Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Read and a good series of stories, 13 Nov 2006
Excursion train is a nicely paced whodunnit. The murder happens at the start of the book and the story of the investigation unfolds leaving you guessing and re-assessing your guess as you go along. The book is littered with beliveable characters doing believable things and does not lead you to be incredulous as to dismiss anything. The detctive does not have a super human ability, for example the Sherlock Holmes eye for the slightest detail, nor an accomplice such as Patrica Cornwall's Medical Examiner-come-investigator's niece who mysteriously has the ability to do what is needed from hacking into computers, shooting accurately to flying helicopters etc. as the plot demands it!
In this series, Edward Marston gives the reader information and the opportuinty to solve the crime as they read on - unlike some stories where the important information does not come out until the detective or whoever, uncovers the murderer!
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Martons is on time with this series!, 22 Jul 2007
Edward Marston has four quite successful historical fiction mysteries. In his newest of these (the Inspector Robert Colbeck Series), Marston explores yet another era in British history, the Victorian Age, and more specificially, his protagonist Colbeck is a Scotland Yard detective who not only specializes but thrives on railway cases.
In this the second of the series, "The Excursion Train," Colbeck and his assistant Sergeant Leeming are called in to investigate a bizarre murder on an excursion train
(where the passengers were specifically headed for a prize fight, illegal, of course, as it's Victorian England). The victim is found garrotted on board the train. Soon, the detectives discover the identity of the body--a former hangman for the Queen's Court, a much loathed man, who, from some accounts, deserved the killing as he'd been the executioner of a man many considered to be innocent. And before we've completed the journey, another body is found murdered in the same fashion. And it turns out, the victim is also related, in a fashion, to the original execution.
Thus, Marston is now on the right tracks, bound for glory. The first man's death, his occupation, the execution, and a nearby village all come into play as Colbeck and Leeming are all aboard for another exciting mystery ride, with all "issues" cleared up by the end. This series seems to show Marston at his writing best, as the books move at a fast pace, seem more historically researched, and capture the setting quite well.
And it's not all "Hamlet, Act V" with all those bodies piling up. Colbeck's romantic interest, Madeline Andrews, from the first episode is also featured, to help in a change of pace. Marston skillfully incorporates her into the hunt and the reader finds her a welcome addition, the love interest not being too syrupy (it's all quite proper and Victorian), melodramtic, or distracting.
"The Excursion Train" leaves on time and reaches its destination with few hitches or stopovers, and the reader can settle back and let the author do all the driving. It's a good, enjoyable read.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining read, 7 Nov 2006
After thoroughly enjoying the first in this series by Marston, The Railway Detective, I picked up The Excursion Train. I wasn't disappointed as this one had more of the same intriguing plot, likeable characters and colourful scenes. Robert Colbeck, dandy-cum-inspector, is a very readable hero and I look forward to the third in the series coming out in paperback.
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