Reviews

The Railway Detective by Edward Marston

zbmorgan's review

4.0

Absolutely delightful -solid character detective with a decent amount of history on the Victorian railroads.

quiticus's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The Railway Detective was an enjoyable listen, with likeable characters and an interesting plot. It is very easy to follow which makes it great to listen to whilst walking the dog, driving your car or otherwise mundane tasks to  liven them up. Normally I have a preference for mysteries you can try to work with the information provided in this text, whereas in this novel answers are given as the detective find them based on informative not given to the reader; however this does benefit my previous point of making it an easy, comfortable read. Set around the Great Expedition, the  the world building is so well done by the author that I genuinely thought it was written during the time it was based on. It really is a perfect example of realistic alternative history. 
I would definitely recommend  people give it a listen,  particularly since the audiobook is excellently narrated.

ellie_cripps's review

3.0

Picked up towards the end, pretty entertaining in places but doubt I'll bother with the rest of the series.

zoer03's review

5.0

This is a good romp of a book and If you love everything Victorian and railways and loads of action, as well as good detecting then this is the book for you. The characters are well thought out and the back story for all, and how the historical changes in that time affects each character differently. This may be a short review but I feel that this book does not need to be delved in too deeply otherwise it loses the fun and the thrill of the chase to discover who the villain is.

alexratman's review

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

sarahh1984's review

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I struggled a bit with a rating for this book. It’s a pretty perfunctory procedural with little by way of character development, despite being very enjoyable. In that sense I’d say it’s solidly 3 stars. However, when viewed stylistically, it’s very much written as “something sensational to read in the train” - an easy-to-read, mystery adventure that one might buy from a stand at the train station. There is also some lovely period detail and a lot of history about steam locomotives, for which I am a nerd. In that respect, I go with 4 stars.

infinitebatmans's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

piedudeaus's review

3.0

Not quite a 4, so 3.5 Stars.
Will read more of the series.

nyxeris42's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

bookwoman1967's review

2.0

I love historical mysteries and tried to give this one the benefit of the doubt. But . . .There is no character development; the only character to be more than a cardboard archetype was the detective's assistant. There's little suspense as the villain is revealed (out of nowhere) about halfway through the book. The characters often serve as mouthpieces to impart statistical information about Victorian railroads. If you are looking for historical mysteries in this time period, you'd do much better with Anne Perry, Charles Finch, Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes, or on the American side of the pond, Victoria Thompson.