Railway Detective: The Railway Detective (Paperback)

from Bettesbooks

Early Victorian period well described. The characters are well-drawn and not all are likeable, which I found to be realistic. The mystery centers on the railroad and a London policeman, Inspector Colbeck. Colbeck is a dandy who belongs to a new department in Scotland Yard, the Detective Departmen...

from bcquinnsmom

The Railway Detective is the first in a series of light mystery novels featuring Inspector Robert Colbeck of Scotland Yard of mid-19th century England. In this first installment, a train carrying gold from the mint and mail is highjacked and the fireman of the train is forced to derail the engine...

from nordie

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 Moo...

from JulesJones

First book of a series about a Victorian era detective inspector at Scotland Yard. A wealth of period detail, particularly about the railways, and a wealth of purple prose. This is very much a pastiche of Victorian melodrama, and with more than a touch of Holmes-Watson stirred into the mix. Fun e...

from huffward

Rather a mixture. Despite the impeccable detail, this story had the feeling of being set in a slightly later period, and I'm not entirely sure why. It might be the dialogue (which I sometimes found pedestrian), or perhaps the Holmesean resonances, especially the characters of the engine driver an...