‘Jim Stringer, Steam Detective, rides the footplate again in this hot-as-coals whodunnit. Sabotage, sleuthing, suspicion and steam combine with Edwardian England and railways to create a detective novel in the grand tradition of detective novels.’ Express
‘This may well be the best fiction about the railways since Dickens.’ Independent on Sunday

A superbly atmospheric thriller of sabotage, suspicion and steam, The Blackpool Highflyer brings a new twist to tales of Edwardian England and amateur sleuthing. Assigned to drive holidaymakers to the seaside resort of Blackpool in the hot summer of 1905, Jim Stringer is happy to have left behind the grime and danger of life in London. But his dreams of beer and pretty women are soon shattered – when his high-speed train meets a huge millstone on the line . . .

‘A clear winner in literary crime writing . . . Dazzling attention to detail and quality writing from one of our best.’ Daily Express

‘Breathe in the heady mixture of smoke, oil and steam – and the odd spot of real ale – and feel the crunch of cinders beneath your feet… you’re in historic railway territory again.’ Manchester Evening News
‘Finely honed crime novels with plotting as precise as a Swiss watch.’ Daily Express
‘This series is, er, really building up a head of steam.’ Observer

‘It’s hard to envisage anyone not warming to Jim Stringer.’ Independent
‘An unlikely sleuth – ingenuous, naive and a little anxious – but an endearing narrator, a solid bloke who’d be good company over a pint of stout down the pub.’ Telegraph
‘The best sleuth that 200 years of the railways have ever produced.’ Independent on Sunday