Matador Paperback ISBN: 978-1-905886-31-9
The fourth novel in this crime series looks at Timbers' life in 1947
Railway Memories and the Latest Timberdick Mystery
(The author offers some thoughts on the railway aspects of this novel.)
"Mention those first five years of peace and I think of long train journeys at night. I remember hours in dirty compartments with heaters that discharged more fumes than heat, lights that grew dimmer with every mile and dust from itchy upholstery that got up my nose and stopped me nodding off."
That's how Ned Machray begins Chapter Four. His journey from Waterloo gave me an opportunity to recreate some train rides of my childhood.
In those days, a London terminus had a magic of its own, not only the grace and majesty of the steam locomotives but also the constant movement of people. Often, people in uniform. Then there was the station furniture -- the bookstalls and tearooms. Although common sense told me otherwise, I could never convince myself that these structures weren't copies of my Hornby and Airfix models, rather than the other way round.
I sent Ned down the old Meon Valley branch line. For me, such a journey needs to be at night when the countryside is no more than a rough outline of blue and grey and the traveller is not sure where he is. (It was on another Hampshire branch line, alone in a carriage at night, that I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -- my first Christie for Christmas!) The Meon Valley closed years ago, although much of the route can still be seen. However, enthusiasts with their cameras made sure that plenty of photographs fill the railway annuals and nostalgia books. Probably the most evocative are those of the old viaduct crossing the East Meon road. When I visited the villages along the line, I was surprised by the number of local people who still have a yarn to tell about the railwauy, fifty years after it closed.
I want to thank those readers who responded to the railway themes in Liking Good Jazz. Their comments encouraged me to put Ned in a train in The Case of the Dirty Verger. In the earlier book, I wanted to build a mystery around railway characters and railway clues. This time, I just wanted to take things easy and enjoy the ride!