The Iron Horse cover art

The Iron Horse

The Railway Detective, Book 4

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Iron Horse

By: Edward Marston
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Derby Day at Epsom Downs and a multitude of people crowd to watch the races: dukes and dustmen, bishops and beggars, privileged ladies and prostitutes.

The gamut of Victorian society, though, is also a hotbed for crime and crooks of all kinds. With the country a-flutter in the run-up to this national occasion, events reach fever pitch when a disembodied head is discovered on a passenger train at Crewe; the first in a murky course of events that takes in murder, fraud and race-fixing.

Detective Robert Colbeck and his assistant are assigned to the case and are soon snarled up in a web of skulduggery stretching across the country. Soon, however, they are forced to ask themselves: just what is someone prepared to do in order to win?

©2007 Edward Marston (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Detective Historical Fiction Suspense Traditional Detectives Fiction Mystery
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Railway Detective cover art
Murder on the Lusitania cover art
A Bespoke Murder cover art
Shadow of the Hangman cover art
The Queen's Head cover art
The Frost Fair cover art
The Wolves of Savernake cover art
Murder at Aldwych Station cover art
Murder at the Fitzwilliam cover art
Evans Above cover art
A Quiet Life in the Country cover art
Tom Wasp and the Newgate Knocker cover art
A Very English Murder cover art
Return to Reichenbach cover art
The Malvern Murders cover art
Akin to Murder cover art

Critic reviews

"A grand romp very much in the tradition of Holmes and Watson... Packed with characters Dickens would have been proud of. Wonderful, well written." ( Time Out)

What listeners say about The Iron Horse

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    77
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    72
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    66
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Fun!

An enjoyable yarn with compelling characters and a nice twist at the end, good fun.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Old fashioned enjoyable crime novel

I enjoyed this story. My only criticism is the narration of the female characters. They all sounded half witted.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly Enjoyable

Having only recently discovered Edward Marston's work, I was delighted to find a few of his books on Audible. This evocative story is wonderfully portrayed by Sam Dastor. It is like listening to a radio play with many actors. Sam has truly brought all of the varied characters to life. More please.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyable,easy listening mystery

I love the gentle story line and setting. Imaginative and interesting, my only criticism really is that the narrator gives every female voice a rather irritating, simpering character which is inappropriate.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent once again

always a nice listen to these pleasant stories. on to the next one .. can't wait

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Looking forward to more

I have only recently discovered Marston and I'm already hooked on two of his series.



The Iron Horse is a Holmes and Watson style detective story complete with period sterotypes, but still thoroughly enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Very very poor

In fairness while I was not impressed by the book, I was really never able to get past the appallingly bad reading. The reader enunciates every word clearly and is well spoken. So every working class Victorian character speaks with a very carefully delivered 'produced' voice. The dialogue as written is totally unrealistic, with characters using language in a way that I seriously doubt they would have understood let alone used. I found that the effect of the whole thing was to put my teeth on edge.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

kept me unintentionally amused!

I did listen to this book to the end, although 'who dun it' was pretty obvious at least three quarters of the way through. it was well read, but the characters were very stereotyped and cut-out cardboard. it did paint a fascinating picture of class distinctions, snobbery and privilege. i was somewhat bemused and amazed by the sympathy expressed for a truly nasty character.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!