Inspector Robert Colbeck Books in Order

A carefully planned robbery derails a mail train in 1851, drawing Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming into the case. Their investigation connects stolen money and railway destruction with further violence, bringing Scotland Yard into the expanding world of Victorian rail travel.

A passenger is found murdered on an excursion train carrying spectators to a prize fight. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming discover that the victim worked as an executioner, and investigate a previous hanging that may explain why someone wanted him dead.

A murdered French engineer is thrown from a train crossing the Sankey Viaduct. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming follow the case to France, where attacks on a British railway construction project suggest connections reaching back across the Channel.

The London to Brighton express derails with devastating loss of life, and authorities consider blaming the driver. Inspector Colbeck suspects deliberate sabotage and must identify the intended target while trying to prevent the person responsible from striking again.

A severed head falls from a hatbox at Crewe, beginning a case that draws Inspector Colbeck into the world of horse racing. With the Derby approaching, he and Sergeant Leeming pursue connections through Ireland, London's underworld, and the racecourse at Epsom.

A valuable silver coffee pot shaped like a locomotive is stolen, and a body is discovered at Cardiff's Railway Hotel. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming investigate a case involving a touring theatre company whose leading actress subsequently disappears.

A retired colonel dies beneath a train after his wife disappears, leaving instructions to notify Superintendent Tallis. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming investigate in Yorkshire, seeking the circumstances behind the death and the fate of the missing woman.

Condemned criminal Jeremy Oxley escapes from a train with help from a ruthless accomplice. Inspector Colbeck's history with the fugitive makes the pursuit personal, as he and Sergeant Leeming work to recapture an enemy prepared to kill to remain free.

The body of Exeter stationmaster Joel Heygate is discovered in the remains of a Bonfire Night celebration. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming investigate the apparently well-liked man's death, uncovering suspects while danger threatens Colbeck shortly before his wedding.

A fatal crash on the Caledonian Railway brings Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming to Scotland in 1858. Rival railway interests and personal grievances complicate the inquiry, while the impending royal journey to Balmoral gives their search an additional urgency.

Imogen Burnhope and her maid board a nonstop train to Oxford, but neither is there when it arrives. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming investigate a disappearance that witnesses insist should have been impossible.

Thirteen short mysteries follow Inspector Robert Colbeck through crimes connected with Victorian railways. His investigations range from the theft of a Turner painting to the murder of a railway worker found beneath a pile of coal.

A child playing in a churchyard discovers a railway director's body in a freshly dug grave. Colbeck and Leeming travel to Derbyshire to investigate a murder complicated by reluctant relatives and resistance from the local police.

The murder of a railway policeman brings Colbeck and Leeming to Dorset, where the victim had numerous enemies. With his wife nearing childbirth, Colbeck hopes for a swift investigation, but the case proves far more complicated.

A headless body discovered at Swindon's railway works draws Colbeck into a murder investigation just before Christmas. When Superintendent Tallis is abducted in Kent, the detectives face competing emergencies and an increasingly urgent deadline.

A circus train bound for Newcastle is derailed, scattering performers and animals into the night. The discovery of a woman's body nearby leads Inspector Colbeck to investigate whether the death and the attack are connected.

A Halloween excursion through the Lake District ends in alarm when a passenger cannot be found. Colbeck and Leeming investigate the disappearance amid claims that a ghost haunting the destination may be responsible.

Railway reformer Jarvis Swarbrick is killed while resisting an armed robbery aboard a train in East Anglia. As Colbeck investigates, the victim's admired public image gives way to a complicated network of personal and business enemies.

A goods train crashes into sheep deliberately penned inside the Sapperton Tunnel, and their shepherd disappears. Colbeck and Leeming investigate whether the sabotage targets a railway board member whose enemies include powerful local figures.

A frightened Cambridge undergraduate boards a train after receiving a mysterious letter, then is found dead at a station. Colbeck and Leeming investigate academic conflicts, romantic entanglements, and sporting rivalries surrounding the young man's life.

An excursion train is stopped by an obstruction in the Malvern Hills, where its organizer is shot by a sniper. With Christmas approaching, Colbeck and Leeming investigate a murder complicated by heavy snow and concealed disputes.

An explosion tears through a train’s brake van at York station in 1865, killing its guard. Colbeck and Leeming investigate whether the blast was accidental, sabotage or deliberate murder, as multiplying suspects and motives complicate the inquiry.

Giles Blanchard is robbed during a train journey and never reaches his Isle of Wight home alive. Colbeck and Leeming investigate a murder tangled with potential blackmail, under pressure to resolve it before Queen Victoria’s summer visit.

A robbery on a train bound for Lincoln leaves an escort dead and a priceless silver cathedral model missing. Colbeck and Leeming pursue the thieves through a city crowded for its annual Horse Fair, with little time to recover the treasure.

A railway executive is found dead at Shrewsbury’s Station Hotel with a knife in his hand. Colbeck doubts suicide by a man approaching the height of his career, and investigates the secret journey his family knew nothing about.

A young woman appears to sleep on the last train from Paddington to Bristol, but arrives dead. With her identity unknown and her apparently devoted husband missing, Colbeck and Leeming follow a trail through stations, theaters and deception.