Murder at Lord's Station

London Underground Station Mysteries #3

by Jim Eldridge

March, 1941. World War Two is well underway and the Blitz is taking its toll on Central London with bombs raining down almost every night. Inspector Coburg and his trusted Sergeant Lampson are just recovering from the devastating bomb attack on the Café de Paris when they get a call asking them to go to the disused Lord's Underground station. Once there, they are taken to see the body of a man on the former platform. He's been beaten to death by blows on the back of his head, by what Dr Welbourne believes to have been a cricket bat.

Could the dead man be associated with the British Empire XI who are playing against English cricket teams at the world-famous Lord's cricket ground? Coburg and Lampson have a puzzling case to solve .

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

383 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2025

About the author

Jim Eldridge is the author of many books for children, including titles in the My Story series, the Warpath books, and How to Handle Grown-Ups. He has had 250 TV scripts broadcast in the UK and internationally for children's and teen television, and is also the creator and writer of Radio 4's long-running comedy-drama series, King Street Junior.

Reviews

[Beachcomber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. An excellent addition to the station series set during WW2. I was thinking this would be slightly higher rating for a long time, but the second death (of the cadet) kind of petered out a bit, and Coburg gave Ted a hard time for not being at work at one point, when he himself had done virtually the same thing only the day before, leaving Ted to finish up and do the paperwork…! Unfair, Edgar, unfair…

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by Jim Eldridge and I found it intriguing, relaxing, entertaining and informative. A solid mystery set at the beginning of WWII with London bombings going on in the background.

DCI Coberg, his famous jazz singer/ambulance driver wife Rosa Weeks and Coberg’s trusty Sargeant Lampson work together to solve several murders involving cricket players, and German spies. There are plenty of lively characters woven in the story.

My only issue was the proof-reading. For an author this accomplished and experienced, I expect better quality control. See pages 110, 176, 204, 206, 224 and 288. But I’ll read another and try not to make corrections….

[CPE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Eldridge’s Murder at Lord’s Station is the third in his series of WWII mysteries set in disused Underground stations during the Blitz, following on from Aldwych and Down Street. It features his series detective, Edgar Saxe-Coburg, together with his sergeant, Ted Lampson; and his wife, singer Rosa Weeks. I was delighted that Edgar’s brother, Magnus, the Earl of Dawlish; and his factotum, Malcolm, are essential to the plot, too.

As you might expect with Lord’s in the title, cricket is a major theme in the novel. Not so much match action, so don’t worry if you’re not keen on the game or don’t know the rules, but the nature of cricket as a sport, with teams, players and betting. Chapter One starts with a dead cricketer outside the disused Lord’s Underground Station and the body count has increased by the end of the book.

One thing I love about Eldridge’s books is that the sense of jeopardy is real: the reader genuinely wonders whether one of the main characters will be killed before the book ends. Although I anticipated one plot twist a few pages in advance, I didn’t expect another one and I had to read the sentence where it happened three times for it to sink in. Wow, Eldridge is a really good writer! I also loved the gentle way that Eldridge handles a couple of plot strands: someone may have committed an understandable crime, but their subsequent fragility deserves compassion – and that’s what they get here.

#MurderatLordsStation #NetGalley

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the stories about Detective Chief Inspector Edgar Coburg and Detective Sergeant Ted Lampson. To me, they are reminiscent of the 'Railway Detective' series of books written by Edward Marston.
In this story, a Jamaican cricketer is found dead outside the Lord's Station. He was murdered, but there's no obvious reason as to why. Coburg and Lampson are tasked with investigating the crime, with the help of local police officers. The investigation soon blossoms into a bigger case, as there are threats and beatings to contend with, as well as personal issues for our two detectives to contend with.
Because of the different lines of investigation, the two detectives don'r have much of a home life, and weekends are not sacrosanct either. However, the two war time London detectives follow each piece of information, whether or not they lead to a dead end or provide another piece of the jigsaw until the crimes are solved.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series. If there was a 3.5 rating that's what I'd give it! There's good attention to historical detail and characterisation. The lead characters are engaging and I definitely wanted to read more about them. What stopped it being a 4 star read was the quality of the writing. I did feel that, on occasion, it was 'never mind the quality feel the width'. Ten words being used where five would have been fine. Endless repetition of characters' names which served no purpose except to fill the page and add to the word count. It's not uncommon in any genre of fiction but particularly so in this type of crime writing. I hesitate to call it cosy crime because it's far better than that name suggests. It could be that the author was trying to create more of a 1940 feel through the writing style. A good read with plenty of period features that interested readers can follow up in their own research.

[Kay Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent addition to Jim Eldridge's mystery series. Not literature but well written with interesting historical context and realistic feel. The characters mostly have warts and all realism (except for the Inspector's wife Rosa who is almost an angel with her musical talent plus ambulance driving volunteering). The cricket touches and insights into petty crime in World War 2 era England are helpful for a sense of being there. The feeling of people's resilience under fire is a pleasant escape too from the present day doom of news accounts of living through a war. It's still tough but people keep pushing through.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jim Eldrige's series as the stories are always entertaining, solid, and informative. It's like visiting a different station or museum any time and travelling in time.
This is a bit slower than other but I throughly enoyed and was gald to catch up with the characters.
The mystery is teisty and i liked the solution.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

With persons murdered using cricket bats, hammers and guns there is no let up in the number of bodies being discovered in this novel. Set around the London Jazz scene, cricket matches at the famous Lords ground along with illegal gambling the detectives have their work cut out. With a little more excitement than in a cozy mystery I found it to be an entertaining read although, in some parts it was obvious what was going to happen next.

[Juliet Ruston · Rating 4 out of 5]

yet again another great read by an author that's fast becoming one of my favorite. This time it has a little cricket theme but don't be put off by this as its all the same characters that we've come to love . This time we have more Earl of Dawlish and malcom too. Also we get to see who Ted lampson is more . all wrapped up in wartime Britain.

[Cristie · Rating 5 out of 5]

great series!

I especially like the different crimes going on at the same time.. in other books many authors concentrate on only one which makes the book stretch on so long I might loose interest..
I hope the series will continue!!!

[Anish Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fair sort of thriller; classic WW2 crime followed by detective work; my first Eldridge; not bad to get through, there were portions of elongated descriptions with different English characters embedded in the storyline but nevertheless it did not disappoint till the very end

[Glenys Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. I haven’t read one of Jim’s books I didn’t enjoy. Listened to the audiobook of this one. Must say the narrator David Thorpe was amazing. There were so many different accents in this book, sometimes in the same paragraph. Made the story.

[Donald · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was an awful lot of repetition in this, dialogue/plans etc repeated word for word 2 or 3 times, and a cadet murder suspect goes AWOL and his hideout isn't even given a cursory search? Instead his friend is arrested in the hope he gives himself up out of altruism?

[Sian James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and fast moving book

Enjoyed this book, now looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Likeable characters, who are interesting, with a storyline that moved along at a good pace.

[Sheila Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed adventure!

[ANDREW]

I really loved this read. Now waiting for the next installment. Jim is starting a new series with the same characters, looking forward to reading this one also.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best one in the series so far. Good plot, great characters, interesting period details. A lovely ending too.

[Jan Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books, the era and the characters

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Eldridge up to his usual standard. Likable characters, Brilliant atmosphere and locations. Perhaps a few too many deaths ( other than bombs )

[Rany Handayani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the story!

It’s based in England during the WW2. I love each character, especially the female supporting character.

Will definitely read more of the series!

[Sally Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

[Lyn Mayberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable