Unerringly sharp and pioneeringly original, it locks the reader in from start to finish. Andrew Barrow, SpectatorWinter, 1906. It s Jim Stringer s first day as an official railway detective, but he s not a happy man.As the rain falls incessantly on the city s ancient streets, the local paper carries a story highly unusual by York standards: two brothers have been shot to death. Soon Jim enters the orbit of a dangerous, disturbed villain and discovers that the two murders are barely the start of his plans . . . A cracking good thriller. Independent on Sunday Crime narratives dispatched with a Dickensian relish . . . Delectable stuff. Daily Express Has the charm of Alexander McCall Smith s simple-is-good philosophising and its addictive quality. Metro