It is March 1914, and Jim Stringer is uneasy about his next assignment. It's not so much the prospect of a Scarborough lodging house in the gloomy off-season that bothers him, or even the fact that the last railwayman to stay in the house has disappeared. It's more that his chief inspector seems to be holding back details of the case - and that Jim has been sent to Scarborough with a trigger-happy assistant. Although the lodging house doesn't live up to its name, Paradise, it is home to the seductive and beautiful Amanda Rickerby, a woman capable of derailing Jim's marriage. As a storm brews in Scarborough, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Jim will ever ride the train back to York.