Edward MarstonRessenyes

r intrepid commissioners reviewing the entries for the Domesday Book are joined by an extra commissioner as they head for York, still suffering the aftereffects of the Harrying of the North. Their new colleague is murdered in York but how and why?

Given the information presented about the general situation in York, it was fairly obvious what was going to happen, but it was more difficult to work out who was on what side and who was just out for themselves.

This is the ninth book in the Railway Detective series set in the 1850s. A very popular local stationmaster in Exeter, Joel Heygate, disappears and his charred body is found at the base of a Guy Fawkes Day fire when it burns out. A number of people have obvious motives, including a local criminal who had sworn vengeance against him, the victim's own estranged brother, and Joel's own successor as stationmaster who had been a rival for the position when Joel was appointed. The eventual culprit and their motive turns out to be completely unexpected, and could not be worked out by any reader in advance as new factors are introduced near the end of the plot. There is also an amusing sub-plot where Inspector Colbeck's future widowed father in law Caleb Andrews is pursued by two rival widowed sisters. At the end of the story Colbeck and Madeleine are married at last. I enjoyed the story as usual, though I felt the resolution of the plot was a bit of a cheat.

A spate of robberies in jewellery shops in London ends when an officer is shot. Charged with investigating, the case is personal for Marmion as the shot officer is his daughter's fiancee. The evidence points to a gang of Irish Nationalists who seem to be led by a retired actress. However one of the gang is keen to silence the officer permanently so it is a race against time to find them whilst war rages in France.
I hadn't read any of the other books in the series but that didn't seem to matter as I slipped into the characters easily. I really liked the setting in the London police during World War 1, the book is well-researched and evocative. Essentially it is just a police procedural with a twist, but it is a solid one.

One of those books where I could excuse the weak points if the finale impressed. And it... was pretty poor. Very very rushed and the explanation of the crime felt unearned from an emotional, logical and in story detective work standpoint.

The book has 2 subplots running in parallel to the main one and having pretty much no connection - as well as solving the murder, there's the detective's superintendent dealing with what seems to be PTSD and the detective's artist wife getting a commission for a painting. Both kind of fluff out - the latter at least gets a conclusion although it includes a strange sequel hook but the former mostly consists of everyone being worried about him spacing out a lot and it seems the author otherwise doesn't really know how to handle it - it ends with him returning to one of the sites where he got kidnapped and almost murdered and then just... being ok? what? and that's the end of the plot? because that helped him come to terms with it? after him basically not opening up before? i don't know. The ending of the art plot is also kind of hilariously weird - so someone wants to commission her and there's some investigation because people feel suspicious for some reason well the ending is he only supports women artists? and a bunch of them live in a house he owns or something? and it's implied he treats them like a... harem??? or something??? it's not actually clear at all what's going on

The writing is... competent. A lot of the characters are pretty empty - having 1 or 2 obvious traits at best - which is frustrating especially when the *main character* is maybe the worst at this! We obviously spend the most time with him yet we never really get a hint of any emotion, any particular desires. He never shows any sign of being the exceptional detective people say he is either. He's just... totally empty. At least we know his sidekick loves beer, if nothing else. The other character who feels pretty empty is the murder victim. Sure, we get some descriptions about how great and powerful he was and yet... it really doesn't add up to much. Especially when the ending appears to entirely contradict the imperious nature that's the only real personality trait he's given. The bland characters really shows up in the dialogue too - I can't say it's *wooden* but there's never any sparkle and only rarely does it really convey emotion above retelling of facts. There's also the occasional tendency to just sprinkle in weird "facts I learned about Norwich and railways from wikipedia" that don't really fit. There's a genuinely laughable part where the detective's father-in-law's main trait is that the only railway he likes is the LNWR and so he gets really mad at the idea of his daughter painting a GWR locomotive for some reason and this fuels a significant amount of sideplot drama! It's just not how any human acts.



The main plot suffers badly from having minimal clues happening for most of the book. You could *guess* at the ending, but there's not really much that hints at it. A lot of it feels padded then you're 20 pages from the end and it suddenly kicks into extremely rushed mode without any time to justify what's happening and without wrapping up the other character plots that it had spent a lot of time on. There's a lot to say about this that I can't do without spoilers so obviously this will spoil the end completely

There's 2 people who are actually identified as suspects who we spend a lot of time with, the victim's son and another rich railway involved man. The son is given the priority - he's weirdly cold, clearly concerned most of all with instantly taking over from his dad as MP. The other guy also wants to be MP and a big part of the plot is their drama with each wanting to be nominated by the Tories to become MP. And then at the end it turns out neither of them were involved, we don't get an explanation for any of the son's callous behaviour even though it turns out he was right about the stepmum, and we don't get any kind of conclusion on the MP affair. It feels cheap. It turns out basically all the story we've had in the main plot has been a red herring. It's not even ever shown if either of them had any motive but the plot keeps following them.

It was actually the victim's wife who did it with her "brother" who was actually her lover - he'd hired a murderer from their home island of Jersey who did it and someone paid off the railway policeman to change the points. I can't say there's a single thing in the book which points to this before you find it out. There appears to be very minimal evidence for it even at the end of the book! Before the mad dash of the last 20-30 pages the only thing that could even be said to suggest it is that apparently the victim had been seen sleeping with a sex worker. How does that suggest it? Well apparently the wife was manipulating him by... not having sex with him. And she made him change the will to favour her by saying she'd then have sex with him??? If I understood that part right? So obviously he'd sleep around. Despite the only thing we know about the victim being his imperious attitude and general strength and with-it-ness, he was apparently conned into marrying her when she'd planned all along to eventually kill him and go off with her lover. The thing is, we spend lots of time with her during the book but it's mostly about how hard things are for her and how great her husband was. There's nothing hinting at it or that makes the about face feel earned. It's true she makes an obvious suspect as inheritance is a common motive but that just makes it more frustrating that the reveal at the end isn't earned by investigation - the whole plot is misdirection and red herrings. Early on you're given an explicit scene of the railway policeman involved being dodgy - he claims he was distracted by someone firing a stone from a catapult at his head. He even shows the stone! Except there's no blood on it and he wasn't hurt. This obvious clue, that the detectives explicitly notice, is then ignored.

There's some stuff about the murder that doesn't make much sense, too. How did the two communicate? How did the railway policeman get in on the plan when the man murderer appears to have been in Jersey the whole time? What was going on with the house in Jersey - how did he get the money to rent it, how did he keep it in use as his address? And what's with the bizarre Count Olafian claim that he convinced the victim he owned the house and had a big family there by - I am not making this up - HAVING HIS THEATRE TROUPE PRETEND TO BE HIS FAMILY!! And how on earth did nobody catch on!! The evidence the detective has gathered feels fragile and even with the ending stuff there's no sign at all of how he worked *everything* he says out.

There's also the red herring of a different dodgy railway policeman working with other people to try and solve the murder to get reward money. He has no motive at all but we're treated to many scenes of him acting very suspicious. And then at the end he just gets sent to jail on the basis of having an accomplice following the policemen to try and get ahead of his investigation. It's pretty poor and another pointless piece of misdirection

I kept going through the book and feeling like it was competent enough and I was curious enough to wonder how it would end but it just left a bad taste. Nothing in the book was insultingly bad or anything and it's very readable, hence the 2 stars rather than 1, there's just not much to recommend about it. Just disappointing.

PS as someone who loves trains I felt there were not enough trains in this book. Needs more trains.

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

This is the first book I read in the series. While I loved the action, there is not much of a detection in it .

Okay this one was better than the last, more on par with the first in the series than the volume immediately preceding.

Reading these out of order, since some of the later ones were on sale. Not nearly as interesting as the first in the series; repetitive and not particularly engaging.

Enjoyed the first in this series, which was very good since it looks like there are a whole lot more installments to look forward to. Good plot and interesting cast of characters.

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I didn’t realise this was part of an 8 book series until I’d already started. Doubt it’s made any difference because on looking it up, the series always has the same two main characters, just a different narrative. Okay - it’s 1907 and ocean liners are in their heyday! There’s a prize for the fastest sea crossing from Liverpool to America and the captain of The Mauretania wants it. Will a violent storm and a special cargo of 12 tons of gold slow them down? There also seems to be a thief onboard with a spate of precious items going missing from first and second class cabins. Then the person suspected for these crimes goes missing. How can someone totally disappear on a ship? I found this such an easy escapist read and I need one of those every now and again. I even partially guessed the denouement and I rarely do! Ha, that says much for an uncomplicated plot. However, there was quite enough to hold my interest, titbits of history about the workings and life aboard a luxury liner and descriptive details about the distinction between all three levels of accomodation. 1907 was a time of new adventure for those lucky enough to travel first and second class and for the emigrants travelling steerage, it was a chance at a new beginning½

Medieval Mysteries

Another addition to the Railway Detective franchise and rather disappointed that it's not a particularly railway book or a well crafted detective story. Ending is a bit tacked on and no real motive behind the crimes. Think the Railway Detective should think about his retirement

I'm having a hard time describing the nature of this novel. Is it a romp? Is it an adventure or is it a mystery? One thing is certain, the author is good at placing us in the time period and for a while having us living alongside characters from Elizabethan England.

The story revolves around a theater troupe who are enticed to take on Davy, the son of a wealthy man. There is a condition however, it needs to be performed at a manor outside of London instead of at the heart of the city where the company usually plays. From the moment the theater company takes on Davy things start to go wrong in mysterious ways and we're left to wonder what mysterious forces are at work.

Of course this is a mystery and in the end everything is explained away without the use of supernatural forces. Unfortunately the author was in such a strange hurry to wrap up the book that he didn't explain the cause of some of the early completely inexplicable events.

Reading this novel puts you smack in Elizabethan times, except that the author uses some tropes a little bit too much. About a quarter in I got really tired of the mentioning of chamber pots.

This is the eighth novel in the Railway Detective series set in the mid 19th century. Somewhat to my surprise, this has actually been my favourite of the series so far. This one concerned a Bonny and Clyde type couple on the run after they brutally kill two policemen so that the man, Jeremy Oxley, can escape custody. They are clever and cunning and elude their pursuers for a long time, but our heroes Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming of course close in on them eventually after a dramatic chase across the Atlantic and a stand off in New York. Colbeck's superior Inspector Tallis comes across as more human and rounded here too, as a mistake he makes costs the life of one of his men at the hands of the killers, and causes him to question, at least temporarily, his role and approach. I really enjoyed this story and the recurring characters' ongoing traits that I initially found annoying I now find rather endearing. At the end it also looks like Colbeck may at last marry his sweetheart Madeleine Andrews. There will be a shorter gap before I read book 9.

One of Marston's Railway Detective series featuring Inspector Colbeck, written in the style of a Victorian melodramatic mystery, although I noticed a couple of modern phrases slipped in. This time, Colbeck is investigating a murder and theft in Wales. The murdered man is the silversmith who created a finely crafted silver teapot in the shape of a locomotive, which is now missing. The intended owner, a domineering woman, is implacable, she wants that teapot not another one, even though there is no other silversmith who could make one. Filled with colourful Dickensian characters, this is light entertainment but in the end unremarkable.

The commissioners come to Hereford to look into Domesday Book irregularities along the Welsh border as tensions from cross-border raiding mount.

At first I thought this book was a bit of rehash of the earlier books as far as the obvious bad guy went (he didn't have a moustache to twirl but I'm sure he would have if he'd thought of it) but then it started going off in some interestingly different directions. And I'm glad to see Brother Simon is coming out of his shell a bit - he's got a wicked sense of humour.

wo nuns are attacked on their way back to their priory in Maldon. Fortunately the commissioners arrive on the scene in time for Ralph and Gervase to fight off the attackers. But how is the attack related to the irregularities detected by the first Domesday Book commission and the murder of a local magnate's son?

For the side mystery, my guess was that Humphrey was a pawnbroker but the author's explanation was more fun.

Four commissioners are investigating discrepancies and errors in the returns for the Domesday Book. When the miller who alleged fraud by the local abbey is found conveniently dead in the forest, allegedly killed by a wolf, the two lay commissioners investigate his death.

Promising start to a series with some good period details.

DNF at four chapters. The premise was interesting to me but, while the prose is generally good, there were too many issues for me to continue.

The historical detail tends to be presented in the form of lists rather than being woven into the narrative: a list of theatre goers' jobs here, a list of clothing items there etc. which reads like research was done and then bullet points from the research were pasted in rather than incorporated.

The person behind the murder was obvious from the very moment it happened and the author doesn't entirely play fair; writing in 3rd person omniscient they tell us lies about how a character feels. I skipped to the last chapter to confirm and yes, it was the obvious culprit.

What really pushed me over the edge though was the sole gay character being presented as a child sex predator and having a passage dedicated to his attempting to groom/rape an 11 year old boy. The boy escapes but this was in the early going and presumably there was more to come. Reading the last chapter indicates this predator is still in the theatre company so apparently gets no sort of comeuppance. In any case, it was revolting and not something I can stomach reading any more of.

This is the seventh novel in the Railway Detective series set in mid 19th century Britain. Grief stricken by the disappearance of his beloved wife Miriam, Sir Aubrey Tarleton commits suicide by walking into the path of an oncoming train. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming pursue a number of lines of enquiry, including that Sir Aubrey may have murdered his wife and committed suicide in remorse. Various locals are suspected, but the eventual solution to the mystery was rather surprising and I didn't find it wholly convincing. I increasingly like the main characters and their ongoing character traits are becoming slightly endearing, esp. Leeming's constant missing of his wife and children. I enjoyed this one more than many others, though the resolution of the mystery, as I say, slightly marred this feeling.½

It's 1852 and a train load of men are headed for a championship bare knuckles fight on board the Great Western. To the relief if the railroad police ion board there are no major incidents on the trip. It's when train is inspected prior to it's return that a dead body is found on board. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Lemming are dispatched by Scotland Yard to investigate. As their investigation comes closer to who killed the man and why, the killer strikes again. Can the tow find the killer before he strikes again? This is an enjoyable series

In 1851 a mail train is hijacked, robbed, and the engine run off the track, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Lemming take on the case. The question to be answered was how did the robbers know when the train would be at the fateful site of the robbery, was this a lone act or will there be other such incidents in the future. The characters are are well developed. This is a good start to this series.

family, family-dynamics, Atlantic-ocean, ocean-liner, historical-fiction, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, reporter, theft*****

This book has some of my favorite elements: historical setting, murder/thievery, private agents as well as an amateur sleuth. A good foundation is laid before getting down to criminal acts and the multiple characters are brought into sharp focus. So let the sleuthing begin! Loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley. Thank you!

Character List

Edward Marston - The Trip to Jerusalem
Nicholas Bracewell, stage manager for a theatre company in 16th century Elizabethan London.
company’s book holder
Anne Hendrick NB's Landlady in Bankside, Lover
Lawrence Firethorn Lead actor, sharer, ranked player
Margery Firethorne - good wife, a caring mother, Kindred spirits
Barnaby Gill - sharer, clown, predilection for young boys w/ pretty faces firm bodies.
Edmund Hoode - sharer, ranked player, all, slim, pale, clean-shaven man in his thirties,
he was an actor-playwright

George Dart he was assistant stagekeeper and occasionally got pressed into service as an extra.
Gabriel Hawkes - fine actor rival Millfield, strangled
Christopher Millfield - fine actor rival Hawkes

Thomas Skillen was a case in point. The stagekeeper
Peter Digby was another casualty. As leader of the musicians
Alexander Marwood, the luckless landlord of the Queen’s Head.

Miles Melhuish believed totally in the power of prayer. As vicar
Humphrey Budden - big broad man of florid hue, honest, affable, upright,
Eleanor Budden - wife, grip of some ineluctable passion. to goto Jerusalem
Lord Westfield
Richard Honeydew - most talented of the boy apprentices
Martin Yeo
Anthony Rickwood. Late of Sussex.’ Part of a Catholic conspiracy, hung
Sir Francis Walsingham. He has spies everywhere.
Sir Clarence Marmion in York Catholic
Lambert Pym, landlord The Trip to Jerusalem
Robert Rawlins had the appearance and air of a scholar.
Giles Randolph - Firethorns rival, Banbury’s Men
Oliver Quilley courtier,robbed, painter of miniatures
Susan Becket -pilling out of her dress with welcome. Inn Waitress Nottingham
Davy Stratton
Sir Michael Greenleaf
Jonas Applegarth
Mark Scruton - Gabriel Hawkes kinsman