Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
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Andrew Martin
Faber 2005
Martin is undoubtedly brilliant at conjuring up Edwardian England, and in particular the sights and sounds of Halifax and Blackpool in 1905. He is, by all accounts, also a skilled writer within the detective genre. However, I must admit that I found this novel much less involving than Murder at Deviation Junction – and I wasn’t crazy about that. Partly it’s me, not him. Firstly, I’ve never enjoyed whodunits much since my speed-reading of most of Agatha Christie in my early teens. Secondly, I read this in tiny chunks. Thirdly. I’m rubbish at remembering characters / details of convoluted plots at the best of times. And fourthly, despite my interest in old railway lines, old railway engines leave me pretty cold. Added all up, I just didn’t care overmuch who’d been placing all those stones on the line, and in the end I was skipping large chunks just to get to the end. This was far too long, and far too boring. No more Jim Stringer for me!
12th August 2009
http://www.faber.co.uk/author/andrew-martin/
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