A sharp twist on the noir genre from one of England’s finest fiction writers

‘I worked one hundred murders,’ says Detective Mike Hoolihan, an American policewoman. ‘In my time I have come in on the aftermath of maybe a thousand suspicious deaths, most of which turned out to be suicides, accidentals or plain unattendeds. So I’ve seen them all: jumpers, stumpers, dumpers, dunkers, bleeders, floaters, poppers, bursters. But of all the bodies I have ever seen none has stayed with me, in my gut, like the body of Jennifer Rockwell. I say all this because I am part of the story I am going to tell, and I feel the need to give you some idea of where I’m coming from.’

Night Train is a mystery story which lingers in the reader’s mind even after Mike Hoolihan declares the case closed.

‘Night Train is both delicate and bruising – a long drawn-out blue note. The book hangs around in the mind like smoke in a jazz club’ Telegraph Magazine

Our Review

The Night Train – a euphemism for suicide and also the train that thunders past the detectives window every night…

I love murder mysteries, and have even written some, but never anything like The Night Train by Martin Amis.

This, without doubt, is the most unusual and riveting story, complete with the most unusual detective. Mike Hoolihan is a woman and like no one I have ever met, in real life or fiction. Her life is raw and brutal and has left its mark, but she gets the job done and better than most.

I loved her no nonsense attitude in what must be a nightmare of a job. Her sense of humour and way of talking were both refreshing and entertaining, and I will remember Mike Hoolihan and her determination for a long time…