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 trains all over Europe (Western, Eastern, and yes, even Russian). In this story, set in 1851 England, Caleb Andrews is a man who not only drives a train but loves the trains (at one point he declared he loved them as if they were his children.). He and his fireman Frank Pike are about to drive a special load of gold coin and mail and have special guards on board. These two responsible and hardworking men are stunned when they get to a station they were not to stop at and are signaled by a police officer to stop. Unfortunately this was not a real police officer and thugs board the train and open the safe containing the gold coin using the key for that purpose and with use of the combination- both of which are usually kept under special lock and key as well as combination at the treasury. Even worse, when Caleb refuses to do as the men say, he is brutally attacked and has his leg and collarbone broken and a severe concussion. He is lucky to survive. Poor Frank is forced at gunpoint to derail the train.Caleb is taken to a table in the station and a doctor and the police called. On the case will be Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck. He is an unusual detective- a former lawyer who dresses like a lord. He is a modest man, never trying to grab credit for himself and never losing his temper. The reason he became a policeman is revealed in the book at a later point. He loves train travel.He is ably assisted Sergeant Victor Leeming who is described as ugly but who has a wife and kids who adore him. He is a very solid and capable officer. Both of them are hindered somewhat by their usually ill-tempered boss Superintendent Tallis who does nothing but criticize and complain. One thing that is so fascinating about this book is the way Colbeck and Leeming find clues and follow them up without the use of any of the modern police technology. There are no cars, no computers, no cell phones. Through very good detective work, Colbeck and Leeming discover that there had to be inside help to know that the train was carrying easily used coin instead of paper money with serial numbers and to get hold of the key and combination to the safe. Unfortunately after they track down two of those who gave info, those two wind up dead. It is a puzzle why the killer leaves money for the widow of one whose husband had abandoned her and the kids to go live with a hooker.There is a cast of very colorful characters here. The story involves trains, a hooker with a knife in her garter belt, a thwarted suitor who creeps about town spying on the woman who doesn't love him, blackmailers, kidnappers, murderers, inept guys trying to blow up tunnels and a train in a glass exhibition hall, a rich lord seeking revenge, and even a very sweet budding romance between Colbeck and Caleb Andrews' daughter Madeleine who is charming and capable with strong feminist tendencies which makes his respect her even more as an equal. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship bud as the book went on. The book was also very well written. There was quite a bit of humor in such a classy way that it was never silly. The story moved along briskly with just enough detail and plenty of witty conversation. I wish I had written this! The author Edward Marston has been writing for over 30 year including for television, movies, and theater and the experience shows. He knows how to tell a story.I have already ordered more of his books from the library.
The Railway Detective is a good book to read while driving, which is how I read this one. Let me first begin by praising Simon Prebble's narration and the ease with which he passed between Irish brogue, Scottish burr, upmarket, cockney, sneering upper class, midland laborer, and soldier of the Raj British accents. Good fun. What were not so fun were the book's characters and plot. I picked up the Railway Detective because it was set in the same world of Chubb safes, bank transfers, railroad robbery, and Victorian England as one of my favorite books, The Great Train Robbery, and indeed some of the details of the historical period were fleshed out entertainingly. The problem? The hero is too perfect, his foils are too bumbling and incompetent (even Arther Doyle gave more respect to Lestrade than Marston does to Colbeck's boss), the damsel too modest yet smitten, the villain too noble and twisted. The ending, too predictable. The conversations in the book are too expository - every subtlety is explained to the reader by the characters, in dialogs that run, every time, just a beat too long, to where you feel as if the point is being hammered home. The author uses the "tell, don't show" method of getting his ideas across. On the other hand, things are presented, explained, repeated, and then explained one more time in the dialog, so that it really is a good book to read while driving, for if you are distracted and miss something, you can be sure the characters will make the point repeatedly again in a minute or too. Not a terrible effort, but there is very little mystery in the book and cardboard characters.
What do You think about The Railway Detective (2005)?
I read the Railway Detective by Edward Marston. Marston is an author who was born and raised in Wales. His first novel, The Queen’s Head was published in 1988. Marston has had other jobs as well. He also worked as an Actor and Director. He even ran his own theatre company. The book is based in Victorian England around the 1850’s. There was a crime where a train that was carrying a large amount of money had derailed and injured the driver. The thieves managed to leave with the money. In comes Inspector Colbeck. Colbeck is a detective who was hired to work the case. He would have to inspect several places and people on the way to solving this mystery. The investigation was thrown astray when the daughter of the injured train driver was kidnapped.Edward Marston wrote this book to give his readers an intriguing mystery story of a crime where we as the readers also become detectives alongside Inspector Colbeck.I enjoyed this book. What I liked about the book is that it allowed you to think ahead, almost as if you were Inspector Colbeck himself. This was the first book i’ve read that was set in Victorian England and it was really interesting hearing the way people talked in that time period.I recommend this book who enjoy mystery novels. If you like novels that allow you to predict what’ll happen later in the book this is also for you. I must warn you before you read this, it does get long and drawn out in certain areas of this book. It may get a little boring, but that is apart of being a detective. You have to go through every little detail to figure out what happened. That ‘s why it makes you feel like you’re the detective yourself.
—Hayden Pounds
The author has a number of series of historical detective novels, with this volume being the first in one of those. Set in the 1850's, it delineates a time when the railways were just beginning to wield some influence over the way people lived their lives, as well as setting things up for the future.Inspector Colbeck is sent to investigate the robbery of a train carrying gold coins from London to Birmingham - the driver has been terribly injured and the train itself derailed. Colbeck soon realis
—Paula
On the plus side, it's a detective story, set in the early days of both the Railways and the Detective Section of the Met Police. The author seems to have done his research, such as having the detective arrive by train into Birmingham at (then correct) Curzon Street, rather than New Street or Moor Street (the current two most frequently used train stations between London and Birmingham).On the negative side: It read like the author's first novel, which apparently it isnt. The book is riddled with stereotypes: the Irish ex-policeman kicked out the force for drunken fighting who makes his living as a bouncer in a rough pub; the slightly dim-witted and subserviant sidekick; the head of the detective division being harassed by the press and causing friction with his detectives by stopping them doing what they want to do; the well dressed detective who likes bending the rules almost to breaking point.On the whole, a decent read, but I'm not sure that I'd continue with the series
—Sorcha
