296 page paperback.

This is the third of the 'Jim Stringer - Steam Detective' series of books that i've read. After the awful 2nd book, i was more hopeful of this as it had better reviews.

It is 1906 and our main character is now working in York as a Railway Detective. As with many other backstory details in this series, there are too many inconsistencies about what's included and cut from the books. Our main character Jim has been pared back to a charmless and uninspiring oddity, very difficult to empathise with after the first book. There is more plot and tempo to this book, but when told through our lifeless main character, it's hard to feel any more involvement in it than our character brings. Coupled with that there are two ridiculous story points. Firstly that Jim takes to wearing a pair of lens-less spectacles as a disguise. The reader is expected to believe that the detective is able to interact with the criminals over a peroid of weeks, drinking and talking with them, all the while failing to notice he has any glass in his glasses. It's preposterous. It is however a fantastic way to alienate your readers and people you may want to buy your books in the future. The second point was nearly as bad. We read that he is floored by a blow from one criminal, giving him a black eye. He goes home to his new wife, who doesn't notice it. Later on another criminal mentions it again. Again this makes the storytelling seem unbelievable, and is a major flaw in any writing.

Many of the criminal characters and scenes of York were well written and more consistent, and this allowed the plot to continue with some amount of respect. There is less for the Railway enthusiast here, his transition from Fireman to Detective largely glossed over, appearing in a short time-shift scene. Again this type of large backstory has been removed. This which has had a profound effect on who Jim is and where he is in life now. With so little empathy for Jim, the main story points of conflict and jeopardy are reduced. The final nail in the coffin for this book, is the blocky summing up of the last chapter.

I can't really recommend this book. It's not all bad, but it's composition is littered with annoying errors. It should have been combined with the 2nd book and given Jim's whole story from Halifax fireman to York Detective, cutting out all the chaff, as the principle of the Railway and period writing are good and very interesting. Somehow it all went wrong in the planning. I don't think i'll be reading the rest of the series.