Review: THE RAILWAY MURDERS, J. R. Ellis

• 
  this edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09WTDGPHW
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (November 9, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 271 pages 
• A Yorkshire Murder Mystery #8
  

SYNOPSIS (Amazon)

A puzzling locked-room mystery that puts someone Oldroyd loves in terrible danger…

When a film shoot on Wharfedale’s vintage railway turns into a grisly crime scene, DCI Oldroyd’s idyllic visit to the countryside with his partner Deborah is well and truly stopped in its tracks. One of the film’s stars has been shot dead in a train carriage while the cameras rolled outside. But nobody else went in—or came out. Has the killer really pulled off the perfect, impossible crime?

Scouring the victim’s past for clues, Oldroyd soon unearths a string of heartbroken lovers and a mountain of unpaid debts, each adding to the growing list of suspects. But before he can determine who the culprit is, there’s the small matter of figuring out how they did it. A potential connection to a previous tragedy offers Oldroyd a much-needed lead…

Whoever the perpetrator is, they are ruthless and determined to avoid detection, and when a railway worker starts joining the dots, they are quickly silenced—for good. But as Oldroyd gets ever closer to the truth, it’s only a matter of time before he is given a chilling warning to back off.

Perhaps Deborah should have stayed somewhere safe… 

My Take

This is another of those small British crime fiction e-book series which I thoroughly enjoy reading. There are a number of characters who have been in the series from the beginning, and others recently introduced. The plots are generally engaging, credible and well fleshed out.

Strictly speaking the murder of an actor at Wharfedale is not really a case for DCI Oldroyd but the local police feel a little out of their depth and ask Oldroyd to take charge. And then as the case looks like it won't be wound up in a hurry, Oldroyd has the idea of getting his partner Deborah to book into the local hotel. There is a second murder and Deborah is snatched while out on a walk in the hills.

The first murder takes place in a railway carriage and has all the features of a locked room mystery. No-one apart from the victim is seen going into or coming out of the railway carriage. As Oldroyd is forced to step back from the case he works out how it was done, and then why the second murder was committed. There are still some surprises for the reader.

Rating: 4.5

I've also read

• 4.3, THE BODY IN THE DALES - #1
• 4.3, THE QUARTET MURDERS - #2
• 4.4, THE MURDER AT REDMIRE HALL  - #3
• 4.6, THE ROYAL BATHS MURDER - #4 
  
• 4.5, THE NIDDERDALE MURDERS - #5
• 4.5, THE WHITBY MURDERS - #6
  
• 4.6, MURDER AT ST ANNE'S - #7