Shrewsbury, 1866. 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.