Railway Detective Mysteries

by Edward Marston

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From the popular Railway Detective series, a grand romp very much in the tradition of Holmes and Watson:

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The Railway Detective 

London 1851. With the opening of the Great Exhibition at hand, interest is mounting in the engineering triumphs of the railways, but not everyone feels like celebrating. 

In an audacious attack, the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed and derailed, causing many casualties. Planned with military precision, this crime proves a challenge to Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck who fights to untangle a web of murder, blackmail and destruction. 

As Colbeck closes in on the criminal masterminds, events take an unexpected turn when the beautiful Madeleine, daughter of the injured train driver, becomes a pawn in the criminals' game. With time running out, good and evil, new and old, battle against each other. But will the long arm of the law have speed on its side?

The Railway Detective is an action-packed dip into murky 1850s London. Full of historical detail, unexpected twists and memorable characters, this is a mystery that will surprise you at every turn.

The Excursion Train

London, 1852. On the shocking discovery of a passenger's body on the Great Western Railway excursion train, Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant, Sergeant Victor Leeming, are dispatched to the scene. Faced with what initially appears to be a motiveless murder, Colbeck is intrigued by the murder weapon - a noose. When it emerges that the victim had worked as a public executioner, Colbeck realizes that this must be intrinsically linked to the killer's choice of weapon. However, the further he delves into the case, the more mysterious it becomes. When a second man is strangled by a noose on a train, Colbeck knows that he must act quickly; can he catch the murderer before more lives are lost? 

The Railway Viaduct 

As a train speeds over the Sankey Viaduct, the dead body of a man is hurled into the canal below. Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming take charge of their most complex and difficult case yet. Hampered by the fact that the corpse has nothing on him to indicate his identity, they are baffled until a young woman comes forward to explain that the murder victim, Gaston Chabal, is an engineer, working on a major rail link in France. As the case takes on an international dimension, problems accumulate. The detectives wonder if the murder is connected to a series of vicious attacks on the rail link that is being built by British navvies under the direction of a British construction engineer. Colbeck and Leeming have to survive personal danger, resistance from the French government, broadsides from their Superintendent, and many other setbacks before they solve the crime.

The Iron Horse

Derby Day at Epsom Downs. A multitude of people crowd to watch the races: dukes and dustmen, bishops and beggars, privileged ladies and prostitutes. The gamut of Victorian society and a hotbed for crime and crooks of all kinds.

With the nation a-flutter in the run up to this national event, a disembodied head is discovered on a passenger train at Crewe; the first in a murky course of events that takes in murder, fraud and race-fixing. Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant are assigned to the case and are soon snarled up in a web of skulduggery stretching across the country. They are forced to ask themselves, just how much is someone prepared to hazard to win?

Murder on the Brighton Express

When the engines finally met, there was a deafening clash and the Brighton Express twisted and buckled, tipping its carriages onto the other line. It was a scene of utter devastation.

October, 1854. As crowds of passengers rush to make the departure of the London to Brighton Express, a man watches from the shadows nearby?

Chaos, fatalities and unbelievable destruction are the scene soon after when the train derails just outside the Balcombe Tunnel. Could it simply be a case of driver error? Detective Inspector Colbeck thinks not. But digging deep to discover the intended target of the accident takes time, something Colbeck doesn?t have as the killer prepares to strike again.


The Silver Locomotive Mystery

1854. As the Cardiff-bound train puffs out of Paddington Station, young Hugh Kellow wraps a protective arm around his large valise. He has been entrusted with a priceless silver coffee pot, designed in the shape of a locomotive, by his elderly silversmith employer. But two of Hugh's fellow passengers are taking an enormous interest in the valise and as the journey progresses, Hugh's tongue is loosened and he tells them all about his priceless cargo. It will be the last mistake he'll make.

When a dead body is discovered in a room at the Cardiff Railway Hotel, beside a large empty valise, the great Railway Detective Robert Colbeck and his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming are called in to investigate; but all is not quite as it seems.



Railway to the Grave

Yorkshire 1855.  When Colonel Aubrey Tarleton walks into the path of a speeding train, he is crushed to death on the track.

The famous Railway Detective, Inspector Robert Colbeck, is immediately put on the case to determine why such a well-respected man would have resorted to suicide.  Tarleton's wife had recently gone missing, but was the Colonel responsible for her disappearance?  It's up to Colbeck and his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming to uncover the truth.


Blood on the Line

1857. On the LNWR train to London, a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, conman, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve - a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover, including cold-blooded murder. When the Railway Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck learns that Oxley, his arch nemesis, has escaped, black memories of their shared past leave him no choice but to do his duty, whatever the cost. With the faithful Victor Leeming at his side, Colbeck must use all of his skills to track his elusive enemy. But could he have finally met his match?


The Stationmaster's Farewell

1857. Joel Heygate is the popular stationmaster at Exeter St David's railway station. So when the charred remains of a body are discovered in the embers of the town's annual Bonfire Night celebration, everyone is horrified to discover that they belong to Mr Heygate. Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant Victor Leeming are dispatched to Exeter with all due haste, and quickly unearth a number of suspects. But as Colbeck closes in on the killer, he finds himself in mortal danger. Can justice prevail, or will his beloved Madeleine be robbed of a husband on the very eve of their marriage?


Peril On The Royal Train

Spring, 1858. The route of the Caledonian Railway through the Scottish countryside is disrupted by a fatal crash.  The Railway Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his trusty Sergeant Victor Leeming are called from London to investigate, and must contend with old enemy Superintendent Rory McTurk to uncover the criminals behind the disaster. 

The motive for the crash is unclear, with suspects including the North British Railway, a group of sabbatarians and those with personal vendettas to enact. Can Colbeck and Leeming crack the case before the Royal Family make their train journey to Balmoral?


A Ticket to Oblivion

Summer, 1858.  Young Imogen Burnhope and her maid Rhoda board a non-stop train to Oxford to visit Imogen's Aunt Cassandra, who waits at the terminus to greet them.  All the passengers alight at Oxford but the two women are nowhere to be seen.  When he learns his daughter is missing. Sir Marcus Burnhope contacts Scotland Yard for help and Inspector Colbeck is assigned the case.

With witnesses confirming the impossible - that the women boarded the train - is it a simple case of runaways? Or is there a larger, more sinister conspiracy at work? The Railway Detective must unravel the mystifying web of their disappearance before Imogen and Rhoda vanish into oblivion for good.


Timetable of Death

1859. Two children dash past gravestones playing hide-and-seek. A freshly dug grave should provide the ideal hiding place, if it weren?t for an unscheduled body occupying the spot.

The body is that of Vivian Quayle, director of the Midland Railway and pillar of the community, whose mysterious death baffles local police and necessitates Scotland Yard?s assistance. As Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming piece together the victim?s final moments, and suspects and motives multiply, an unpleasant picture emerges. This is a case only the Railway Detective can solve.


Signal for Vengeance

1860 Dorset.  A married woman finds some escape from her miserable home life in an affair with another man.  But the age-old tale has a new spin put upon it when, en route to a tryst, the wife trips over her dead lover on the railway tracks.

Inspector Colbeck is drafted in from London to solve the hideous crime but with no shortage of conflicting alibis and the victim's sordid past complicating matters, the mystery is hard to fathom.  With pressure mounting from all sides, and urgent matters closer to home requiring his attention, only the Railway Detective can reveal the truth.


The Circus Train Conspiracy

After its great success in Carlisle, the Moscardi Circus is travelling by train to Newcastle for its next series of performances. A collision with a couple of sleepers on the track causes pandemonium: passengers are thrown about, animals escape and the future of the circus looks uncertain. When the body of a woman is discovered in woodland nearby, the Railway Detective is despatched to investigate.

Believing the incidents to be connected. Inspector Colbeck piece together the evidence to discover the identity of the nameless woman and unmask the person set on derailing Moscardi's Magnificent Circus.


The Christmas Railway Mystery

December 1860.  An army of men is heading to the Swindon Works for the morning shift from their nearby terraced houses built by the GWR.  Frank Rodman should have been among them, but his new destination is the grave - or it will be, once his missing head is found.

Christmas is fast approaching and the last thing Inspector Colbeck needs is a complex case, mired in contradictions.  As he wrestles with one crime, he is alarmed to hear of another - the abduction of Superintendent Tallis.  With Sergeant Leeming by his side, the Railway Detective finds himself in a hectic race to solve a brutal murder and save the superintendent's life before it's too late.


Points of Danger

1861, Jarvis Swarbrick MP, universally-admired for his work towards unifying East Anglia's tangle of railway networks, is travelling by train with his wife when he is threatened by an armed robber.  Swarbrick defies the man and is promptly shot dead.

As the only detective in Britain with enough expertise for the job, Inspector Colbeck is brought in to investigate the tragedy.   But as Swarbrick's glowing reputation begins to crumble, the line of investigation isn't clear. Is the Railway Detective following the right track or will he need to switch points to bring the murderer to justice?


Fear On The Phantom Special

Halloween, 1861. A special train steams across the Lake District at night on its way to a place notorious for its record of supernatural incidents.  The mood is boisterous on board as the passengers fortify themselves with alcohol in preparation for the frights ahead.  When the train stops suddenly in front of a raging fire, the leader of the group heroically sprints off to investigate, but he does not return.

Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are called in to investigate this peculiar occurrence. With some believing the missing man is the victim of a ghost said to haunt the site and no discernible trace of the man to be found, this will prove to be a puzzling case indeed for the Railway Detective.


Slaughter In The Sapperton Tunnel

Disaster strikes at the Sapperton Tunnel in Gloucestershire when a goods train collides with an unusual blockage on the line: seven sheep penned onto the tracks. Specially requested to investigate the carnage, Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are confronted with a bizarre case unlike anything they've encountered before. 

Stephen Rydall, board member of the Great Western Railway that manages the route, is convinced this tragedy is a personal attack on him and fears for the safety of his shepherd, missing since the incident. Rydall has many enemies but, as Colbeck will soon discover, the man also has a closely guarded secret of his own...


Tragedy on the Branch Line

1863. Young student, Bernard Pomeroy, flies into a panic when he receives a letter in the early hours of the morning. Leaving a note for a friend with a porter at Corpus Christi College, he rushes for the next train leaving Cambridge. However, shortly after disembarking at his destination, the undergraduate lies dead on the platform. Summoned by the master of the college, Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming begin to investigate Pomeroy's untimely demise. But it seems that Pomeroy had ruffled many feathers during his short tenure at the University. With academic disputes, sporting rivalry and a clandestine romance in play, the Railway Detective will have to disentangle the many threads of Pomeroy's life in order to answer the truth of his death.

Death at the Terminus

York, 1865. A passenger train stands ready to depart amid the bustle at the station. The flurry of passengers and porters, the swooping pigeons and barking dogs are thrown into a state of turmoil when an explosion rips through the brake van of the train, killing guard Jack Follis. In response to a summons from the North Eastern Railway, Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are sent to investigate. Was it an accident, deliberate vandalism or targeted murder? The longer the investigation goes on, the more complex it becomes. With a dizzying array of suspects and motives, will the combined skills of the detectives be enough to identify and catch the culprit?

Christmas Case

December 1864. As a cold winter wind scours the Worcestershire countryside, an excursion train comes through a tunnel in the Malvern Hills to be confronted by a blockage on the line ahead. Although a disastrous derailment is averted, the passengers are alarmed. Cyril Hubbleday, the man in charge of the excursion, alights to investigate further, but the angry altercation with the driver is cut short by a shot from a sniper, straight through Hubbleday's head. 

Christmas is coming all too soon and Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming are under pressure to solve the case quickly. However, with enemies in the shadows behind the seasonal trip, and with strong criticism from the local constabulary, the hunt for a cold-blooded killer is far from straightforward.

Murder In Transit

1866. On a train bound for Portsmouth, an elegant woman shares a compartment with the lecherous Giles Blanchard. It is a lucky encounter for her, as she steps off the train after picking his pocket and in possession of scandalous material for a potential blackmail. It is a less fortuitous meeting for Blanchard, who will never reach his home on the Isle of Wight alive.

 Detective Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are swiftly dispatched to sift through the evidence. With Queen Victoria poised to spend the summer on the island, a speedy resolution to the case is imperative for their superiors. Tracing Blanchard's killer is an endeavour freighted with difficulties, but will the fact that their inquiries lead them to the door of a royal residence be one complication too many?

Mystery at the Station Hotel

Shrewsbury, 1866. Julian Lockyer is an imposing gentleman in his late fifties. Having reserved a room for the night at the Station Hotel, he asks to be called early in the morning because he has a train to catch. Repeated attempts are made to wake him but there is no response. After forcing the door, the horrified hotel staff discover the bloodied corpse but with the knife still in his hand - could he have killed himself in such a brutal manner? 

The Railway Detective is summoned by his boss Tallis to journey to Shrewsbury and investigate. If it is a simple case of suicide, Colbeck believes that he may be back home that same evening and no need to trouble his sergeant. But when he reaches Shrewsbury, one mystery is solved. The stationmaster tells Colbeck that the dead man is a director of the Great Western Railway company and he was due to takeover as Chairman.


Inspector Colbeck's Casebook

A collection of Railway Detective short stories.

In this thrilling selection of stories, a young porter is found dead in a coal tub, Colbeck devises a trap to catch a thief and a burnt train carriage holds a gruesome secret in a small country village.  As Colbeck and his trusty aide Victor Leeming begin to piece together clues and motives for each crime, it becomes clear the pair must stay a step ahead of the culprits to solve the cases.  With a new suspect at every turn, can the duo unearth the real villains.

Including 'The End of the Line' and 'The Barber of Ravenglass' jealousy, vengeance and duplicity all collide in this supercharged anthology, proving once again that Inspector Colbeck is the master of mysteries.


New Paperbacks - 'B' format - Size 20 x 13 cm, 8 x 5 inches


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