Books like Inspector Colbeck's Casebook

Inspector Colbeck, the Railway Detective, and his sidekick Sergeant Victor Leeming take a break from their normal lengthy investigations and involve themselves in solving 13 equally baffling mysteries set on and around the railways in Victorian times.A young porter is found dead in a coal tub but, despite all the evidence, it was not his immediate colleagues that killed him; Colbeck surprises his sergeant by unmasking the unlikely killer.There is an excellent art related tale in which Turner's painting 'Rain, Steam and Speed' is stolen by an ingenious band of criminals but they are not too smart for Colbeck, who on this occasion also has the assistance of his artist wife Madeleine to find the painting and arrest the perpetrators of the crime. Colbeck's superior Superintendent Tallis falls foul of a conman while travelling on the railway and he is too embarrassed to tell anyone other than his Inspector. Ordering him to find the criminal without revealing his direct interest in the case, he is delighted when Colbeck very cleverly discovers the man's real identity and in arresting him, returns the Super's 'investment'.A railway carriage is set on fire in Ravenglass but when Colbeck is called in a body is discovered within it. During the investigation Leeming has a haircut and his conversation with the barber not only reveals the identity of the dead person but also leads the duo to an unlikely killer.There is even a cricket related tale in which Colbeck informs Leeming of H H Stephenson's achievement of securing three wickets in three balls, a feat that led to a hat being taken round for a collection. 'Thus the phrase a hat-trick was created,' he tells his Sergeant. Perhaps not surprisingly in view of the cricket interest this story is set in Sheffield and Colbeck's cunning leads, no surprise here, to three arrests; a hat-trick of another kind!All the stories have the usual Colbeck/Leeming humour and make for enjoyable reading but it does make one wonder why in other circumstances the duo need take so long to resolve their cases, ie, in full length novels! I only add this for I am not the greatest reader of short stories for, by their very nature, the plots are condensed so as to fit the format. However, there was no shortage of excitement or loss of detail in these tales but do give me the full length novels every time please.