Edward Marston has 28 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.2★ across 4 ratings. The most-rated is A Bespoke Murder.
The Iron Horse
Summary
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.
Instrument of Slaughter
Summary
1916. Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy are assigned to the case when the body of a young conscientious objector is found bludgeoned to death. Public sympathy is lukewarm for conscientious objectors with some people even claiming that a "conchie" deserves to die if he won't fight for his King and Country. As the detectives identify one suspect, others pop up in the most unexpected places. Everyone speaks well of Ablatt but is he really the saint they describe? Marmion and Keedy have to dig deep in order to unearth the instrument of slaughter and the person who wielded it.
©2012 Edward Marston (P)2013 Soundings
The Excursion Train
Summary
On the shocking discovery of a passenger's body on the Great Western Railway excursion train, Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant, Sergeant Victor Leeming, are dispatched to the scene. Faced with what initially appears to be a motiveless murder, Colbeck is intrigued by the murder weapon - a noose. When it emerges that the victim had worked as a public executioner, Colbeck realises that this must be intrinsically linked to the killer's choice of weapon. However, the further he delves into the case, the more mysterious it becomes. And when a second man is strangled by a noose on a train, Colbeck knows that he must act quickly. Can he catch the murderer before more lives are lost? Set in Victorian England and rich in historical detail, The Excursion Train will hold you captivated from the beginning to the end of its journey.
©2006 Edward Marston (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
A Bespoke Murder
Summary
May 1915. With thousands of Britons fighting in the trenches, a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the Home Front safe. Scotland Yard is already overstretched when the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots and arson attacks. Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein, found dead in his burnt-out shop. Initially Jacob’s killing appears to be the tragic excess of wartime hysteria – but when it transpires that Jacob had been stabbed, his safe ransacked, and his daughter Ruth raped, the possibility that these assaults were long-premeditated crimes becomes unavoidable. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups and contradictions and track down Jacob’s killer and Ruth’s assailants.
©2011 Edward Marston (P)2013 Soundings
The Counterfeit Crank
Summary
Nicholas Bracewell befriends a young beggar who is trying to eke out a living as a counterfeit crank, pretending to have spectacular epileptic fits in order to get money from gullible bystanders. When the beggar is murdered inside Bridewell, Nicholas has to pose as a beggar himself in order to get inside the notorious institution so that he can solve the crime. Counterfeiting of all kinds is exposed.
©2004 Edward Marston (P)2017 Soundings
The Silent Woman
Summary
When fire destroys their London theatre, Lord Westfield’s players must seek out humbler venues in the countryside. But company manager Nicholas Bracewell is distracted by a shocking tragedy: a mysterious messenger from his native Devon is murdered by poison. Though the messenger is silenced, Nicholas understands what he must do: Return to his birthplace and reconcile some unfinished business of the past. The rest of Westfield’s men, penniless and dejected, ride forth with him on a nightmare tour that will perhaps become their valedictory, dogged as they are by plague, poverty, rogues, and thieves. And among the sinister shadows that glide silently with them toward Devon is one who means Nicholas never to arrive.
©1994 Edward Marston (P)2014 Soundings
Drums of War
Summary
Dashing career soldier and ladies' man, Captain Daniel Rawson, happily accepts the Duke of Marlborough's dangerous undercover mission to find a missing spy - a Dutch tapestry-maker's beautiful daughter Amalia, unaware of her father's espionage role, is fearful for her safety. It's up to Daniel to find her father and put Amalia's mind at rest.
©2009 Edward Marston (P)2009 Oakhill Publishing Limited
Fear on the Phantom Special
Summary
Halloween 1861. A special train with two carriages steams across the Lake District at night on its way to a place notorious for its record of supernatural incidents. Lighting inside the carriages is poor, and without warning, the lamp goes out in the last compartment of the second carriage, plunging it into darkness. When the special reaches the end of its journey, the passengers pour out on to the station platform. There are almost 60 of them in all, laughing and jostling. The prevailing excitement is shattered by a cry - a dead body has been discovered in the seats. This will prove to be a very puzzling new case for the Railway Detective.
©2019 Edward Marston (P)2019 Soundings
The Dragons of Archenfield
Summary
The frontier zone of Archenfield in Herefordshire is a no-man's-land, which acts as a bulwark between Norman-controlled English soil and the Welsh border. Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret arrive in Hereford for what looks like one of their more straightforward assignments from the crown, to settle conflicting claims to land in Archenfield. Ralph and Gervase are shocked to discover the murder of a principal witness, a wealthy landowner who was burned alive in his own home. No clues remain except an enigmatic red dragon cut into the turf in front of the house.
©1995 Edward Marston (P)2020 Soundings
The Lions of the North
Summary
Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret lead a group of the king's finest commissioners into the war-torn lands of Yorkshire to settle land claims and compile the Domesday Book. One island of wealth and luxury remains in Yorkshire: the castle of merchant Aubrey Maminot. There the commissioners learn of two great terrors: the rogue Olaf Evil Child, a hero of the poor and conquered Saxon people, and the ravenous lions Aubrey Maminot keeps as pets. The lions make a feast of an anonymous young man who tries to sneak into the castle, and Gervase Bret begins to wonder why someone would commit such an act of suicide.
©1996 Edward Marston (P)2020 Soundings
The Vagabond Clown
Summary
When unexpected disaster strikes Lord Westfield's Men during a packed performance, Nicholas Bracewell must save the day. Will a vagabond clown prophesy the end of the troupe - and perhaps the demise of Nick himself?
©2003 Edward Marston (P)2017 Soundings
The Stallions of Woodstock
Summary
Three powerful Norman lords and a Saxon thegn watch their horses competing in a race near Woodstock. When one of the riders is murdered during the race, suspicion falls on the Saxon. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are guests at Oxford Castle while they deliberate on land disputes in the area. Caught up in the murder investigation, they feel that a man has been wrongly accused and, in trying to save him from execution, get themselves immersed in a sea of malice, treachery, lust and simmering hostility.
©1997 Edward Marston (P)2020 Soundings
The Devil's Apprentice
Summary
Faced with the austerities of a bitterly cold English winter, the theatre is deserted, and Westfield’s Men find themselves out of work. Fortuitously, the company is invited to perform at a country home in Essex - welcome news to the disgruntled players. The company decides it's the perfect opportunity to trial their new play, The Witch of Colchester. However, when the group's leading actor begins to fall mysteriously ill, the company fear witchcraft might be involved. Then, on the performance night, an audience member inexplicably collapses and dies, paving the way for Nicholas Bracewell to uncover the cause of the strange events taking place in Silvermere.
©2001 Edward Marston (P)2016 Soundings
Shadow of the Hangman
Summary
It's 1815. Peter and Paul Skillen, identical twins and fearless thief catchers, stalk all who dare to walk in the shadow of the hangman. When they catch a notorious burglar, they claim a handsome reward and infuriate the Bow Street Runners, who believe they have a monopoly on policing in the capital. Home Secretary Viscount Sidmouth faces a crisis. During a massacre of American prisoners of war at Dartmoor, two escape and come to London in search of retribution - and if their demands are not met, they’ll kill Sidmouth. The Runners compete fiercely with the twin detectives to bring the villains to justice in a compelling tale of murder, kidnap, revenge and political machination.
©2015 Edward Marston (P)2015 Soundings
Fugitive from the Grave
Summary
1817. Upon receiving a letter from an old family friend, Clemency van Emden returns from Holland to find her father dead. She refuses to believe the middle-aged man died of natural causes, and the suspicious circumstances of his life during the past few months compel her to ask Peter and Paul Skillen for help. Why would a successful engineer suddenly begin begging for alms on the streets? Had he refused to ask for help, or was he prevented from doing so? When his body is revealed missing from the casket, the twins embark on a chase of funerary agents, barmaids and body snatchers, trying to solve the mystery of George Parry's alleged death before their Bow Street rivals.
©2018 Edward Marston (P)2018 Soundings
The Fair Maid of Bohemia
Summary
The plague has struck London once again, but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield’s Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company's bookholder, Nicholas Bracewell, and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield's secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them. Treacherous seas become the least of Nicholas' worries when one of their actors is savagely killed. To make matters worse, when they finally arrive in Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II proves to be an eccentric and bewildering host, and Nicholas' beloved Anne Hendrik is kidnapped....
©1997 Edward Marston (P)2015 Soundings
The Princess of Denmark
Summary
A fire at the Queen's Head deprives Westfield's Men of their home, so they seize the opportunity to travel to Denmark with their patron, Lord Westfield, who is to marry a beautiful young Danish widow. When they reach Elsinore castle, they are given a warm welcome, but the murder of Rolfe Harling, who brokered the wedding, changes the whole atmosphere of the place. Danger threatens from all sides, including England, where one man seeks revenge and dispatches assassins after the troupe. They are soon caught up in a complex web of political intrigue and betrayal.
©2006 Edward Marston (P)2018 Soundings
The Unseen Hand
Summary
1917. The Lotus Hotel offers sanctuary for its exclusively female clientele, attracting the cream of London's society. But a dead body found in one of its rooms is hardly good for business, and when it is discovered that the woman was neither a guest nor a member of staff, the Lotus' reputation as a safe haven is cast in doubt. Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy are dispatched to look into the events at the hotel and soon suspect foul play. Tangling with a forgetful widower, a wily competitor and the haughty hotel owner, the pair will have to delve into the past to solve this crime in the present.
©2019 Edward Marston (P)2019 Soundings
The Malevolent Comedy
Summary
Lord Westfield's Men, the most successful troupe in London and a prime target for jealousy and resentment, are plagued by a series of practical jokes. But when one of their actors is murdered, the humour turns distinctly sour. Appalling events continue: Lawrence Firethorn, actor manager, is stalked by a mysterious lady; the sole copy of The Malevolent Comedy - the company's new play - is stolen; their leading apprentice is abducted; and there is an attempt on the life of Lord Westfield, their patron. It's soon clear that someone more vicious than a practical joker is trying to destroy the troupe and that Nicholas Bracewell, the resourceful book holder, has an almighty struggle to save his beloved company from certain demise.
©2005 Edward Marston (P)2017 Soundings
The Roaring Boy
Summary
After a calamitous performance and the death of one of their own, Lord Westfield's Men are more than despondent. So when the mysterious Simon Chaloner follows Nicholas Bracewell home with an offer of a new play, anonymously penned, his offer seems too good to refuse. It is a story of a simple death used to conceal a greater treachery, perhaps even treason. But they could never have known how dangerous one play could be. Or how telling the tale of a murdered mathematician might put them all in jeopardy. It is up to Nick to once more save the acting troupe from disaster, to reveal the traitor that threatens both Queen and country, and to prove who really killed The Roaring Boy.
©1995 Edward Marston (P)2014 Soundings