Murder on the Brighton Express by Edward Marston

When the Brighton Express suddenly goes off the rails and collides with another train, the Engine crew of the oncoming train is killed, along with the driver of the Brighton Express and six of the passengers. However, despite the wreckage of both trains, most passengers are only injured, and the fireman of the Brighton Express escapes with only a few injuries, none of them mortal.

The Railway company brings in Robert Colbeck, known as the "Railway Detective", a policeman with a great love of trains who has already solved many crimes that occurred on Railways. And once again, he has the assistance of Sergeant Leeming, an officer firmly of the middle-class, and distrustful of the railways as newfangled and unknown.

But this time, he also has competition, Harvey Ridgeon, the Inspector General of Railways, who believes the entire thing was merely an accident caused by the dead driver when he ran the train too fast. But Colbeck had met the dead driver, Frank Pike, before, on another case, and the man he knew was too careful and cautious to do such a thing. He also determines that the bolts holding the rails down were removed, along with a section of track, and finds a pick-axe that probably did the removing in the bushes nearby. But Ridgeon is adamant, and wishes Colbeck gone and away from the site of the wreck.

Colbert discovers that two men with very unpopular public opinions are on board, one a government official bigoted towards foreigners, the other a former railway executive let go from his post. Both were sharing the compartment directly behind the locomotive, the one likeliest to sustain damage in a railway crash or disaster. But they were not alone, sharing their compartment with a Brighton Clergyman, the Reverend Follis, and two lovers, a married man and his unmarried female lover. The Reverend brings this to Colbeck's attention, but he doesn't excoriate the lovers for it, instead, he looks on them with sympathy, a very unusual position for a clergyman.

As Colbeck investigates the people who might have a grudge against the railroad itself, he also investigates people who might have a grudge against the Lord and the Railway executive. But something about the crime isn't adding up... who would go to such great lengths to kill so many people just to get revenge on one man? And then Ridgeon releases a report to the newspapers that makes Colbeck seem just this side of a crackpot, seeing saboteurs under every bridge and trestle. With this hanging over him, will Colbeck and Leeming be able to catch the killer before he or she kills again?

This book gave us many possible targets for the attack on the train: attack on the railroad, attack on one of the passengers, and so on, but what's unusual about this one is that Robert Colbeck takes so long chasing the wrong trail, and who the actual target of the attack turns out to be. Edward Marston does draw attention (in a very subtle way) to the wrongness of character about this particular person long before you realize who the actual target of the train crash was. And even though we learn who did the deed fairly early on, catching the culprit, let alone finding out who hired him for the purpose, takes far longer... again, not until the end of the book.

I did enjoy the book, as well as the encounters between Colbeck and the woman he loves, Madelaine Andrews, who no longer simply acts as her father's housekeeper, but has a career as a railway artist, drawing railroads in action. Their interactions are warm and wonderful to read, and she helps him out a great deal of the time, though he tends to keep her in the dark about how she is helping him in this novel. However, he did want her unbiased opinion, so it was acceptable as to why he kept her in the dark.

I recommend this series to anyone who loves mysteries, and historical mysteries, or who enjoys railroads and their history. The writing is smart and the dialogue practically snaps as you read it. The story is leavened with just enough romance to leaven the mystery and make it truly great. If you enjoy any or all of these things, give this series a try.