MURDER ON THE BRIGHTON EXPRESS

Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck operates in a quieter, gentler time (1854), a time without cell phones or crack CSI forensics. When the London to Brighton Express derails and crashes head on into an oncoming train, mangled bodies and twisted metal result. The authorities are ready to chalk it up to driver error, but Colbeck suspects foul play. Sam Dastor narrates with a firm yet genteel touch as Colbeck systematically sets out to prove that what took place was really a murder plot against someone on the train. Dastor creates the illusion of the period, bestowing Colbeck with proper nineteenth-century diction, a sense of propriety, and a precise, unhurried methodology for solving the crime. Dastor’s reading and Edward Marston’s fifth Railway Detective adventure are sure to satisfy fans. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]