This light historical mystery featuring one of Edward Marstons most successful and popular characters Robert Colbeck, the Railway Detective was both enjoyable and entertaining. Set around Halloween and the days immediately following, it had just the right amount of apprehension to make for a spooky read. Thanks Allison & Busby and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read the next chapter of the wonderful Railway Detective series.

this the latest in the series to me has been the weakest and dull it had a few highlights but hoping this isn't the end of the line for the railway detective series. the novel wasn't up to the authors usual standards for this series and that was disappointing to me as read most of the previous novels in the series. felt the ending seemed a bit rushed as well

The year is 1861, Halloween night a train filled with people out to challenge the haunted woods, they plan to have a picnic amidst their laughter and jeering of all who are afraid. A fire on the track forces the train to a stop Alex Piper gets off to see what happened, then he is no more. A search is started but he can't be found, Scotland yard is called in to solve the incident, but is the answer to be found in the old tales of super-natural or is this a man-made crime. Many twist and turns the solution may surprise you.

Set at Halloween 1861 a special train has been hired to go to local haunted woods a supernatural place with ghosts. The train is stopped by a fire on the tracks when Alex Piper goes to investigate he is not seen again. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are called from Scotland Yard by the local Lord Lieutenant (Alex’s Uncle) as they have expertise with railway mysteries. They are many suspects as Alex rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way. When they come across another suspicious disappearance 10 years previous in the same woods are they linked. This is a good old fashioned mystery set in the Lake District at a time people believed in ghosts and phantoms. You follow the solid work of the police in checking backgrounds and suspects and pulling aside the smokescreen to uncover the real truth. Throughout is a small case of a missing medal taken from the inspector’s father-in-law. Father and daughter believe they can solve this following in the Inspectors footsteps. This mystery is well worth pursuing to the very end.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this would be a nice change of pace (for me). It is average all the way around. I've read much better mysteries. I was surprised give the number of the books by this author, although my first. I just couldn't stay engaged, and many characters were not well written.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

The latest instalment of the Railway Detective series, which I have followed from its inception, is somewhat dull. Often a pedestrian main plot may be lifted by an entertaining or intriguing sub-plot, but that did not happen here.

Frankly, I had difficulty summoning up enough interest to finish the book. The writing and plotting were not up to scratch. There were too many very repetitive interviews, and the perpetrator was not properly clued, meaning that the reveal was a letdown, as well as being hackneyed.

Colbeck and Leeming seemed very flat, Tallis does not work as “Mr Nice-Guy”, and Caleb Andrews was simply unbearable. The other characters were lifeless.

This was a real disappointment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for the digital review copy.

This book was really hard for me to connect with. I have never read a book by this author and I think his writing, just wasn't my style. I think the story was interesting, everything just felt very disjointed. One paragraph would be a scene with a certain character, and then the next paragraph would be a scene with some other character, and I had a hard time following it.
It's 1861 and a Ghost Ride on a train has been organized for a group of friends. The train never makes it to its destination, as a fire is on the tracks up ahead and the train must stop. One young man runs into the flames and disappears. The railway detective and his investigative teammate must work to find the answer to this mystery.
Where has the boy gone? What happened to him? What it a paranormal incident?