1860, Wimborne, Dorset. Rebecca Tullidge, miserably married to her callous husband, finds some escape through a love affair with another man. After putting her drunk husband to bed one Saturday night, she sneaks from their lodge to meet railway officer, John Bedloe. But much to her horror, she trips over her lover's corpse on the railway tracks. The railway director calls Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming in from London to solve the hideous crime. As the pair arrives in the countryside, they find there is no shortage of difficult personalities and conflicting alibis, making the mystery...

The Moscardi Circus is travelling by train to Newcastle for their next show when a collision on the track causes pandemonium. When the body of a woman is discovered in nearby woodland, Inspector Colbeck is desperate to lend assistance, believing the two incidents might be connected. Who is the nameless woman and who is targeting the circus?

December 1860. With Christmas fast approaching, the last thing Inspector Colbeck needs is a complex case. As he wrestles with one crime, he is alarmed to hear of another - the abduction of Superintendent Tallis. Colbeck and Leeming find themselves raceing to solve a brutal murder before rushing to Kent in a bid to save the superintendent's life.

1861, East Anglia. When Mr Swarbrick, the man working to unify East Anglia's railway networks, is shot dead in a first class carriage, Inspector Colbeck is brought in to investigate. But as Swarbrick's reputation begins to crumble, questions arise: is this the act of a bungling burglar, a business rival, a disgruntled son, or a jealous lover?

1861. It is Halloween and the special train steaming across the Lake District is renowned for its supernatural incidents. A fire and a disappearance make this journey no exception.

December 1864. As a cold winter wind scours the Worcestershire countryside, an excursion train comes through a tunnel in the Malvern Hills to be confronted by a blockage on the line ahead. Although a disastrous derailment is averted, the passengers are alarmed. Cyril Hubbleday, the man in charge of the excursion, alights to investigate further, but the angry altercation with the driver is cut short by a shot from a sniper, straight through Hubbleday's head. Christmas is coming all too soon and Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming are under pressure to solve the case quickly....

York, 1865. A passenger train stands ready to depart amid the bustle at the station. The flurry of passengers and porters, the swooping pigeons and barking dogs are thrown into a state of turmoil when an explosion rips through the brake van of the train, killing guard Jack Follis. In response to a summons from the North Eastern Railway, Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are sent to investigate. Was it an accident, deliberate vandalism or targeted murder? The longer the investigation goes on, the more complex it becomes. With a dizzying array of suspects and motives, will the...