Mystery at the Station Hotel

Author/Guide: Edward Marston

Why a Booktrail?

1866: At the Station Hotel, staff struggle in vain to rouse Mr Julian Lockyer

ISBN: 978-0749031244
Genre: Cosy crime, Historical

Comment

What you need to know before your trail

At the Station Hotel, staff struggle in vain to rouse Mr Julian Lockyer who requested an early wake-up call to catch a train. When they force open the door, they are horrified to discover a bloodied corpse in the bed, a knife still in the dead man’s hand.

Inspector Robert Colbeck, the Railway Detective, is dispatched to investigate and soon begins to question whether this is really a case of suicide. For why would a man reaching the pinnacle of his career, about to be named the Chairman of the Great Western Railway, choose to take his own life? And why was his trip to Shrewsbury a secret from his family?

Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming must probe deeply into Lockyer’s life and lies to find the answers and to catch the killer.

Locations

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Travel Guide

Shrewsbury

The station hotel does indeed still exist – imagine getting off the train, checking in and reading this book here!?

Wyle is medieval English for hill, and Cop means ‘top of’. Wyle Cop is one of the older sections of town and it has fine rows of timber framed houses. The Lion Inn dates from before 1618 and was a premier coaching inn on the London to Holyhead Road.

Booktrailer Review

Oh how I enjoy this series. It’s like reading novels how they used to be written – old fashioned and with memories of a simpler time. Of course they are in parts as this one is set in 1836. Each novel in the series involves a murder on or involving the railways. A man is killed in a hotel room near a station and all hell breaks loose. Why was he even there? What is his link to the railways?

The characters and settings are what bring me back to this series. So very easy and enjoyable to read. This would make a lovely TV drama for a Sunday evening. I learn so much about the history of the railways too which is something I never thought I would be interested in. Just lovely.