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Publisher:
Allison & Busby |
Release
Date: February 2004 |
ISBN:
0749006331 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardback |
Buy
it at Amazon US
|| UK |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Historical Crime [1851 London] |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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The Railway Detective
By Edward Marston
When
the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed, leaving the driver
seriously injured and the train a wreck, people are outraged—this
is a new kind of crime for a new kind of transport. With the Crystal
Palace about to open and proudly exhibit several examples of the
latest railway engines, it looks as though not everybody is as excited
about new technology—or is it just an opportunity for a new
type of crime? Debonair Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his
trusty Sergeant Victor Leeming are about to have their work cut
out for them to catch the criminals, hampered by their irascible
superior but aided by some of Colbeck’s unorthodox ideas.
This is Edward Marston’s first foray
into the Victorian era, and the first of a new series about Colbeck
and Leeming. As ever, he manages to conjure up the period well enough
in a few broad brush strokes, and the plot moves along at a good
pace. Plenty happens in the book and you won’t be bored, but
I was surprised to discover that this is not his usual whodunit
format, as we are told fairly early on who is committing the crimes.
All that remains is for the sleuths to piece it all together for
themselves—this is not an unknown device for crime fiction
(Columbo, for example) but if you want suspense and a puzzle to
solve you won’t find them here. For me the best thing about
the novel was Marston’s evocation of a nation in love with
the idea of new technology, and when we are told that his father
was an engine driver it certainly shows in knowledge of, and affection
for, those wonderful old steam trains. Turn the next book into a
proper whodunit and come up with a more unusual plot and this series
ought to shape up very nicely.
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