In Martin’s solid fourth Edwardian-era whodunit to feature railway detective Jim Stringer (after 2008’s The Lost Luggage Porter
), a blizzard forces the train on which Stringer, his wife and young son are riding home to York one cold December day to stop at a remote station. When workmen find the remains of photographer Paul Peters in a nearby storage building, a length of rope dangling from the roof beam above the body, Stringer discounts the obvious explanation that the man hanged himself. After Stringer realizes the exposures in Peters’s camera are missing, he gets on the trail of a secretive upper-class society whose ranks had been dwindling until it went out of existence a year earlier. If he solves the murder, Stringer might just get promoted to sergeant. While the revelation of the crime’s motive may disappoint some mystery fans, the period atmosphere and railroad lore provide ample compensation. (Jan.)
