Edward Marston books

The Vagabond Clown (2003)

When unexpected disaster strikes Lord Westfield's Men during a packed performance, Nicholas Bracewell, the theater company's stage manager and all around performer of miracles, must save the day once again. A melee caused by disguised men is brought under control, but before the troupe can lament...

The Counterfeit Crank (2004)

Nicholas Bracewell finds his job with the London theater troupe Westfield's Men complicated by an ailing playwright, the disappearance of the group's costumes, a troublesome gambler, a pair of con artists, and murder, in a new historical mystery from the Edgar-nominated series.

The Silent Woman (1994)

Review of Edward Marston's "The Silent Woman", the 6th Nicholas Bracewell mystery set in Elizabethan LondonThe 6th of Edward Marston's splendid Elizabethan murder mysteries of his Nicholas Bracewell series reaches fever pitch in its intricate plotting and takes us back to the origins of Nicholas'...

The Wanton Angel (1999)

Westfield's Men are flying high after a performance of The Insatiate Duke. However, victory is bittersweet as they are soon faced with dissolution; were it not for one of the company's rising stars they have acquired a new benefactor. However, before they have the chance to unmask this guardian a...

The Railway Detective (2005)

I read this historical mystery (set in Victorian England) because Goodreads recommended it to me and all I have to say to Goodreads after having read it is-THANK YOU!!!This book is wonderful. I have enjoyed riding trains my whole life and while I love Amtrak, I have a special affection for the tr...

The Railway Viaduct (2007)

This is the third in Marston's "The Railway Detective" series, featuring Insp Robert Colbeck and his colleague, Sergeant Victor Leeming, of the nascent Scotland Yard pain-clothes crime investigation force. Like many police detective stories, our hero has not only to battle against criminals but ...

The Parliament House (2007)

London, 1670. The completion of his new project could not run more smoothly for Christopher Redmayne. Commissioned to design a new house for the merchant Francis Polegate, Redmayne is pleased that everything has gone without a hitch. To celebrate the success of the venture, Polegate throws a part...

The Roaring Boy (2002)

Nicholas Bracewell, the book holder of a very successful acting troupe, Lord Westfield’s Men in Elizabethan England. Formulaic (and I mean that in the most positive sense of the word, a reader knows what they’re going to get and is more than satisfied with the process and outcome) and utterly cha...

The Princess of Denmark (2006)

The Excursion Train (2006)

Set in 19th century England, a bustling crowd boards the Great Western Railway Excursion train on their way to an illegal championship fight in Maidenhead. As the rowdiness of the crowd increases, the train's guard fears "for the safety of his rolling stock." The last thing he expects to find is ...

The Painted Lady (2008)

The Painted Lady by Edward MarstonI gave this book 4.75 out of 5 stars.I really loved this book, The story is based on an architect and a local constable set in 1671 they have come together and formed a friendship which included working on crime solving together. The story is about Araminta Jewe...

The Fair Maid of Bohemia (1997)

This book is another in the Westfield's Men series, set in Elizabethan England. This time, however, the troupe of actors are forced to leave London to avoid the plague. The authorities have shut down all places where people congregate in order to cut down on potential infection.Instead of touring...

The Iron Horse (2007)

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 dis...

The Malevolent Comedy (2005)

The Frost Fair (2004)

Christmas, 1669. In the grip of the coldest winter for years, the River Thames is frozen from bank to bank and London celebrates with a traditional frost fair held on its broad back. Revellers come from far and wide to enjoy the spectacle. Among the throng is ambitious young architect Christopher...

The Laughing Hangman (2002)

This is another delightful and quite dark instalment in the Nicholas Bracewell series by Edward Marston that sees the intrepid bookkeeper of Lord Westfield’s Men, Bracewell, trying to track down the murderer of the much despised but hugely talented playwright, Jonas Applegarth. There doesn’t seem...

The Bawdy Basket (2002)

Shadow of the Hangman (2015)

Peril on the Royal Train

Her thoughts kept drifting uncontrollably to Colbeck and she felt pangs of loneliness. She kept telling herself how lucky she’d been. Since their marriage, he’d always worked on cases that kept him in or near London. Madeleine had been spoilt. She’d been able to see him every day and take an inte...

11 - Ticket to Oblivion

Colbeck and Leeming had struck him as shrewd and approachable. They’d asked searching questions yet treated him with respect as they did so instead of adopting the condescending tone more usual among his social superiors. Their meeting with Tolley had given him more than a glimmer of hope. At the...

The Nicholas Bracewell Collection

He told her to make sure that the new master was busy elsewhere before she entered his bedchamber. He urged her to leave doors and windows open while she was busy at her work. In the event of any further attack, her screams would be heard and help would soon come. Jane Skinner listened to it all ...

Timetable of Death

There were maidservants and a cook in the house but that was not the same as having a woman with whom she could talk on equal terms. Though her aunt paid occasional visits, the age gap between them inevitably steered the conversation in set directions. Being an artist meant that Madeleine had of ...

Frost Fair

The visit had been a revelation. His faith in Henry's innocence had not wavered but he wished that his brother had been more honest from the start. It was disturbing to hear it confirmed that the real cause of enmity with the fencing master had been rivalry for the hand of a woman, and it was eve...

The Repentant Rake

Having made the decision to go, he saw no reason for delay and he took his younger daughter with him for company Susan could read his moods with great accuracy. She knew when to talk, when to listen and most important of all, when to do neither. If he drifted off into a reverie, Sir Julius did no...

The Railway Detective Collection: The Railway Detective, the Excursion Train, the Railway Viaduct (The Railway Detective Series)

His preliminary sketch of the Sankey Viaduct was both dramatic and satisfyingly precise, but it needed something to anchor it, a human dimension to give a sense of scale. He knew exactly where to place the figures, and he could easily have pencilled them in, but he preferred to rely on chance rat...

Blood on the Line (2011)

‘All that you’ve brought back is the information that the suspects have fled to America.’ ‘I don’t call that a meagre reward, sir,’ said Colbeck.     ‘You were too late, man. They’ve flown the coop.’ ‘We only just missed catching them, sir,’ Leeming pointed out. ‘It was the in...

Instrument of Slaughter (2012)

Any decision that he made involved substantial loss. There was no escape from it. If he sided with Ruby Cosgrove, he would lose his two closest friends and for ever be despised by them. Yet if he stood shoulder to shoulder with Mansel Price and Fred Hambridge, he risked losing his fiancée. There ...

5 A Very Murdering Battle

Even though he was still visibly unwell, he insisted on dragging himself out of bed and returning to his normal routine, arguing that that was the best possible medicine for him. Geel and Pienaar were both pleased to resume work after the brief suspension. While they were alarmed to see how frail...

The Devil's Apprentice

Nicholas Bracewell was waiting. After being roused from his slumber in the night, he had had no further sleep, intent on keeping guard over Davy Stratton whom he had reprimanded as firmly as he dared without waking Owen Elias. Sent back to his own bed, the boy had retreated into a deep sleep. He ...

Dance of Death (2015)

He was always simmering. When he found something that really annoyed him, he became uncomfortably loud and extremely animated. All that Marmion could do was to stand there and listen.     ‘It’s disgraceful!’ cried the superintendent, pacing his office to work up a head of stea...

4 Under Siege

Though the weapon felt as if it were trying to bore into his skull, he didn’t flinch or beg for mercy. Instead he met the young man’s gaze and spoke with quiet assurance. ‘My name is Alain Borell and I wish to see Guillaume Lizier.’ ‘Why?’ snapped the other. ‘I am an old friend of his.’ ‘You’re a...

The Silver Locomotive Mystery (2010)

What they got for their investment was a neat, rectangular structure with a Gothic façade whose plethora of arched windows gave it an inappropriately ecclesiastical air. Striking in appearance, it was not, however, known for its comfort and its interior lacked the sheer scope, luxury and embellis...

Steps to the Gallows (2015)

She was interested to hear what had happened at the funeral. Peter and Ackford took it in turns to give her an account of it.     ‘There was one disappointment,’ said her husband.     ‘What was that?’ she asked.     ‘I half-expected that...

The Elephants of Norwich

When the trembling Brother Daniel broke the news, the sheriff immediately surrounded the derelict house with an armed guard. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret went into the building with him to investigate. The murder victim was in a sorry condition. The blood that stained the sacking came from a s...

Five Dead Canaries

It was only when there was a much louder knock that he sat upright. His mother had a key so it couldn’t be her and he wasn’t expecting any visitors. After the initial burst of sympathy from his immediate neighbours, he’d been left completely alone and he valued the freedom. His first thought was ...

The Nine Giants

The city had always jealously guarded its independence even though this often led to friction with the court and the Parliament at Westminster. Within the city walls, the Lord Mayor ranked above everyone except the Sovereign herself, including princes of the Blood Royal. No fishmonger could ask f...

Soldier of Fortune

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The Amorous Nightingale

'I ask purely in the spirit of friendship, Tom.'     'Friendship with me - or with Harriet?'     'Both, my dear fellow.'     'You're an accomplished liar, I'll give you that.'     'Then we have something in common.'     Thomas Killigrew laughed. He was too old and too experienced to be easily tak...

A Bespoke Murder

There was a dimension of peace and security there. Dorothy Holdstock led an uncomplicated life. She had a full-time job, a small circle of friends and she shared her home with an undemanding old lady. Miss James occupied the downstairs front room behind thick lace curtains. In spite of her disabi...

Murder on the Brighton Express (2010)

His daughter, as usual, was waiting to make his supper.     ‘Have you had a good day, Father?’ asked Madeleine.     ‘No,’ he answered, removing his cap and hanging it on a peg. ‘I keep thinking about Frank Pike. I miss him, Maddy. I like a man who takes his...

Drums of War

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Inspector Colbeck's Casebook (2014)

He continued to turn up at Euston on an unpaid, unofficial basis in order to hear the latest gossip and to offer unsought advice to his former colleagues over a pint of beer at the pub they patronised. Andrews was a short, stringy man with a fringe beard decorating a leathery face. Known for his ...

Fire and Sword (2011)

Now in his late fifties, he had always defied the passage of time and retained his boundless energy and resilience. Years of campaigning, when he sometimes spent twelve hours a day in the saddle, had not weakened him to any degree. His zest for battle remained intact. Now, however, it was differe...

The King's Evil

A tiring day had begun with an early departure from the inn where he spent the night. In his eagerness to confront Solomon Creech, he had ridden past Fetter Lane on his arrival back in London and gone straight to the lawyer's office in Lombard Street. The bruising exchange with his brother at the...