Just Finished Reading: The Excursion Train by Edward Marston (FP: 2005) [351pp] 

London, 1852. Dubbed ‘The Railway Detective’ by the Press after his successful resolution of the country's first train robbery, Inspector Colbeck is asked for to quickly solve an apparent random murder on an excursion train to an illegal bare-knuckle fight. At first the victim appeared to be someone of little account – a cobbler. This tradesman however carried a wicked knife and a very expensive watch sewed into an inner lining of his jacket. On further investigation the victims true name and occupation changed everything. The man was Jacob Guttridge a public executioner. At a stroke the nature of the crime and the number of suspects changed dramatically. Was it, in fact, a revenge killing? If so, on whose behalf? With pressure from both the railway company and the Inspector’s superior in Scotland Yard, Colbeck and his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming had their work cut out for them. The place to start, it would seem, was the object of the excursion train itself – the bare-knuckle fight of the season! 

This is the 2nd in the series of the Railway Detective, but my third read (I read ahead some time ago with a Christmas appropriate book – the 15th in the series). Not only was it a fast read, and MUCH faster than the previous book which I’d DNFd, it was a fun one too. Colbeck is a great character, open-minded enough to use modern techniques and modern ways of thinking and educated enough (he’s an ex-barrister) to work his way through the intricacies of the investigation. His sidekick, Victor Leeming, is a great foil for the Inspector’s musings and another great character (he’s funny too!). One character I was very impressed by in the 15th book was Colbeck’s wife. She was deeply involved in his first case (and first book) and their relationship continues in this one. One of the things I really liked is just how SLOWLY its going. They obviously like each other a great deal and are not even officially ‘courting’ yet but I can’t help but love how they’re both being ‘correct’ about the whole thing. It’s both sweet and funny. 

The case itself is VERY convoluted. I picked out some of those involved quite early on, but the details and motivations eluded me almost to the very end. I really liked the way that several interweaving plots were slowly brought together for a very satisfying ending. I also became quite intrigued by the whole illegal (but tolerated) bare-knuckle fighting thing (interestingly the fighters wore padded gloves whilst practicing but took them off for the real event). I’ll have to read up a bit about that. I am aware that even women took part – IN the ring! How bizarre Victorian society was – SO many contradictions and complexities. Needless to say, I HIGHLY enjoyed this and look forward to the next book in the series. I already own quite a few, but I’ll need to buy the next two sometime soon to progress with it. Highly recommended for all fans of historical crime or just bloody good story telling. 

Just Finished Reading: Blood on the Tracks – Railway Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (FP: 2018) [383pp] 

I thought that I’d end my set of railway themed reading with this moderately chunky BLCC shorts collection, and I was far from disappointed. Over the 15 stories contained within its covers I was pleased that hardly one left me wanting, indeed most of them left me wanting more. A case [pun unintended!] in point was The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway by Baroness Orczy. I knew her of Scarlett Pimpernel fame but didn’t realise she also wrote short crime mysteries. On further investigation I discovered, to my delight, that this mystery was part of a collection spanning 3 whole volumes of the ‘Teahouse Detective’. Much more to follow, I assure you! 

An early intriguing tale, which I greatly enjoyed, was The Mystery of Felwyn Tunnel by L T Meade and Robert Eustace. Without giving TOO much away this hinged on a bit of scientific knowledge and I managed to guess the cause without ruining the subsequent discovery. Interestingly there was both a non-Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle called The Man with the Watches penned in the interim between Holme’s ‘death’ and his return as well as a Sherlock Holmes tale penned by Ronald Knox called The Adventure of the First-Class Carriage!  

Having enjoyed a superbly plotted novel by Freeman Wills Crofts I was pleased to discover that he was also the master of the short story with The Level Crossing as an apparently perfect murder of a blackmailer begins to unravel almost from the first moment. Of course, a classic crime stories can’t avoid the odd, and sometimes very odd, Gothic or supernatural tale and I really enjoyed the slightly creepy (in a good way) tale of a hangman on his way home in The Railway Carriage by F Tennyson Jesse. 

Without going into each and every tale, this was a cracking set of short crime/mystery stories either set on trains or associated with them. If you have an interest in either trains or classic mysteries this is most definitely the book for you. With authors as varied and exalted as Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, and Sapper you won’t be disappointed. Most definitely recommended. 

[Highest page count of the year so far: 383pp][+35pp]

Just Finished Reading: The Blackpool Highflyer by Andrew Martin (FP: 2004) [336pp] 

Halifax, Yorkshire 1905. After his adventures in London, young Jim Stringer is back on his home turf. Well on his way to achieving his aim of becoming an engine driver and with a new wife to support, life is at last moving in the right direction. He is soon reminded however of the duties and responsibilities of his coveted position when his engine narrowly avoids being derailed due to an object left deliberately on the track. Feeling responsible for the passenger's safety he starts a private investigation into who was responsible. The list, however, is far from a short one. Did the wreckers target his train specifically because of a passenger on it? Was it at attack on the Mill who organised the excursion or an attack on excursions themselves? Was it personal, political or financial? It was enough to make anyone’s head spin with the possibilities. In the hot summer of 1905 with Special trains running to the resorts and beyond Jim had his work cut out for him to figure out exactly where the danger was coming from. What made things worse, and more urgent if such a thing was possible, was that his wife, recently confirmed to be pregnant, was scheduled to be aboard the Blackpool Highflyer – so recently attacked – and Jim himself was due to man the footplate... 

This is my 2nd Jim Stringer ‘Steam Detective’ novel and although I enjoyed it, I did also find it rather frustrating. The issue I had, unlike with the other rail detective series, is that Jim doesn’t have an official (or actually unofficial) position on the railways so is essentially reduced to asking people questions and musing on the results. Jim is also both young and still quite naive so doesn’t yet possess the skill set he needs to progress his enquiries in anything like a logical manner. The fumbles and struggles his way to something like a conclusion – and sometimes not. It took me a while – actually a few days or so after finishing this novel – to realise what my problem was. It’s that I was expecting an historical detective novel, and this isn’t it. What we have here is an historical novel based on the Edwardian railways. Within that novel, mostly about the time and place in which it takes place, is a scattering of crimes (often petty) and mysteries (sometimes unresolved). These are actually secondary to the story itself rather than driving the narrative. Looked at in this fashion I’m going to be a lot less frustrated in future outings with Jim and his trains. 

Overall, I can say I enjoyed this although I did honestly find a quite long diversion into Edwardian vaudeville shows somewhat tedious. This was made up for by insights into the sometimes fractious political situation in England and across Europe at the time as well as an insight into the lives of the Northern working class. Reasonable. 

Just Finished Reading: 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (FP: 1957) [281pp] 

Elspeth McGillicuddy could hardly believe her own eyes, so it came as no surprise that the police refused to believe that she’d seen a murder committed right in front of her. The railway authorities were likewise less than impressed at her story of seeing a woman being strangled on another train as it drew level with her own. Quite distressed by the whole experience she knew that she could rely on one person to take her seriously – and she was right. Jane Marple had known Elspeth since her long-ago school days and knew when she was telling the truth, but how to convince the police to investigate further? Feeling her advancing years Miss Marple could only thing of getting someone younger and fitter to take her place poking around in the undergrowth and asking subtle questions. Then she hit on the solution – Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a much sort after and highly efficient home help. The question foremost in her mind was how to convince young Lucy to be her eyes, her ears and her hands. But delighted by the odd challenge and the thrill of something different she jumps at the idea. Hired by the local Crackenthorpe family sets about her tasks – sorting out a fractious and chaotic household and the discovery of a dead body... 

Reading this I couldn’t but help have brief images from the 1961 movie adaptation (Murder, She said) starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. Probably for streamlining purposes Miss Marple, in this movie version, both saw the murder from the 4.50 from Paddington and hired herself as a maid to the Crackenthorpe family. Not surprisingly, I thought that the additional characters in the novel worked much better. Jane has been detecting criminality for far too long to be knee deep in brambles between cooking and cleaning for 5-6 adults and a pair of (very well behaved) young boys. I actually thought that the character of Lucy was brilliant, and she fast became one of my favourite fictional females. It would be really nice to ‘see’ her again in future novels but I’m guessing this is both the first and our last time with her. Oh, and I can’t but mention the feeling that Christie had FAR too much fun with her family names here! I mean, McGillicuddy, Eyelesbarrow AND Crackenthorpe.... [lol] 

The plot, as you might expect from Christie is both somewhat convoluted and brilliant. Typically, I failed to spot the murderer – not even close this time – nor the motive but loved the process of finding out. The only disappointing aspect of the whole investigation was the fact that I liked the murderer until the point of revelation – that was new. One of the things I really enjoyed here, and there was a lot to enjoy being honest, were the very well-drawn characters. Even the two schoolboys – they must’ve been around 11-12 I think – were a scream, if FRIGHTFULLY British... Not only were they allowed to see the body (for their education) and spent a great deal of their time looking for clues, but they also prompted a clever reveal as to the corpse's identity which threw things in a whole other direction. Overall, I can hardly praise this too highly. It’s now one of my favourite Miss Marple novels – and that’s a HIGH bar – and I loved it from beginning to end. Very highly recommended to all classic crime fans.

Just Finished Reading: The Railway Detective by Edward Marston (FP: 2004) [348pp] 

London, 1851. It was a crime that shocked the nation. For the first time a train had been stopped and the contents of its mail carriage taken away – including a considerable amount of gold and a number of mail bags. Under intense pressure from the railway company, the Royal Mint, the Post Office and the Press, Scotland Yard assigns Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck to the case – a rising star in the department. Colbeck certainly has his work cut out for him. The raid was carried out with military precision and had quickly overcome both guards and locks to gain access to the gold – something considered simply impossible. The questions, however, were piling up: how did the robbers know the train would be carrying so much gold? How did they open the twin safes so quickly? But the most perplexing question of all bothered Colbeck deeply – why, after securing the gold did the robbers delay their escape in order to derail the locomotive? Was it simple malice or a perverted desire to cause additional destruction or was it something more, something sinister? As Colbeck continues his investigation he becomes convinced that the gang will strike again and that the object of that strike will not be simply to gain more money but will be an attack on the railway itself! 

I’ve been looking forward to ‘starting’ this series for a while now after previously reading, and greatly enjoying, the 15th book back in December ‘21 because of its Christmas theme. I was pretty confident that if the author could more than hold my interest after 15 books, he should do so with the first in the series – and so it was. I REALLY like this. I was already most impressed by Colbeck's abilities from my earlier introduction to him and his world and here he hit the ground running as he, and the inevitable solid side-kick, began the investigation, ran down clues and closed in on the miscreants behind the diabolical scheme. I was also hoping that we’d be introduced to Colbeck’s wife who I fell in love with in the 15th novel. Luckily, she did indeed appear – although both were single here – so we got to see how they met and why their difference in social standing didn’t come between them (Colbeck might be a highly education Inspector, but he actually came from more humble origins). The baddies were equally well-drawn and interesting and their motivations for their crimes were understandable. Being ‘baddies’ they had few redeeming qualities, which was quite funny at times, and I was convinced that at least one of them would end up twilling his moustache menacingly at some point! Overall, this was a well-paced, intriguing and highly entraining historical mystery/crime novel and I’m SO glad that its part of a LONG running series. I’m not 100% sure if I can get around to reading all 22 of them, but I’m definitely looking at trying. Very highly recommended for all crime, historical and railway buffs. 

[Highest page count of the year so far: 348pp][+22pp]

Just Finished Reading: Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton (FP: 1936) [221pp] 

It was suicide – obviously. What else could explain Sir Wilfred Saxonby’s death? After all, he was on a moving train in a single private carriage, alone. A single gunshot to the chest had finished him off, the gun was found a few feet away. What else could explain it? But Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard has his doubts. No one can think of a reason why Sir Wilfred would have taken his own life – not financial or personal. Then there was the mystery of just why the train had stopped momentarily in the tunnel. The crew had reported a red stop light, but no one was working there, and no fault had been reported. So, what, or who, had caused to train to halt. Then there was another mystery that bothered the Inspector – where was Sir Wilfred's ticket, the one he needed to hand over at his destination? It seemed to be a trivial matter, but it bothered him. He would need to talk it over with his friend Desmond Merrion who was a gifted amateur in Criminology. It was during this chat that they decided to check the tunnel for anything out of the ordinary. Searching in the blackness they caught a glint of something, metal, glass, something that reflected their torches back at them. It was a lamp with lenses of green and red. Someone had stopped the train alright, and the 'suicide' of Sir Wilfred started to look very much like murder... 

I must admit that I loved this mystery almost from the first page. I’m a great fan of mental puzzles – especially where human behaviour is concerned – so I really liked the way this novel was structured. We are presented with a sudden violent death and an apparent ‘obvious’ cause but are quickly introduced to some contrary evidence that points in a quite different direction. Then the investigation starts for real – examining the tunnel and the carriage where the event took place, examining the body and effects, the mystery of the missing ticket – all giving lovely food for thought and opportunity to build theories. Throughout the rest of the novel, we are presented with interviews of those involved in one way or another, forensic evidence including ballistics and the opinions of handwriting and typewriter experts. Each piece of additional evidence or testimony adds to or modifies theories of whodunnit and why – finally after much debate and a red-herring or two - points to the who and the why. I did, at least, suspect the person who had the final finger pointed at them. I couldn’t really say with any great confidence why exactly I suspected them of being a baddie, but they seemed to be in the right place at the right/wrong time a little too often. I’m guessing that I would have finger pointed correctly eventually! The ending, when it came, was completely satisfactory and I honestly closed the book with a smile on my face. If you like evidence led police investigations and chewing over theories with the investigators themselves this is definitely the book for you. One of the best of the BLCC books I’ve read, and I’ll definitely be looking out for more books in this detective's series as well as more by this author. Highly recommended to all Classic crime buffs.   

Just Finished Reading: The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (FP: 1906) [319pp] 

Their adventure began with the arrival of two strange men to see their father. When they left, with their father between them, it was strange enough. When he didn’t return that night strangeness transformed into worry. It seemed that in no time at all they were with their mother on a train heading into the countryside. When they arrived late that evening, none of them knew where, the house – actually more of a cottage – was dark and deserted. Without any servants they had to light their own (small) fire and make their own beds. Mother could tell them little except that their father would be staying in London for a while, and they must make do until he returned. With a new place to explore the children were happy, if still worried, to spend their days watching the trains rumble by and waving at the passengers who, sometimes, waved back. But the real adventures began when they watched in horror as a landslip engulfed the track and only they could prevent a terrible accident from occurring! 

This book surprised me in many ways, firstly because at just how readable it was despite its target readership being Middle class Edwardian children. The other big surprise was the number of times Russia and in particular the Russo-Japanese war came up... in a CHILDRENS book! It interested me that arguments broke out in the village between supporters of Russia or Japan based on newspaper reports of the conflict. A minor character of an exiled Russian author appeared looking for his family after spending time in prison and Siberia for his writing and was helped by the children's mother who could ‘get by’ in Russian. She explained to the children that the author was arrested and convicted for his political views and the authoritarian Russians really didn’t like that sort of thing! All very topical, given the publication date, but surprising just the same. 

Like most children’s books – especially of that time – this was largely a series of morality tales to teach (middle-class!) youngsters how to behave in public. It taught being truthful, being essentially good, being kind – especially to those less well off – but it also taught the values of courage, standing up for your principles, thinking things through, basic problem solving, fortitude under difficult circumstances and a whole host of other things. The age spread of the children – I think the boy was the middle child – meant that no one was in full authority, but it did allow the girls to take charge more often than not and to be proven right, more often than not. It was an interesting dynamic to use. This was a fast read and a surprisingly pleasant one. I’m really not sure if it would be appreciated by today’s childish readers but I think if you’re anything like me you will enjoy it – even if just for the nostalgia of a much simpler time. I’ll make a point of watching the 1970 movie (which I haven’t seen in decades) next time it's on. Recommended.  

[Highest page count of the year so far: 319pp]

[Edit: Oh, I'd forgotten one STRANGE bit.... Over half way through the children had a brief (maybe a page or so) discussion amongst themselves about how odd it would be if they were characters in a book! VERY meta....! Not exactly breaking the 4th wall, but interesting nevertheless. I'm not sure if I've read anything like that outside of some SF stories along the way. It was both weird and rather fun.]

Just Finished Reading: Plugged Nickel by Robert Campbell (FP: 1988) [219pp] 

At first, they thought it must have been a truly horrible accident. Someone must have fallen from the train and been run over, cutting them cleanly in half. It wasn’t long until the train crew found the second half and reunited them, handing over the responsibility to rail-detective Jake Hatch to get the body to the local coroner. That was when the trouble started. The local man pronounced the ‘john doe’ dead and then passed on the autopsy to his Denver colleague – who found what should have been obvious from the start: that the two halves of ‘john doe’ didn’t match... at all. For one thing, one half was male and the other female. So, TWO tragic accidents or something more like a suicide pact or maybe a murder-suicide? Travelling up and down the line on the California Zephyr, Jake Hatch had his work cut out for him. There were SO many questions unanswered. Had the two deceased known each other? Where did they get on? Why was one apparently travelling in the opposite direction from the ticket in their wallet? What had been in the empty briefcase found on the train and why were the FBI trying so hard to get in touch with Jake? Oh, and just one more thing – why was the local coroner in McCook, Nebraska acting so strangely? It was going to be a long few days and many miles of track travelled before everything became clear. 

I’d read a few novels by this author before and had always found them reasonably well written and fairly entertaining in a rather disposable way. This was another solid, somewhat above average mystery thriller which certainly kept me both intrigued and entertaining for a little over 200 pages/two days of reading. The actual mystery element was well done, and the story was sprinkled with some good characterisation which I always enjoy. The main character, Jake, was fun to ‘watch’ and the only thing I didn’t like about him was the fact that he seemed to be generally irresistible to women which I found moderately annoying and completely unnecessary to the plot. I also liked the small-town Sherrif and his wife who were good, rounded characters as well as a few of Jakes ‘girlfriends’ who seemed like an interesting bunch. This was a fun, ‘bubble-gum’, read that kept me interested and turning pages. As you might imagine quite a bit of the novel took place either on trains or in close proximity to train infrastructure so there’s some rail-speak that isn’t fully explained (as it wouldn’t be IRL) but you can pick up enough from context and if you’ve watched any old American movies that had trains in them. It certainly didn’t even slow things down a little bit and added some flavour to the whole thing. Recommended if you can source a copy.   

Just Finished Reading: The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin (FP: 2002) [231pp] 

London, 1903. It was young Jim Stringer’s dream – to be an engine driver on the railway. Not quite there yet but on his way, he has been transferred from his home company in Yorkshire to the London and Southwest Railway at Waterloo. The climb from a provincial porter to a cleaner in the Capital might not seem like much, but cleaners can progress to the footplate and then, given time, to driving the train itself. Trying desperately to fit in, Jim fails to impress the other men and it’s made that much worse when they discover that he has been hand-picked by a Senior Manager for his job. Suspicion that Jim is a spy, planted amongst them, grows along with his constant questioning regarding a series of accidents plaguing the station and the crews of the Necropolis Railway – the specialist trains delivering the great and the good to London’s largest cemetery. Jim himself is unsure of his role and when his sponsor dies in mysterious circumstances, he’s on his own. Surrounded by enemies, out of his depth and expecting the hammer to fall at any moment Jim is going to have to unravel quite a mystery to avoid an early arrival at a recently dug grave. 

It’s funny that I’ve been picking up two sets of railway detective stories recently – by this author and by Edward Marston. I’ve read one Marston so far (loved it) and this is my first by Andrew Martin. Although broadly similar – in that trains figure heavily in both (naturally) - they are very different, and not only because Martin’s books are deeply Victorian in tone whilst this series takes place in early Edwardian England. Jim Stringer is a young train enthusiast who, through circumstance alone, is drifting away from his intended path into that of a steam detective. He is, in every sense, an amateur. The detective in Martin’s books is not only fully mature – Jim stands out as VERY naïve and provincial – but is a fully profession detective with all the resources that implies. Jim is very much on his own, using only his natural wit and intelligence, plus both his practical and (mostly theoretical at this point) knowledge of the railways. 

Although I found this first novel in the series rather slow, I did enjoy both the character development as Jim became much more self-confident and mature by the end of the book than when his arrived in London only months before. Even more so I enjoyed the author’s world-building as we were exposed to aspects of Edwardian England, from the pervasive over-exaggerated adverts EVERYWHERE to the steam trains on the Underground (which must have been horrendous for those waiting on the platforms never mind those stuck in the long tunnels). I have the second novel scheduled for early(ish) next year and I’m looking forward to seeing Jim get involved in more crime solving and, maybe, becoming a professional detective. I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Edwardian England. Reasonable but with much promise. 

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These days it takes about 90 minutes..... SO much improvement in 100 years [lol]

Impressive....!

Just Finished Reading: Night Trains – The Rise and Fall of the Sleeper by Andrew Martin (FP: 2017) [248pp] 

Sleep trains used to be common – in the UK, Europe, America and across the world. Even in Britain it could take a considerable time to travel between cities, so why not sleep your way to your destination and arrive fresh and fed? Some of the sleepers became culturally famous, like the fabled Orient Express, whilst others became notorious for questionable assignations and sought out by the rich and shameless. But all good things must come to an end and the few remaining sleeper trains may not be long for this world. The reasons are pretty obvious – trains are a lot faster than in decades gone by so there’s little time or opportunity to bed down, commercially sleeper coaches lose money and have always lost money so they’re no longer economically viable and, of course, long distance trains need to compete with airlines which are quicker and also tend to be cheaper. But the sleepers still have their fan base and that includes the author of this interesting little book. 

Travelling on a variety of lines including Paris to the French Riveria, the Nordland Railway in Norway, Paris to Venice, a cobbled together ‘Orient Express’ journey and the Berlin Night Express the author experiences (or at least in some cases tries to experience) what it was like to travel across Europe in a wheeled hotel. Looking at the history (and troubled future) of the sleeper the author delves into the dreams of railway enthusiasts and the complicated political maneuverings it took for sleeping passengers to cross borders in the dead of night. Within the EU such issues have long been overcome so his present-day travels were much easier although choosing to travel shortly after the notorious terrorist attack in Paris probably wasn’t his best idea.  

Told with self-deprecating humour and an obvious deep love of trains this was a fun and often fascinating read which I enjoyed a great deal. I’ve travelled on trains extensively in the UK – never having learnt to drive – and also in various parts of Europe (France and Italy) and have (largely) enjoyed the experience and have met some interesting people asnd had some interesting experiences along the way. I still chuckle about the street entertainer who showed his table a VERY large snake he was carrying much to the astonishment and sometimes horror of his fellow passengers, especially a bunch of school children from another carriage! More from this author (both fiction and non-fiction) and more train stories to come. 

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