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The Railway Detective Series – Book
VII
Edward Marston
Allison and Busby
April 2011/ ISBN 0749009314
Historical Mystery / 1855 / Yorkshire, England
Amazon
US
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Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
For his household,
it looked as though Colonel Aubrey Tarleton was just going to have
another ordinary day. Instead, he walked along the railway tracks
until a train killed him – why? His wife had been missing
for some time and he was anxious about her, then there were the
poison pen letters he had received and the opinion of the villagers
was that he had murdered her. But where is her body, and what motive
would he have? Inspector Robert Colbeck is on the case…
When I first heard that Edward Marston was writing a series about
a “railway detective” I didn’t think that the
books were going to be my cup of tea. I imagined lots of technical
descriptions of old steam trains that would appeal more to enthusiasts
but I was of course very wrong, and if this has been putting you
off these books then your fears are also unfounded. Instead, read
these well-plotted novels that ought to satisfy any mystery reader
(this one is particularly difficult to solve) and savor their descriptions
of England at a time when railways were new and exciting. For this
is what Marston manages to convey admirably in these books, the
thrill of the new that had all sorts of people keen to ride on,
work for and invest in the miracle of railway travel. As a setting
for a series of mysteries it works very well, as criminals also
find a new freedom in train travel and detectives can, in the way
of Sherlock Holmes, grab a Bradshaw and hurtle off in pursuit. A
particularly gripping and teasing entry in an excellent series,
radio play style conversations notwithstanding. |
