Railway Detective (A & B Crime) (Hardcover)

by Edward Marston (Author) "Euston Station was one of the architectural marvels of the day..." (more)
Key Phrases: railway policemen, railway policeman, mail guards, Miss Andrews, Inspector Colbeck, Sir Humphrey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The prolific Marston (the Domesday Books series, etc.) starts yet another historical mystery series with this middling police procedural that starts well but runs out of steam. Robert Colbeck, a former attorney now serving as an inspector in the fledging Scotland Yard of 1851, investigates a daring daylight train robbery that results in the derailment of the train and the theft of gold and mail. Later, those initially suspected of having provided the inside information that enabled the scheme's startling and speedy success turn up dead, while someone begins to blackmail members of the upper-class with the stolen letters. The spirited byplay among Colbeck, his rule-bound superintendent and his sergeant recalls Peter Lovesey's superlative Sergeant Cribb novels. But while Colbeck is a bright, unconventional and imaginative sleuth, Marston's choice to unmask the crimes' prime movers halfway through and to reduce an engaging female character, the daughter of the train's driver, into a stereotypical damsel in distress ultimately disappoints. One hopes Colbeck's next exploit will offer a more suspenseful, sophisticated plot.
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Review
A heady romp, solidly grounded on fascinating historical detail. -- Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (March 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749006331
• ISBN-13: 978-0749006334
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,743,130 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marston engineers another series scenario!, December 7, 2004

By	Billy J. Hobbs "billhobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If Edward Marston stays true to his writing history, his legions of fans can welcome a new series! In "The Railway Detective," Marston introduces us to Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck of the new Scotland Yard. A charming, some
say "dandy," gentleman of the Victorian school, Colbeck seems an unlikely person for his job--solving cases and catching the crooks in 1850s England.

It is the dawn of the age of the locomotive and it does not come peaceably. There are enough "foes" of this "new fangled contraption" and many will go to all ends to try to put a stop to it and the new Age that is surely dawning on the British Empire.

Early on we know who the culprits are, as Marston doesn't play games with the reader. Instead, he permits Colbeck and his Sergeant Leeming to methodically put the pieces of the puzzle together and, despite the usual suspects and the usual
obstacles, arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

A train is highjacked in Chapter One and subsequently and deliberately de-railed. It is carrying gold bullion from the Royal Mint and the day's mail. The robbery is carried out with true military precision (a clue Colbeck quickly picks up).
It is such a perfect and professional job that Scotland Yard knows that there have to be "insiders" involved. A few murders later (Colbeck cleverly links them to the robbery), the case is put to rest.

Marston doesn't do histrionics and not a lot of melodrama. Instead, he tells a story that not only serves to keep out interest in solving the crime but provides much readable background of the time and place. There's the usual violence in a police procedural murder mystery and Marston also throws in a limited romantic turn, too!

Marston's historical series (The Nicholas Bracewell Elizabethan mysteries, the Redmayne series, and the Domesday Books series) stand on their own merit. The author jumps a few centuries and seems to fit right in. That said, readers will hope for more in this interesting era. ([e-mail])

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Passengers will please refrain...., August 5, 2004

By	McGarrett, five-oh (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

I'm less convinced than other reviewers here that the Author paid scrupulous attention to period details. The dialogue between characters occasionally incorporates what I consider late 20th Century vernacular into a piece supposedly set in 1850's England.

As a railroad buff, I'd say the author did his homework, and provides some interesting details of English railway practices in that period, but he also lets slip a phrase or two that indicates he's not one of us (i.e. railroad buffs). He refers to the rails as having flanges; (No; that would be the wheels on the rolling stock which have flanges.)

I'd also rate the editing as below-average - I noticed several misspellings and mispunctuations that might get past a typical word processor's spell checking utility (for example: an instead of and), but they SHOULD NOT have gotten past a book editor.

I picked up this book because the title misled me to expect somewhat greater railroading content. It's really just a garden-variety murder mystery that incorporates the railroad as a backdrop.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Passes the Time, March 7, 2006

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Railway Detective (Inspector Robert Colbeck) (Paperback)

Marston kicks off a new Victorian-era series with this introduction to Inspector Robert Colbeck of the newly-formed Scotland Yard. Set in 1851, the book passes the reader's time enjoyably enough, but is pretty frothy and fluffy and almost instantly forgettable. The story kicks off with the well-organized robbery of a train carrying gold bullion and the mail. The sharp-witted, plainclothed, dandy Insp. Colbeck is assigned to solve the case with utmost haste, as the public's confidence in the relatively new rail technology and mail service must not be shaken. Instantly establishing himself as more perceptive and keen-witted than the rail police, he sets off on a trail of clues and bodies that lead him from the slums of London, to the Crystal Palace Exposition, to a rich country estate. Everything proceeds in due course, from point A to B to C and so on, with a generic romantic subplot tacked on.

Many of the elements feel very familiar and worn. The hero is a emblem of progress and the new ways of doing things, always pushing against traditions and rules. His boss is that classic police stuffed shirt, always grumbling, getting in the way, and complaining about the hero's unorthodox procedures. Colbeck's sidekick is another standby, the sturdy, dependable sergeant who is a little doubtful of the hero, but will follow him into the breach and defend him stoutly against naysayers. The romantic interest is ultimately reduced to damsel in distress plot device, and almost every other supporting character, from the villan's leering henchman, to a huge brawling Irish bouncer is a type rather than a fully-realized individual. And while all the trappings of the story appear to be historically accurate, the dialogue feels awfully modern for some reason.

The book isn't bad, it just isn't that good. Readers interested in Victorian rail crime are better served reading Michael Crichton's non-fiction account of the legendary 1855 Great Train Robbery (subsequently made into a passable film starring Sean Connery).