The Railway Detective is the eponymous opening title in the series of detective mystery novels written by Keith Miles under the pseudonym Edward Marston. Set in 1851, it is about a railway robbery which is investigated and ultimately solved by two Scotland Yard detectives, Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming. The novel was published in 2004 by Allison & Busby of London. The book's cover depicts part of The Railway Station (1862) by William Powell Frith. According to the publishers in a 2018 news release, the series has been optioned for television adaptation by Mammoth Screen.
Plot introduction In April 1851, shortly before the opening of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, a mail train on the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) is halted between Leighton Buzzard Junction and Linslade Tunnel by a group of men disguised as railway police. Using duplicated Chubb safe keys, they steal all the mailbags and a consignment of over £3,000 in sovereigns being transferred from the Royal Mint to a bank in Birmingham. The train driver, who tries to resist the robbers, is badly injured and his fireman is forced to drive the engine forward to where a section of track has been removed, causing a derailment. The robbers escape and the alarm is raised by telegraph to the Metropolitan Police Force in Scotland Yard, London, where it is received by Detective Superintendent Edward Tallis, head of the Detective Department.
Plot summary Tallis summons Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck to his office and orders him to lead the investigation. It is quickly established that there is an "unresolved tension" between Tallis and Colbeck which is an underlying theme of the whole series, although the two have great professional respect for each other. Colbeck and Detective Sergeant Victor Leeming travel to Leighton Buzzard where they meet Inspector Rory McTurk of the railway police. McTurk strongly resents their involvement but Colbeck and Leeming soon establish that members of the railway police were guilty of deserting their posts on the train in order to play cards, thus making it much easier for the gang to carry out the robbery. Meanwhile, train driver Caleb Andrews is not expected to survive and his daughter Madeleine arrives in Leighton Buzzard to care for him.
Colbeck is convinced that the gang had inside information and were certainly in possession of duplicated safe keys. He and Leeming begin enquiries at the organisations involved with the shipment: the L&NWR, the Post Office, the Royal Mint, the fictitious Spurling's Bank in Birmingham and the Chubb factory in Wolverhampton. As a result, they become aware of Daniel Slender, who duplicated the safe keys at Chubb; William Ings of the Post Office, who was involved in the mail train's scheduling; and Albert Woodhead of the Royal Mint, who unwittingly advised Ings of the gold consignment. The L&NWR and the Birmingham bank are absolved of involvement in the crime.
Ings is the first of the suspects to be pursued and Colbeck discovers that he is hiding in the notorious Devil's Acre. To find Ings, Colbeck seeks help from Brendan Mulryne, a former colleague who is now a resident there. Mulryne establishes a connection between Ings and the prostitute Polly Roach but, though he finds Roach, he is too late to prevent the murder of Ings. In due course, Slender meets a similar fate. It is clear to Colbeck that the gang are eliminating loose ends and weak links to remain undetected. Colbeck is concerned about the unnecessary destruction of the steam engine after the robbery and believes he is looking for someone with influence who hates the railways.
Although Tallis dismisses Colbeck's theory, it is valid as gang leader Sir Humphrey Gilzean has an obsessive hatred of railways. He blames them for the accidental death of his wife. The gang strikes again at the Kilsby Tunnel, placing gunpowder at one end in a bid to destroy both the tunnel and a train carrying glass sheets for use in the Crystal Palace. The explosion is detonated too soon to destroy the train and causes only superficial damage to the tunnel. Colbeck makes the connection and realises, despite more opposition from Tallis, that an attempt will be made to destroy the locomotives on display at the Great Exhibition.
Colbeck is right about the Crystal Palace and, aided by Leeming and Mulryne, is able to arrest Jukes and the Seymours one night when they try to destroy the Lord of the Isles. The gangsters refuse to give information about their leaders. Gilzean and Sholto have added to their haul by blackmailing the senders of complicit letters which were in the stolen mailbags. They are fearful of imminent arrest and Gilzean instructs Sholto to find someone whom Colbeck cares about to distract him from the investigation. Caleb Andrews is no longer a critical case and has been taken home where Madeleine is looking after him. She has met Colbeck in the course of the investigation and there is a mutual attraction between them which develops as the novel progresses. Sholto follows Colbeck and observes the affection he has for Madeleine during a visit to the Andrews household. As a result, Gilzean and Sholto kidnap Madeleine and send a demand to the Met for the release of Jukes and the Seymours.
Working on what little is known about the three prisoners, Colbeck and Leeming discover their common military background and make the link between them and two of their former officers who both left the Army on the same day. These are Gilzean and Sholto. Colbeck establishes that Gilzean has a pathological hatred of railways and even Tallis agrees that the case has been solved, so the investigation is now a manhunt but with Madeleine's life at stake. Fortunately for Madeleine, Gilzean is protective of her and will not allow Sholto to molest her. Tallis leads a raid on Gilzean's Berkshire residence but he bungles it and the criminals escape, still holding Madeleine as a hostage.
Colbeck finds documents in Gilzean's house which convince him they are taking Madeleine to Bristol to board ship and flee the country. The criminals are travelling by road and so Colbeck and Leeming go to Bristol via the Great Western Railway (GWR). They arrive first and intercept the two criminals on board their ship in harbour. Madeleine, unharmed, is freed and reunited with her father. The bond between Colbeck and Madeleine is permanent and, when Colbeck receives two complimentary tickets from the grateful Prince Albert for the opening of the Great Exhibition, he invites Madeleine to join him.
Characters in "The Railway Detective"
Main characters (all reoccurring) Robert Colbeck – Detective Inspector working for the Detective Department at Scotland Yard. Described as "conventionally handsome" and aged in his early thirties, he is from a family of cabinetmakers. He dresses fastidiously, as a "dandy", much to the annoyance of Tallis. Having been educated in law, he became a barrister but his life was changed in 1847 by the murder of Helen Milligan, whom he loved (see "Blood on the Line"). He decided that crime prevention and arresting criminals were more important than securing convictions in court. He therefore joined the Met, starting out as a constable on the beat in Hoxton. He was soon promoted and, by 1851, is acknowledged to be the best detective in the force. His success in solving the train robbery earns him the title of "The Railway Detective". Colbeck is unmarried in 1851 but when he meets Madeleine after the train robbery, in which her father was seriously injured, he is immediately attracted to her and their developing relationship is a series theme. Victor Leeming – Detective Sergeant working for the Detective Department. Formerly a constable on the beat, he is Colbeck's assistant investigator and, despite polarity in background and character, they are close friends. Leeming is "slightly older" than Colbeck, so mid-thirties in 1851. Unlike Colbeck at this stage of the series, Leeming is married with a young family. His commitment to his family does not sit well with the workaholic Tallis who regards family as a distraction from work. Leeming is described as having an unprepossessing appearance and, having come from one of London's rougher districts, is a tough character who knows how to look after himself. He is nevertheless humorous and, although he is Colbeck's foil to a large extent, he is a highly competent investigator in his own right, his tenacity being a noted attribute. The character of Leeming, especially with the name Victor, is an amalgam of many played by Victor McLaglen. Whereas Colbeck as the eponymous "railway detective" is enthralled by the "Railway Age", Leeming hates travelling by train. He loves horses and often says he would like to be a hansom cab driver. Edward Tallis – Detective Superintendent in charge of the Detective Department. A "stout, red-faced man in his fifties", he is a terse, irascible individual who believes firmly in discipline and dedication to duty, characteristics defined by his Army background. A martinet, Tallis is frequently at odds with Colbeck and Leeming because of personality clash, though he actually has enormous respect for them both. In turn, they respect his organisational ability. Tallis achieved the rank of major in the Army but does not use the title as a police officer. He is always Mister or Superintendent. He is a workaholic whose outside the Detective Department are confined to religion and military history. Tallis takes a hard line against crime and is appalled that there are only two capital offences on the statute book. Madeleine Andrews – Daughter of Caleb who soon becomes Colbeck's love interest. Madeleine has brown hair and is "attractive, alert, calm and strong-willed". She is in her early twenties and is a talented artist who specialises in steam locomotives, both in drawings and watercolours. She and Colbeck are attracted to each other at their first meeting when Madeleine visits Scotland Yard to offer information about the train robbery case. Colbeck encourages her artistic talent and she soon begins to secure commissions. 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. Brendan Mulryne – A huge, jovial Irishman who loves his beer and a good fight. He was formerly a policeman who shared his beat with Leeming but was discharged from the force because of brawling. He is currently a bouncer at a pub in the Devil's Acre. He has remained a close friend of Colbeck, who tried to save his job in the police, and Leeming. Estelle Leeming – Victor's wife who is described, unlike himself, as attractive. It is a happy marriage of erstwhile close friends between whom love has developed gradually. Until the marriage of Colbeck and Madeleine much later in the series, Estelle is an unseen character who is frequently mentioned by her husband. Victor's main reasons for hating long train journeys is that they take him away from Estelle and their two children.
Villains