The Railway Detective: The bestselling Victorian mystery series: 1

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This is how history mysteries should be: fine storytelling, marvellous characters reminiscent of the great authors of the mid-Victorian period, and a sneaky mystery, too." Herbert Shipperley – Post Office supervisor responsible for mail coach scheduling. His information, when interviewed by Leeming, posits William Ings as a prime suspect. Caleb Andrews – Engine driver who is proud to work for the L&NWR. This pride often surfaces in criticisms of other railway companies and especially of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Great Western Railway (GWR). He is a "short, wiry man in his fifties with a suppressed energy". He was widowed five years earlier and is largely reliant upon his daughter Madeleine, who keeps house for him in Camden and "looks after him with a mixture of kindness, cajolery and uncompromising firmness". The latter is necessary because Caleb is opinionated and can be stubborn even when proved wrong. Caleb is nevertheless determined to see Madeleine happily married. Kate Piercy – Young prostitute with whom Ings is co-habiting when he is due to meet Sholto again. Piercy is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is killed as a witness to Ings' murder. Fear on the Phantom Special– Halloween, 1861. In the middle of the night, a special train with two carriages travels through the Lake District on its way to a location renowned for its history of paranormal occurrences. Alcohol has been consumed by the majority of individuals on board, which has boosted their energy levels. The bulb abruptly goes out in the second carriage’s final compartment, leaving it in complete darkness. The passengers swarm onto the station platform as the train reaches its destination. A call for aid signals that someone is missing. There are about sixty of them in total, laughing and shoving one another.

Frank Pike – Caleb's L&NWR fireman when the train is robbed. He is a friend of the Andrews family outside work. The Railway Detective was nominated for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2006. Richard Mayne – Senior Commissioner at Scotland Yard. The only real person playing an active part in the novel. William (Bill) Ings – Former Post Office official and one of only four employees who knew about the gold consignment. Ings has sold out to Gilzean and Sholto. Having quit his job and left his wife, Ings is pursuing his gambling habit and living with prostitutes until meeting Sholto for his payout.

All across the USA, people are showing up dead. The deaths don't appear to be connected in any way until one particular death occurs and gets the Secretary of Defense's attention. He arranges for a task force to investigate. Polly Roach – Aging prostitute in the Devil's Acre, for whom Ings has deserted Maud. Roach's possessiveness drives him away and he takes up with Kate Piercy instead. Roach, seeking revenge after being cast aside, finds their bodies. Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Keedy, Home Front detectives, are involved in a siege. When Keedy bravely leads a charge into the house, he is shot. He is moved to a military hospital for emergency surgery. Thomas Sholto – The same age as Gilzean, Sholto is tall, well-dressed and has a full beard. Gilzean and Sholto met at school and were afterwards commissioned in the same regiment before serving in India together. Sholto was a captain who retired on the same day as Gilzean. He is now Gilzean's right-hand man and enforcer. He killed Ings and Slender when they met him for their share of the loot. The detectives meet with great hostility, not least from the local vicar who refuses to have the body of a suicide victim buried in consecrated ground. When the corpse of the missing wife is found, the investigation takes a different turn altogether and the Railway Detective has to wade through a mass of conflicting evidence.

The fact that Christmas is getting ever closer complicates the situation and they are forced into a race against time. An intriguing dip into murky, mid-1850's London, full of twists and memorable characters, and a mystery that will surprise you at every turn."Edward has also worked as a director and an actor for a short period and also owned a professional theater company. Edward has also served as a drama teacher in a prison and worked as an editor for the stories of a film company situated in Pinewood. In his career spanning around 50 years, Edward has written more than 40 plays for the radio, theater and television. He has even completed a drama series comprising of hundreds of episodes. But today, Edward has left everything else and tries to concentrate on the development of his mystery series’. His nautical mysteries under the pseudonym Conrad Allen are set in the Edwardian era, the first of which, “Murder on the Lusitania” was released in the year 1999. Edward’s first historical mystery novel was released under the title “The Queen’s Head” in the year 1988, which launched the Bracewell series. Under his original name Keith Miles, he has written a total of 6 novels based on the crime genre. These novels feature the main protagonist, Alan Saxon. Edward has set all the novels in different countries each having different settings, the latest of which was released in the year 2004. Arizona 1928. Merlin Richards, a promising young architect, leaves the family practice in Wales, to go to America in search of its most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. The Excursion Train was nominated for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2007. Edward Marston was born and brought up in Wales. He read Modern History at Oxford then lectured in the subject for three years before becoming a full-time freelance writer. His first historical mystery, The Queen's Head, was published in 1988, launching the Nicholas Bracewell series.