1860, Wimborne, Dorset. Rebecca Tullidge, miserably married, is having an affair with a railway officer, who she finds dead on the railway tracks. Mayoral hopeful, Mr Feltham calls for the Railway Detective to solve the hideous crime. With a pregnant wife at home, Colbeck must work at speed if he is to return in time for the birth.

Zahra, Kali, and Syd have been triple-timed by the same nefarious charmer, Eric, aka Rico, aka Rick and now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the folly of his ways. Project Payback is such a success, the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services.

1851 and the city of London anticipates the grand opening of the Great Expedition. The London to Birmingham mail train is looted and derailed and Detective Colbeck fights to untangle a web of murder, blackmail and destruction.

It is the summer of 1914 and Tilly Moon, an accomplished pianist, longs for the day she can take her music studies further. If there is one thing she loves more than music, it is her brother Tommy's best friend Dominic, and luckily he feels the same. But on 4th August 1914 their budding romance is interrupted when Britain declares war on Germany.

Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's florist shop in Windermere is struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However, Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake.

Thea Slocombe is trying to settle into normal life with Drew and his children but any sense of domesticity is shattered when she finds a body. Unconvinced the conclusion made by the police is correct, Thea decides to investigate herself. But what repercussions might there be for her, Drew and those with whom they share this corner of the Cotswolds?

June, 1917. While another daylight air raid batters London, the body of respected businessman Gilbert Donohoe is fished from the Thames. Inspector Marmion struggles with the murder case alongside his anxieties for his now-missing son, Paul, but the pressure increases when the Metropolitan Police are the target of a series of vicious press attacks.

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, and this journey is no exception...