Now here's a murd'rous tale of woe,

See a hero misbehave.

For it shows a valient soldier go

By railway to the grave.

Yorkshire 1855. When Colonel Aubrey Tarleton walks into the path of a speeding train, he is crushed to death on the track.

The famous Railway Detective, Inspector Robert Colebeck, is immediately put on the case to determine why such a well-respected man would have resorted to suicide. Tarleton's wife had recently gone missing, but was the colonel responsible for her disappearance? It's up to Colbeck and his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming touncover the truth.