Distant Vengeance

by Nick Planas

In 1874 Joseph Palmer, a signalman on the London and Western Railway, is wrongfully sent to prison for manslaughter after a railway inferno claims twenty-one lives. In 1946 an old lady confesses a terrible crime of vengeance to her great nephew. In 2018, young Alex Phipps, one of Joseph’s descendants, finds an old file his father had made about the accident. Father and son investigate further and discover a tale of conspiracy and murder which still echoes around the old village of Salmsham. Some apparently isolated accidental deaths seem more sinister when seen in the wider context of the history of Salmsham and its neighbouring villages, and obscure family connections suddenly take on a greater significance. With the help of Roger Cooper and his daughter Vicky (who still live in the village) and a large railway model of the old station and surroundings at Salmsham, they find enough evidence for the police to open an historical murder enquiry, but by clearing the name of one ancestor, they may have tarnished others. Combining two of his favourite topics – railway history and genealogy – author Nick Planas takes us through a complex tale of deception and detection, spread over a century and a half, and with several twists along the way. We meet the villagers of Salmsham of 1874, as well as some of their descendants in 2018. A host of other characters appear, some of whom are not quite what they seem… Suitable for readers aged 12 to 112!

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2018