Inspector Robert Colbeck Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Robert Colbeck Books

Publication Order of Inspector Robert Colbeck Collections

Inspector Robert Colbeck is the central character in the Railway Detective series written by well known author Edward Marston. The series is based on historical mystery genre and features Inspector Robert Colbeck as a detective inspector in the Scotland Yard and his companion Sergeant Victor Leeming. The series is set in the 1850’s era of Victorian England and revolves around the railway progress of the country which was considered as a major part of England during that time. The series sometimes also referred as Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck series. The series consists a total of eleven different novels published between 2004 and 2014. Author Edward Marston still continues to contribute to the novel series and is about to release one more novel in the series in the coming days. All the novels of the series depict the attacks on the trains with the purpose of looting and derailing them and the efforts of Inspector Colbeck to prevent such incidents from happening. The capital city of London anticipates the great invention of mail trains during the time of 1850’s, but the increasing attacks on them put the government of England to think of ways of protecting the railways. The government appoints Inspector Robert Colbeck to investigate blackmailing, murder and destruction and find the person responsible for the crimes of looting and derailing. The first novel of the series was published in the year 2004 by the Allison & Busby publishing house under the title ‘The Railway Detective’. The novel is set in the year 1851 and showcases the advance use of the railways for transporting goods and passengers. With the Great Exhibition comes great adversities as criminal activities relating to the derailing and the looting of the mail trains comes to notice very often.

The novel introduces detective inspector Colbeck working under the Scotland Yard. The plot of the novel opens up with the incident depicting the robbing and derailing of the mail train headed towards Birmingham from London. The driver of the train and other support staffs get injured in the process. It seems that the marvelous engineering triumphs in the field of railways do not make everyone happy in England. Those few do not feel like celebrating and carry out such petty crimes to stop the railway industry from blossoming. The criminal activities are filled with blackmails, destruction and murder plots in a planned manner showcasing military precision. This gives a great challenge to the new police force of the city, who are stretched to their extreme limits in trying to bring down the criminal activities in the railways. Under the leadership of Detective inspector Colbeck, the police force becomes successful in nabbing down the mastermind behind the crimes. With the increasing momentum in their investigation, inspector Colbeck and sergeant Leeming close in on the criminal group and begin to think that they have got hold of the villains in the path of progress of Great Britain. However, the events take unexpected turns as the daughter of the injured train driver gets kidnapped by the other group of the criminals. The daughter named Madeleine Andrews becomes a pawn in the criminal game. In its final sequence the novel the race against time and shows the competition between the good and evil to survive. The novel is full of action packed plot and memorable characters. It features interesting twists and turns and a surprising mystery that surprises its readers at various points in the plot. At one point Inspector Colbeck tries to take the help of former policeman Brendan Mulryne but feels that he is creating more troubles that finding a way out. He learns about some useful information through Madeleine Andrews and comes to know that there was something more important than just stocks on-board the train.

The second novel of the Railway Detective series was titled ‘The Excursion Train’ and was published din the year 2005 by the Allison & Busby publishing house. This novel was also set in the United Kingdom and featured the era of the mid nineteenth century when the railway industry had just begun to flourish. The plot of the second novel of the series starts with a train journey to Berkshire. The Great Western Railway excursion train is heading towards Berkshire carrying heavy stocks. The guard of the train begins to fear the safety of the stocks as a small crowd of bustling people board the train. Soon, a brutal murder of one of the passengers of the train named Jake Bransby takes place. As the body of the passenger is discovered in a disturbing condition, Sergeant Victor Leeming and Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck are asked to carry out the investigations. After a little while into the investigation, inspector Colbeck gets intrigued after finding the murder weapon to be a noose although the murder appears to be motiveless in the beginning.

However, inspector Colbeck and the sergeant Leeming later come to know that the victim, Jake Bransby was a public executioner by profession and realize that the murder must have used that specific weapon for that particular reason. Other than that, they do not find any lead in the case and are forced to get stuck into the mystery of the murder case. The more they try to get close to the murder the more mysterious turns it takes. Soon, another murder takes place on-board a different train, but with the same weapon. Now inspector Colbeck and sergeant Leeming are required to catch the killer as quickly as possible in order to prevent him from taking any more lives. The novel is set in the Victorian England at a time when the railway had begun to show sufficient progress. It is full of remarkable characters and takes the readers down on unexpected paths and keeps them interested in reading it till the end. The author, Edward Marston has done a great job in writing the novel loaded with historical details and the intriguing mysteries of the noose murders. The readers found themselves flowing into a mysterious world in a captivated train journey from start to end. The author very well depicted the fine sense of the Victorian era with a good grasp of the positive impact of the technological progresses in the field of railways and its social impact on the population growth, rapid development and advancement in transportation methods.

3 Responses to “Inspector Robert Colbeck”

1. Lee Davis: 2 years ago

   is there going to be another Railway Detective book

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     The Railway Detective’s Christmas Case is scheduled for October of this year

     Reply
2. Diane Powell: 3 years ago

   When is the next Railway Detective book going to be published? Have enjoyed the series immensely, can’t wait for the next book.

   Reply