Modern Collins (14) : Gothic Pursuit

Another of the Tim Simpson series of stories by John Malcolm mixing art and furniture history with amateur detective work. In this story the hunt for a rare piece of furniture designed by a well known 19th century architect leads to a number of murders.

A fun and easy read on the whole and a well structured story, though sometimes the art and design history can make your eyes glaze over a bit (and i like history!)

776

Another dialphone has joined the collection, a fine but slightly shabby GPO 776. This was the last dialphone designed by the Post Office and was the first intended principally for the residential instead of the business market. After this BT (as they became) would go push-button only on their new telephone models leaving this model as a final last gasp of a more civilised age.

Coventry and Walsall rails

Over the last few months i have been trying to visit nearly every railway station in the West Midlands so i can update my photography ready for my forthcoming book. I have nearly finished that now with very few stations remaining after i visited Coventry and Walsall at the weekend. I think i have all of the photography i need now. The aim is to get the book completed by the end of this month and do plenty of checking before it is submitted to the publisher at the end of next month. You can see my photos here.

Modern Collins (13) : The Fenokee Project

The Fenokee Project by Roy Lewis takes place mainly in the frozen wastes of Canada and takes quite a while to get going. This is a slow moving tale of a cold (in more ways than one) case. 

A man tries to find out how his wife died eight years before. What may have seemed an accident seems to be mixed up with paid off witnesses and big business corruption.

It takes a while to warm up but when it does you are rewarded by a complicated but logical plot. 

Olton freight

Another freight train video, this time at Olton.

Leicester waterways

At the weekend i felt like a change from the heavy railway diet i had had recently, so i headed to Leicester to explore the waterways there. The Soar Navigation, part of the Grand Union Canal, stretches around quite a bit of the city centre and is a terrific walk with some amazing bridges. You can see my waterways photos here, other Leicester photos can be seen here.

Modern Collins (12) : Prime target

Prime target by Martin Russell is an intriguing tale of crime, psychology and terrorism. Pitt starts to get confused when people begin mistaking him for someone else. This continues and he starts to question his own sanity and reality. 

Finally, it is revealed that it is all a trick (a somewhat elaborate one to honest) and he is the captive of terrorists who want him to plant a bomb in Downing Street!

The story has many twists and turns though some are a bit obvious in the end, such as Karen. However, a dog saves the day and that always makes a good story even better.

Fleet Freightliner

Freight action in Hampshire.