Murder at Deviation Junction

by Andrew Martin

Book Overview

From the author of The Necropolis Railway, The Blackpool Highflyer, and The Lost Luggage Porter comes another thrilling mystery featuring railway detective Jim Stringer. It is winter 1909, and Jim desperately needs his anticipated New Year's promotion in order to pay for a nurse for his ailing son.
Jumping at any opportunity to impress his supervisor, Jim agrees to investigate a standard assault in a nearby town. But when his train home hits a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015603445X
• ISBN13: 9780156034456
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Flawless

The narrative voice is amazing --intelligent and economical, yet full bodied and subtly humorous. The story begins very slowly, but picks up and then moves quickly to a surprise ending. The murder provokes some interesting questions. The trains, the weather, and the villains keep the plot moving. Reminiscent stylistically of a Sherlock Holmes story, but with a more personable detective and greater psychological depth. Murder at Deviation Junction deserves a wide readership. I plan on reading more Jim Stringer mysteries.

Good Writing, Deviated Plot

Jim Springer is a railroad groupie who also is a railroad cop on an English road in 1909. Formerly a locomotive fireman, a job from which he was unfairly fired (Jim's ability and independent streak insure difficult relationships with less talented bosses). Although it keeps him on his beloved railroads, Jim dislikes the cop job because it normally involves only very petty crime such as fare dodging, employee pilfering and minor theft from passengers. And micromanagement to boot. Rarely, however, a major crime occurs within the limited jurisdiction of the railroads, and Jim has a murder solution to his credit. As this book opens just before Christmas season, Jim faces harassment and hostility from his immediate superior, a bully determined to scuttle Jim's promotion to sergeant, who goes out of his way to give Jim bad assignments and to criticize his performance. Jim must have the promotion to pay for his sickly son's health care and for his wife's sake; and the all-important promotion interview is set for Christmas Eve. Jim is determined to achieve a major success to insure his promotion even if it means risking his superior's ire. The combined pressure of his ambition and financial need propel Jim into a dangerous investigation when he happens to be on a train stalled by snow and the "snow gangers" discover a body. It seems a clear suicide, but Jim learns a couple of things that make him suspicious. He plunges into an investigation, pretty much on his own. The book's atmosphere and writing are excellent. The descriptions of the industrial milieu of 1909 Yorkshire, especially in the iron and steel industry are terrific; and, of course, the railroads are lovingly described. While conditions for workers are hellish, this particular hell is populated by glorious machines and men who are proud of their skill in working them. I rated the book as I did because the plot seemed contrived. While Jim does uncover some things, he ultimately learns the full scope of the villainy through one of the most hackneyed devices in crime fiction: A garrulous evildoer. The original crime seemed believable, but the reaction of those involved was not. And it is the reaction that takes the criminal conduct well out of the ordinary and launches it into the surreal. A number of the conflicts in the book are also resolved in an offhand way that I found psychologically unconvincing. Finally, I felt that the climax of the book was marred by the use of another cliché. The writing carried the book, especially the portrayal of the industrial society in which Jim works; but it was not enough to me to put the book in the top echelon.