Smoke gets in your eyes (1946)

The 1st Inspector Vignoles Mystery

It’s March 1946, and the realities of austerity living are hitting home.The railways are falling apart, rationing is becoming worse and blackmarketeers are at work.For Violet McIntyre, a dressmaker living in Woodford Halse, it’s astruggle to make ends meet. She must do the best for her widowedmother and younger sister. And she has a decision to make — butwill it be the correct one? And then her life becomes inextricablylinked to a criminal investigation.Detective Inspector Charles Vignoles of the Railway DetectiveDepartment believes he’s making good progress tracking a gang ofmoney counterfeiters, but when two young cleaners from Woodfordengine shed make a startling discovery, everything starts to spiral out of control, becoming ever deadlier by the hour.The inspector struggles to understand the worsening situation,and like the smoke from the grimy engines that gets in his eyes,his judgement becomes clouded. But he cannot afford to make amistake — a woman’s life is at risk!

 This is the first Inspector Vignoles Mystery, where we meet theinspector and his trusty Sergeant Trinder for the first time. Set in1946 in the area around Woodford Halse, the book immediatelydrew critical acclaim and has been adapted into a stage musical.

The Murder of Crows (1947)

The 2nd Inspector Vignoles Mystery

  As the Big Freeze of 1947 grips the land, the railways struggle in theirbattle against the snow, and refugees from the recent war in Europe,freezing in the Displaced Persons’ Camp at Finmere, are forced toresort to desperate measures to stay warm.The snow lies deep as a murder of crows sits and waits upon a telegraphwire along the edge of a lonely railway cutting. A steam engine stormsout of Catesby tunnel and a young woman is thrown from the passingtrain. A killer is stalking the line…Set against the backdrop of a dark and austere postwar Britain,Inspector Vignoles and Sergeant Trinder of the LNER DetectiveDepartment are soon involved in their most deadly investigation todate.The second Inspector Vignoles Mystery moves forward to the terriblewinter of 1946–47, and Inspector Vignoles has to contend with notonly the snow, but also a dangerous killer on the line. Familiar facesreturn in the form of Edward and Simon, the two young lads startingtheir careers in Woodford Shed, and of course Anna Vignoles andViolet McKintyre — now Mrs Trinder.

The Torn Curtain (1948)

The 3rd Inspector Vignoles mystery

It’s 1948. Two British soldiers working on the railways in Trieste are murdered for no obvious reason –and Allied intelligence is baffled.

Back in England, Detective Inspector Vignoles discovers his office at Leicester Central has been searched, whilst the suave –but decidedly suspicious –Captain Henderson is asking odd questions that stir up long-repressed memories…

Soon Vignoles is leading the murder investigation, only to discover that he is dealing with something far stranger than he could have imagined.

A long-lost secret is about to be revealed, and it could rip apart the Iron Curtain and pitch the West into deadly conflict with the East…

A thrilling Cold War adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat as Vignoles’s train hurtles towards a beautiful bridge spanning a deep ravine in Jugoslavia –and almost certain death!