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.