Blood on the Line

The Railway Detective #8

by Edward Marston

The year is 1855, and on the LNWR train to London, a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, con-man, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve: a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover, including committing cold-blooded murder.Inspector Robert Colbeck is dreaming of his impending wedding to Madeleine Andrews as he enters Superintendent Tallis s office. When he learns that Oxley, his nemesis, has once again escaped, black memories of their shared past leave him no choice but to do his duty. No matter the cost, he must bring the murderous Oxley to justice once and for all.But Jeremy Oxley is no ordinary adversary. He knows the law is on his trail and retreats to his favourite hunting ground: the complex web of railways, sinews of empire, where he can stalk his prey. It spells deadly peril for the famous Railway Detective.With the faithful Victor Leeming at his side and the idealistic young Ian Peebles at his back, Colbeck must use all of his considerable skill to track his elusive enemy. But could Colbeck have finally met his match?A thrilling chase across two continents, Blood on the Line brings the fascinating world of Victorian London vividly to life.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Crime, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook

349 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A pseudonym used by Keith Miles
AKA A.E. Marston

Keith Miles (born 1940) is an English author, who writes under his own name and also historical fiction and mystery novels under the pseudonym Edward Marston. He is known for his mysteries set in the world of Elizabethan theatre. He has also written a series of novels based on events in the Domesday Book, a series of The Railway Detective and a series of The Home Front Detective.


Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The eighth adventure of the railway detective, Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck, keeps up the tradition of superb thillers from the pen of Edward Marston.

As always, well researched and with a great depth of character, Colbeck, with the invaluable assistance of his right-hand man Sergeant Victor Leeming, chases down a criminal that he has long been after, even before his days on the railway. And the reason that Colbeck is after him rankles with the detective to such a degree that it almost affects his judgement.

Colbeck and Leeming have a third policeman foisted upon them by the irritable Chief Inspector Tallis but that officer does not survive, meeting a tragic end. Tallis resigns but is persuaded to return and then joins in the celebrations when Colbeck and Leeming, after an adventurous trip to New York, eventually apprehend their man, with his lady accomplice.

There are some poignant family moments and Colbeck's romance with Madeleine Andrews runs throughout the tale.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Marston just can’t write a book that is anything but interesting…entertaining...factual of the era… and isn’t just impossible to put down. The only thing I found rather off putting about this book... and that I have seen developing throughout from the first... is that one of the characters is becoming hard to tolerate. Sergeant Leeming needs to grow up… see a shrink…read the help wanted ads…or something. His constant complaining about being away from his family is belittling and redundant. Okay…he misses them…I get it…but did he miss this part of the job description? On the plus side the information about the railroad system in that slower era was fascinating and the chase for Jeremy Oxley was brilliant. Looking forward to the next adventure with Inspector Robert Colbeck.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good follow the plot story, no real surprises but a well written and thought out story that made you want to read more. 3.75 Star!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood on the Line by Edward Marston
#8 in the Railway Detective / Inspector Robert Colbeck Series
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Description
Jeremy Oxley is being transported from Wolverhampton to London to face trial for a string of offences but manages an audacious escape with the help of his lover, and two policemen are killed in the process. Superintendent Tallis at Scotland Yard is livid and Inspector Robert Colbeck is determined to catch the man, particularly as he has strayed across Colbeck’s path in the past. But Oxley is adept at disappearing acts and leads the detective on a cat and mouse journey all the way across the Atlantic to New York. Will Oxley pay the price for the crimes he has committed and what lies ahead for the Railway Detective.

My View
I have now read the first eight books in this series and this would have to rank up there amongst my favourites in this series so far. I do really like this series and there has not been one book I have not enjoyed. This is not a blood and guts series, but I do love the interplay between the main characters - Inspector Robert Colbeck, Sergeant Leeming, and the head of the newly formed Police Force at Scotland Yard, Superintendent Tallis. All three are such contrasting characters but in your own way you have to love them all. In this book we learn a lot more about Inspector Colbeck, his past and why he gave up a lucrative career as a barrister to become a policeman, as well as about a past love interest. This also explains why he is so reluctant at this stage to marry his fiancé. This book has a bit of everything - a chase, deaths, guilt, evil criminals, retribution, etc... In fact so much so that we almost lose one of the main characters, but I'll leave you to find out what I mean by this. If there was a relative weak point in this one it would be that Madeline has a more minor role than in previous books. - I missed her and Robert together!
If you have not read any of this series I strongly urge you to try them, they are quick, light easy reads and I do love the part that the early days of the Railways plays in these books, but then again I have always been fascinated by the early days of the railways!
Onward to Book 9 - he needs to write faster!

[Terri Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 8th in Edward Marston's excellent series about Detective Inspector Richard Colbeck set in 1850's England indeed have blood on the line.

Colbeck and his assistant Detective Sergeant Victor Leeming are called in after two cops get on a train with a handcuffed Jeremy Oxley who is a killer with no conscience in addition to being a thief and are confronted by a gorgeous young woman Irene Adnam who is a petty thief hoping for a better life who leaped on the train as it took off and charmed the officers. She pulls out a gun, murders one officer, then helps her lover Jeremy throw them both-one still alive- off the train to be sliced to pieces.

Oxley and Adnam head out on the run but when Colbeck finds out that Oxley is involved, he is like a dog with a bone. Years ago, Colbeck was a well off barrister (lawyer) when a jewelry store was robbed and the owner murdered while chasing the thief who was Oxley. Only one witness-Helen Millington- agreed to testify after Robert met with her repeatedly and talked her into it. They fell in love somehow in the process which is rather a weird thing. I can't imagine falling in love with someone I only know through being pressured to testify.

Oxley tracked Helen down, abducted her, raped and tortured her then strangled her to death. This caused Robert to join Scotland Yard to hunt him down. This is also why he has not yet been able to force himself to commit fully to his ladylove, artist Madeleine Andrews. They held hands for years and now have been engaged for over a year with no date set. Robert wants to catch him more than anything.

As always, there are plenty of interesting people and situations here and watching the clever pair evade Colbert is fascinating. In the course of this, we meet a doctor who did assisted suicides in exchanged for being named in little old ladies' wills who went on the run himself and now lives with his wife under an assumed name.

As always Victor Leeming does nothing but whine and complain about spending nights away from his wife as if his penis would rot off if he can't use it daily. I get so tired of his whining and wish that Superintendent Tallis would fire him and tell him to go make a career out of having sex and making kids he can't afford.

Leeming also is mean to sweet, fresh faced Constable Peebles who idolizes Colbert, Leeming and even Tallis. When Tallis drags Peebles along on an ill-fated attempt to catch Oxley while Colbert is away, Peebles is murdered and Tallis resigns. There is a lot of feeling among these men, much honor, and you can see just how dangerous the job of protecting the public is.

Madeleine, I hate to say, is so boring to me. All she does is fawn and mope about Robert and wonder about what her role will be once married. Surely she knows she will just be your typical housewife/mother drudge. That is all she seems to aspire to anyway. Her father Caleb Andrews decides to retire and he has been reduced to a caricature in the books after the first one as if he is just a joke.

Colbert and Leeming have to follow the pair to the USA and frankly there is much in this one that is forced and very unrealistic. You'll see what I mean. Still, I love this series, including this one!

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as previous Marston novels - and the habit of calling each other by first names grated. I am always surprised in eg Trollope and Dickens how even sometimes husbands and wives call each other Mr or Mrs and formality is paramount...

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

To date this is my favourite book in the railway detective series. This one sees Robert faced with an old foe and boy does the story keep a good pace throughout.

[David Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been over a year since I last read one of these, and it was like coming home to a warm cup of tea, and a roaring fire.

These books are so far departed from my usual reads for a reason. They're my comfort reads, and my pallet cleansers.

I must say this one is one of my favourites. The torment over Colbeck's past finally being put to rest along with a trans Atlantic chase really ramped up the levels of thrills for the series.

I will always recommend these books to anyone looking for a cosy historical crime read. And I'll be reading them for years to come.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from Edward Marston, the chase was truly on with this one! It was good to learn something from Colbecks past that has troubled him for years

[Sharon Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thrilling investigation for the Railway Detective!

[Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another story about the 'railway detective', Robert Colbeck and his faithful Sergeant Leeming. This time they are on the trail of Jeremy Oxley and his girlfriend who are responsible for the death of two policemen who were escorting Oxley to London from Wolverhampton. As the deaths occured in a train of the LNWR, Colbeck is called on to investigate. In this story poor Leeming has not only to endure railway travel which he strongly dislikes but also a sea voyage on one of those newfangled steam ships. The dialogue is, at times a little unbelievable but I am generous in giving 3*s.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like trains and Victorian England. I cataloged this one at work the other day and got sucked in. It's going fast, even if it's not exactly Sherlock Holmes.

***

I rounded up to two stars because I actually managed to finish this - I can imagine worse books. The "mystery" is nonexistent and the writing is on par with most romance novels I've read, minus the nakey bits. Not much to recommend here.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical entry in the Colbeck series. The dialog in this series has a particular style that might drive some people mad. This is a series I have to be in the mood for.

[Cidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I know one of those stations very well, I had family who worked there even in victorian times! But I don't remember my grandad telling me of any murders on trains, on tracks yes! (I'm from a family of railway workers, a very long line of them).

This was a very interesting story of a prisoner being taken onto a train at Wolverhampton by two policemen who are then murdered by the prisoner's girlfriend, with a gun to the head of one of them and she beat the other over the head with the said gun and then helped the prisoner Jerry Oxley shove them out of the carriage going through a tunnel. The one with the head injuries was still alive when run over by the train following. The girl who was the murderess, Irene Adnam.

Robert Colbeck of the Railway Police is assigned to the case, he is well known in 1855 as the railway detective with a, well I think it was a perfect success rate actually. He and his partner Victor Leeming set out to find the killer, and then killers, and spend weeks trailing up and down the railway stations picking up leads everywhere they went. Colbeck uses his instinct a lot which never lets him down even when they have to catch a steamship to New York to arrive a week ahead of the murdering couple who are on a sailing ship. You would have thought that a skilled murderer with a shed load of money would have been able to afford a more expensive and quicker steamship for their crossing.

The plot does move quickly and it is extremely well written by a man with a load of information on victorian railway stations, and could probably rival Michael Portillo with his Bradshaw. I have read a few of his railway books now, not in order unfortunately I have to wait for them to come into the library, but that isn't too important you can pick their lives up as you go through the book.

I think Edward Marston's Colbeck series is fantastic. If you are a railway enthusiast then this is the series to read!

[Helene Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I last read a Railway Detective book and it's great to get back into them. I've missed the mysteries on the railways and all the characters who come with these stories. They're such well-rounded characters and intriguing mysteries, even when you know who the culprit is from the beginning, as in this one.

I love Robert Colbeck as a character - he knows how to handle both superiors in the police and those below him, which is a real talent. I wanted to see more of him and Madeline in the run-up to their wedding, but Colbeck had his hands full with his past in this story. We see a lot of Madeline with her father in this story, as her father retires, and there are a lot of scenes of the pair of them trying to figure out what the future will be.

The relationship between Colbeck and Leeming is always one of my favourite parts of the series as a whole though Leeming was slightly more annoying in this one than I remember from previous stories. The addition of an extra constable, Ian Peebles, to the story was interesting, particularly one who almost hero-worshipped Colbeck and Leeming, but it didn't last long, sadly. We see more of a human side to Tallis as a result, who has always been such an aloof and belittling character, so that was nice to see a more rounded character.

The murder and the mystery surrounding it is deep and involved. It involves Colbeck's past from before he was a policeman, and why he became a policeman in the first place. Jeremy Oxley had finally been captured, but his female accomplice rescues him as he's being taken to London and what follows is a chase across England and further afield to capture the pair.

I'm immediately moving onto the next one in the series, hoping to see Colbeck and Madeline's relationship develop, and more of Colbeck and Leeming's relationship as they work together to solve mysteries.

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this while I was waiting for my library to purchase the next two books in Marston's Ocean Liner series. In short, I'm so glad they delayed purchasing them.

Robert Colbeck and Victor Leeming may be one of my favourite detecting duos now. Sure, the brilliant alpha and the bumbling, kind-hearted sidekick is so heavily overused, but it's definitely overused for a reason. Not to say that Colbeck lacks emotion, and I'll get to that...

I think my favourite aspect of this book besides the characters is the unorthodox format. This isn't a mystery, as the reader knows from the beginning who the murderers are. Even more unorthodox, the detective knows who the culprits are extremely early in the novel. Instead of a whodunit, half of the book follows the murderers and the other half follows the detectives one step behind them (and sometimes one step ahead).

I'm really interested in reading more of the earlier novels to find out more about Colbeck's earlier cases. I'm not sure if Helen's case happens during the series canon or before, but I hope her story comes up again. The emotional turmoil in Colbeck when he tells her story was heart-breaking.

And, even though I didn't need another reason to keep reading, we have Colbeck and Madeleine, who are the most adorable couple ever. I was hoping for proof Colbeck was deserving of her and I got it in the last minute of the book. When, despite that it was his house and she was there unannounced, he knocked on the study door and waited.

Twice.

[Steven Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 1857, and on the LNWR train to London, a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But Jeremy Oxley, conman, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve: a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover. Inspector Robert Colbeck is dreaming of his wedding as he enters Superintendent Tallis's office. There he learns that Oxley, his nemesis, has once again escaped. No matter the cost, he must bring the murderous Oxley to justice once and for all. Colbeck one let this one get away as it had to do with a criminal he dealt with in his past as a Lawyer.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books are so bad they're fun. I usually rate The Railway Detective series a 3, but one sticking point kept a star off. When Colbeck and the cop in Manchester are considering women who might be Oxley's sidekick, Colbeck picks out Irene for no reason at all. Just because he decided she's the one. There were no clues and no detecting. It was ludicrous.

Oh, and Madeleine's father annoys me to no end. I hope we see less of him once she and Colbeck marry though I doubt it. I wouldn't mind seeing Caleb Andrews bumped off. I also doubt that happening, too.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Published in 2011, 'Blood on the Line' is another in the popular 'Railway Detective' series of murder mysteries set in 1850s Great Britain. This plotted around the pursuit of an escaped cop killer and his accomplice. The tale is fairly routine and often predictable, yet is nevertheless is one of the most enjoyable so far in my opinion. No doubt this is due in part to the emphasis on interesting characters over plot in my opinion. I can excuse the terrible anachronistic artwork on the cover.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to form the Railway Detective had me hooked with a relatively fast paced Victorian drama. Some main characters develop from the previous novels and you learn a little more of Robert Colbecks’ history & motivations. A 4.5 ⭐️ for me, it didn’t quite make a five star, as Colbeck’s and Madeline’s relationship seemed, for most of the book, so similar to the other novels it was tediously repetitive.
It was mainly a page turner for me, and I look forward to the next instalment.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been, for me, the best Railway Drtective book today. Although I have enjoyed them all, this one seemed to close a chapter from Robert's past and releasing him to enjoy his future with Madeline. The story was well written, and I felt I was there with the characters. Even though Robert and Victor had been abroad in a previous case, this one was more exciting than their trip to France. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Ivana Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this is not the best of the set so far as there's no mystery to it at all - both the readers and Colbeck know who the villain is from the start. As it therefore becomes more of a how-will-they-catch-him instead of a whodunnit, it lacks any suspense as it's obvious from page 1 the villain will be caught or killed by the end. Hopefully the next one will be back to being a mystery.

[Neil Spark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exemplary historical detective story set in the UK in the mid-19th century. Jeremy Oxley and his lover Irene Admann are on the run after murdering two policemen.

Inspector Richard Colbeck and his sergeant Lemming are hit on the heels of the killers who are always one step ahead. For Colbeck, the hunt is personal: Oxley murdered a close woman friend of Colbeck’s.

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

A little more gruesome than some of the other Railway Detective series, I found the story just as entertaining although disappointing. A measure of predictability in the slow investigation and with some ludicrous decisions made by the the two, previously intelligent and calculating fugitives which could lead to their capture, it was not on a par with earlier novels.

[Shajila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good as usual. This whole series is absolute perfection. Our criminal couple here were also really interesting and quite dark and unrepentant! And it ended on a really sweet note, with Robert and Madeline. I almost thought she was going to call off the engagement!

[JOHN BARLOW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another intriguing murder hunt for the intrepid duo of Colbeck and Leeming ( with ill advised interference by Superintendent Tallis ). Despite a tragedy our two heroes made several journeys to apprehend the culprits. Well researched .

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best yet! Fantastic ending.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoying series each book brings the story a bit more to life Recommended

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great mystery from Edward Marston.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've thoroughly enjoyed this series. So nice to have so many good books from such a prolific writer.