stringer is on the case again, this one most perplexing, not only for himself but for the reader also!
He encounters a condemned man on York railway station and learns of another plot in the man's home village of Adenwold. He sets of with his wife (who he most annoyingly refers to as 'the wife') to try to sort matters out.
However, they do not seem as simple as first portrayed and a host of suspects are encountered and underlying it all there appears to be a plot that would have drastic consequences on the international stage.
Stringer works hard to unravel the whole thing and in the end he ... well read it to see!
He encounters a condemned man on York railway station and learns of another plot in the man's home village of Adenwold. He sets of with his wife (who he most annoyingly refers to as 'the wife') to try to sort matters out.
However, they do not seem as simple as first portrayed and a host of suspects are encountered and underlying it all there appears to be a plot that would have drastic consequences on the international stage.
Stringer works hard to unravel the whole thing and in the end he ... well read it to see!
June 2, 2012
Set in 1911 and evocative of the great steam age on the railways, this is a gentle murder mystery and an easy holiday read. Detective Jim Stringer spends a weekend in rural Yorkshire unravelling a murder plot and attempting to save a man from being hanged on Monday morning. There are some good twists and turns, but overall the plot is sometimes a little simple and under-developed. I recommend it for its ease of reading and the high quality of writing.
October 14, 2011
I'd rate this higher, but for a few annoying anachronisms and one howler.
The book concerned, among other things, the events following the murder of a baronet whose elder son is referred to throughout the book as Mr.
Also, expressions such as "ten after" the hour were not current before 1914, any more than were firearms referred to as shooters.
The book concerned, among other things, the events following the murder of a baronet whose elder son is referred to throughout the book as Mr.
Also, expressions such as "ten after" the hour were not current before 1914, any more than were firearms referred to as shooters.
September 25, 2013
Overall a passable read but the good plotline with its twists, turns, and an unexpected conclusion are sadly let down by a clumsy first person writting style and poor characterisation of the two main characters (although side characters and scene setting aren't as bad) Good but could have been much better.
December 4, 2012
One of the best in the Railway Detective series
September 5, 2010
This is a stunning book - I can't quite believe how much I liked it.
January 16, 2012
Didn't finish. Too little character development and too little action to keep me interested.
December 7, 2012
A complicated case for Stringer this time but I was pleased to see his wife Lydia getting more of role in this novel.
January 2, 2017
A meandering journey through the events Stringer uncovers.
November 27, 2013
A captivating, evocative account of a dark going-ons in a world that has sadly been lost...
March 12, 2016
Another brilliant Railway Detective book, a must for any fan of either crime or the railways. Full of thrill and historically accurate too, very enjoyable.
November 28, 2024
Love train adventures.
March 31, 2018
Reading this caused me actually physical pain, nothing special about it except the scenary and that's as far as it goes , the characters are dull, the story is dull and the progression of events is boring and uninteresting .. I couldn't wait to be done with it.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews