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The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer)
 
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The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer) (Paperback)

by Andrew Martin (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
Price: £9.89 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer) + The Lost Luggage Porter (Jim Stringer Steam Detective.) + The Necropolis Railway - A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam (Jim Stringer)
Price For All Three: £19.45

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition edition (19 Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571219012
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571219018
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 446,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"'The age of steam has rarely been better evoked.' Evening Standard; 'The Necropolis Railway is a brilliant murder mystery.' Mirror"


Observer

'Often amusing, always intriguing, this is a terrific read.'
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer)
72% buy the item featured on this page:
The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer) 3.2 out of 5 stars (8)
£9.89
The Necropolis Railway - A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam (Jim Stringer)
11% buy
The Necropolis Railway - A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam (Jim Stringer) 3.8 out of 5 stars (12)
£4.77
Murder at Deviation Junction (Jim Stringer Steam Detective.)
6% buy
Murder at Deviation Junction (Jim Stringer Steam Detective.) 3.6 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.26
Death on a Branch Line (Jim Stringer Steam Detective 5)
6% buy
Death on a Branch Line (Jim Stringer Steam Detective 5) 3.9 out of 5 stars (7)
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars rattling yarn, 21 Sep 2004
By ridiculusmus (Toddington (not the services)) - See all my reviews
This is sprinkled with little nuggets about life in the 1900s, such as when a character leaps onto a tram to post a letter, as there were letterboxes on the trams for passengers' use. The story, which chiefly concerns the attempts by a dogged if rather unimaginative railway man to identify the wreckers who have derailed the eponymous Highflyer, feels at times like it is never going to get going, and the resolution is kind of unsatisfying, I felt, but the principal pleasure of this book lies in its recreation of the era.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Every page a pleasure!, 19 Feb 2009
By pitmillie (Scotland, UK.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Blackpool Highflyer (Jim Stringer Steam Detective.) (Paperback)
I'm amazed that no-one else has given this 5 stars yet. For me, it is that rare thing, a book in which every single page was a pleasure to read.

Jim Stringer is a wonderful, likeable character - not a "dull old plod" as someone said. He's young, not old, for a start, and an intelligent, working-class railwayman with a vividly described life of his own. Through his eyes, we see his relationships: with his wife - a great, sassy character - with the engine driver, Clive, he of the natty suits and well-polished boots - with his plump and slightly mysterious lodger - with the sinister long-haired anarchist Paul etc.

We get a picture of Halifax in 1905, of holiday Blackpool, of the music hall, of the great weaving mills, of the local pubs, and of course, of the steam railway. I found it all fascinating and beautifully written. The images he uses are unusual and compelling. For instance, he describes the sound of a barrel-organ as like someone kicking bottles along a street and somehow managing to make a tune. That just does it for me - I can hear that barrel-organ play!

I found the description of the first trip on the Highflyer steam-engine utterly thrilling and compelling - the way he details the landmarks flashing by, the heat and sweat of stoking the firebox, even the way that particular engine rolls so that it is like dancing on the footplate to keep their balance - I felt I was there with Jim and the driver.

I'm not a railway buff or a steam fanatic but I enjoyed the railway element very much. OK, I might not have exactly understood every single reference to things like vacuum brakes or the spectacle glass - but the gist of the action is always quite clear. And, hey, this is the internet - I'm sure there are explanations of the technical aspects if anyone wants to look them up! Do we have to be spoon-fed?

If you want your fiction crammed full of violence, horror and nightmarish images, as so much modern writing is, then you probably won't like this book. Personally, I'm sick of nightmares. I want to enjoy my reading and with this book I did. I shall be seeking out Jim Stringer again.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars great atmosphere; little suspense, 9 Nov 2004
By Michael Scargill "ms" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I agree with the previous reviewer. The attractions of the book are in the lives it creates and the period atmosphere it convincingly, effortlessly but without unnecessary or distracting detail re-creates. I was suspecting (and partly hoping for) more of a suspense to the tale than it the novel finally delivers but even when it became clear that this was not the form in which was being written, my interest and liking for the book remained and in fact grew. It is well written too.
I will now read Andrew Martin's Necropolis novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow plot, excellent context
I bought this and "Lost Luggage Porter" on a whim and really quite enjoyed it. The plot isn't the stongest and can wane a little, but the images of early 20th Century northern... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Gascoigne

3.0 out of 5 stars Steamy Stuff
I ought to declare my interests here - I'm Lancashire born and bred, the grandaughter of a Blackpool landlady and the last blacksmith on the Fylde Coast, who shod the horses that... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sensible Cat

3.0 out of 5 stars Edwardian mystery
This is the third Jim Stringer book I've read - and they've all been pretty good. As other reviewers have said Andrew Martin's principle achievment is his stunningly good and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. Alastair Brown

2.0 out of 5 stars Zzzzzzzzzzz
The main problem with this book is that the protagonist - so-called railway detective Jim Stringer - is such a boring old plod that this reader rapidly lost interest in anything... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2007 by AG Stephenson

2.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully observed, but ultimately dull as ditchwater
How on earth the Daily Mail's reviewer found this 'a compelling thriller' defeats me. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2006 by R. Lloyd

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