The Yellow Diamond

Andrew Martin is the author of numerous articles, and books of both fiction and non-fiction. Martin went to school in York, and to university at Oxford. After qualifying as a barrister, he won The Spectator Young Writer of the Year Award for 1988, which deflected him into a writing career. His first novel, Bilton, satirised the kind of lifestyle journalism that Martin often found himself writing. It was followed by The Bobby Dazzlers, a crime novel set in York. In 2001 came The Necropolis Railway, the first of Martin’s historical thrillers featuring the Edwardian railwayman, Jim Stringer. There have so far been nine Stringer novels; the latest is Night Train to Jamalpur. The books have received several Crime Writers' Association shortlistings, and The Somme Stations won the CWA Ellis Peters award for Historical Fiction in 2011. Martin’s non-fiction includes a book in which he explains housework to his fellow men. It is called How To Get Things Really Flat: A Man’s Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts. Ghoul Britannia is Martin’s account of British ghosts in fiction and 'fact'. It includes his short story, The Secret Trust (or Little Jack's). Both titles were published by Short Books. His history of the London Underground, Underground, Overground: A Passenger's History of the Tube, was published in 2012. In 2013, his account of the wartime adventures of Gyles Mackrell, tea planter and elephant expert, was published by Fourth Estate as Flight by Elephant: The Untold Story of World's War 2's Most Daring Jungle Rescue. Belles & Whistles, Martin’s book comparing Britain’s railways of today with those of the ‘Golden Age’ was published by profile in 2014. Martin is the author of many short stories, and two episodes of the Radio 4 detective series, Baldi, starring David Threlfall. He has written and presented tv documentaries. He regularly speaks in public, usually on historical or crime fiction, or railways.

Andrew Wincott is a British actor, perhaps best known as the voice of Adam Macy in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers. He has performed in hundreds of dramas, serials, comedies and readings for BBC Radio including Book at Bedtime and the Afternoon Story and he has twice been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company. Some of Andrew’s lead roles include Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre and Alec in Tess of the d’Urbervilles.