A pleasant journey on the Railway - Rated 
This is the first in what has become a series of detective books based around the advent and development of the railways. With any first book we are being introduced to the main characters for future novels interspersed with a detective story.
We are introduced to Inspector Colbeck, a rather dandy sort of character who leads the investigation into a train robbery on the London to North railway line. An ex barrister who has turned to working in the rather new police force and Detective Department of Scotland Yard to feel like he was absolving some guilt that he is living with. The true reason has something to do with a woman (doesn't it always) and we do not find any great detail about it until the very end.
Along with Colbeck, we have Sergeant Leeming the faithful assistant to him and who although will go along with him, is somewhat stuck in another age before trains, locomotives and speed into the country and is a traditional method policeman. Superintendent Tallis is the stalwart hard working detective in charge of Colbeck, but in typical fashion is the one who is ridiculed and made to look inadequate in his actions by the Commissioner, who obviously despite perhaps some of the riskier elements in Colbeck's investigation is favoured greatly by the Commissioner.
The mystery is not taxing and it is quite obvious to come to the conclusion of what happened and why (though in my opinion the reason for these crimes is somewhat scraping the bottom of the barrel for a motive). Edward Marston does make all the parts of the mystery tie in nicely together with no loose ends. Good will overcome Evil and even the perpetrator of the crimes is somewhat above a common criminal with his manner.
This is a good and fairly easy read, it took a while to slip into the fact it was 1851 and trains were a new invention and that by jumping in a cab actually meant a horse drawn one! I was worried to begin with as it smacked of the 1963 Great Train Robbery and I was expecting something a bit meatier.
However, once you take yourself back nearly 160 years you enjoy the journey, the researched information about the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace and the Railways Lines is well done and I look forward to reading other books and experiencing the other mysteries that Colbeck solves.
Robbery on the Mail Train - Rated 
Edward Marston is just one of the pseudonyms of author Keith Miles. He has been a university lecturer, radio, television, and theatre dramatist, and in addition to writing has worked as an actor, director, and dramatist. He has written a large number of books with historical themes, perhaps the most well known being his Domesday series. These revolve around the census of 1086 and a series of mysteries featuring the Elizabethan theatre as their background.
Once you have become familiar with an author's work, his character's and style of writing it is sometimes difficult to become attuned to a new character and storyline, but in this case the author seems to have come up with yet another winner, although his Domesday books will always be my own particular favourites..
This is a new venture for the author published in 2004 and featuring a new character in the redoubtable Inspector Robert Colbeck. The book is set in a period when the railways were still in their infancy and not everybody liked traveling on them, and in some cases still preferred the horse. Inspector Colbeck is called to the scene of a train robbery. The driver has been badly beaten and the fireman made to drive the locomotive off the rails, for no apparent reason.
It is not long before Robert Colbeck, barrister, turned police officer has used his ample brain power and intuition to establish that the robbery was not only an attempt and a successful one, to gain money but also the actions of someone who for some reeason has a grudge against the railways . . .
Ho-hum - Rated 
A rather uninspiring read. This book reads like a 1970s cop show. All the stereotype characters are there: the good cop, the faithful sidekick, the cranky interfering boss, the evil well-heeled criminal mastermind, the psychopathic killer, the comely maiden, the disappointed suitor. This is Starsky and Hutch with top hats. The dialogue is very 1970s too, and the plotting. Rather than concentrate on the solving of the crime, the book throws in a few murders and a kidnapping. Sure, what else would you do when you run out of interest in your characters? Even for train nuts, this book is going to be a let-down: right from the first page where the engine is 'throbbing' at the head of its train. For those who don't know - Mr Marston among them - engines didn't 'throb' until after Rudolph Diesel invented his engine. If you want a good book about murder on the railways in the 19th century, read Zola's 'The Beast in Man' ('La Bete Humaine'): it's a cracker. This book, sadly, isn't.
A Ripping Yarn! - Rated
It's London in 1851, the railways are slowly establishing themselves as the best means of travel and preparations are underway for the Great Exhibition. A robbery on the railway near Leyton Buzzard and the theft of both money and mail threaten the reputation of the safety of the trains.
Enter Inspector Colbeck, a bit of a dandy, and one of the best detectives with the Metropolitan Police. Will he be able to find those responsible??
This is a great novel, really easy to read, and includes everything you want in a detective novel of this kind; robbery, treachery, murder, life in the slums of London, a little love interest and an uptight Chief Inspector.
Cracks along at a great pace and avoids being too 'nerdy' about trains. Recommended.
Passes the Time - Rated
Marston kicks off a new Victorian-era series with this introduction to Inspector Robert Colbeck of the newly-formed Scotland Yard. Set in 1851, the book passes the reader's time enjoyably enough, but is pretty frothy and fluffy and almost instantly forgettable. The story kicks off with the well-organized robbery of a train carrying gold bullion and the mail. The sharp-witted, plainclothed, dandy Insp. Colbeck is assigned to solve the case with utmost haste, as the public's confidence in the relatively new rail technology and mail service must not be shaken. Instantly establishing himself as more perceptive and keen-witted than the rail police, he sets off on a trail of clues and bodies that lead him from the slums of London, to the Crystal Palace Exposition, to a rich country estate. Everything proceeds in due course, from point A to B to C and so on, with a generic romantic subplot tacked on. Many of the elements feel very familiar and worn. The hero is a emblem of progress and the new ways of doing things, always pushing against traditions and rules. His boss is that classic police stuffed shirt, always grumbling, getting in the way, and complaining about the hero's unorthodox procedures. Colbeck's sidekick is another standby, the sturdy, dependable sergeant who is a little doubtful of the hero, but will follow him into the breach and defend him stoutly against naysayers. The romantic interest is ultimately reduced to damsel in distress plot device, and almost every other supporting character, from the villan's leering henchman, to a huge brawling Irish bouncer is a type rather than a fully-realized individual. And while all the trappings of the story appear to be historically accurate, the dialogue feels awfully modern for some reason. The book isn't bad, it just isn't that good. Readers interested in Victorian rail crime are better served reading Michael Crichton's non-fiction account of the legendary 1855 Great Train Robbery (subsequently made into a passable film starring Sean Connery).
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