Joe's Journal

Since I'm supposed to be doing NaBloPoMo and I doubt I'll have any fiction finished and betaed today I thought I'd post a book review instead.

Some of you no doubt saw my plea for Victorian mystery recommendations the other day. Well I bought this (and the four that follow it because I get obsessive like that) and am currently working my way through it at bedtime, a chaapter or so a day. Although I think I've just about got to the point where I'm going to want to read the rest of it in one go lol.

The Railway Detective is the first in Marston's series of mysteries featuring Inspector Robert Colbeck, one of the new detectives at Scotland Yard. He's not the normal kind of policeman for the period having trained to be a lawyer but then become a polieman instead and is well read and interested in all manner of things - especially railways and locomotives , which fascinate him - much to the annoyance of his sidekick who is a fan of horses and carriages and isn't at all keen on train travel.

For the first time, a mail train has been robbed in a highly organised and ruthless operation, which has resulted in the loss of a large amount of gold, many sacks of mail (including information which can be used to blackmail people), the wreck of a locomotive, and a brutal assault on the driver. Colbeck deduces that the motive was as much a hatred of the railways as greed and his investigation ranges from London to Birmingham, from the Royal Mint to the roughest areas of London, and to the Crystal Palace itself as someone tries to blow up the railway exhibit there before it can even open.

As well as the well read and educated Colbeck, we meet his superior, who intensely dislikes him and his methods, his sidekick, the dependable and intelligent, if not all that insightful, Victor, and the pretty daughter of the injured traindriver to whom Colbeck develops an attachment. There's a little too much romance for my taste but it's integral to the plot so it's not too distracting and at least it doesn't feel forced. The villain is organised and intelligent and a good match for Colbeck and the setting is very well drawn without having superfluous details that distract you from the story.

All in all I'd recommend it and am looking forward to the rest of the series. The author writes in several other periods as well including Restoration London and Domesday England so I might investigate those as well later.

8/10

You can find the author's site here or buy the book from Amazon.